Alison Clark is an Professor of Early Childhood Education and visual artist. She is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Thomas Coram Research Unit, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK. Her main academic work is currently in Norway where she is Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN).
Since 1999, Alison has been interested in the theoretical, methodological and ethical aspects of young children’s co-construction of knowledge using visual, participatory methods. This research theme has centred on the development and adaptation of the Mosaic approach with her colleague Professor Peter Moss - a multimethod qualitative research approach for working with participant perspectives that has contributed to a ‘listening to young children discourse’ in the UK and internationally.
Cross-national collaboration and exchange is central to Alison's work. She co-founded the Special Interest Group on Children’s Perspectives, as part of the European Early Childhood Education Research Association in 2004 (with Professor Deborah Harcourt). She has also contributed to the exhibition Remembrance of Swings Past - a collaboration between the University of South-Eastern Norway, early childhood centres in the municipality of Horten, and Preus Museum, the National Photography Museum of Norway.
Alison's recent two year research study, Slow knowledge and the Unhurried Child was funded by the Froebel Trust and published in 2022 by Routledge as the book Slow Knowledge and the Unhurried Child: Time for Slow Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education.
Alison's Blog: Slow Knowledge https://alisonclarkinthemaking.wordpress.com
Alison's artist website: http://www.alisonclark.co.uk
Social Links
LinkedIn: @professor-alison-clark
Twitter: @WestrayAlison
Email: alison.clark@ucl.ac.uk
Future Learning Design Podcast