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Rhedding-Jones Outstanding Dissertation Award

The Rhedding-Jones Outstanding Dissertation Award is awarded annually to a graduate doctoral student in recognition of a doctoral thesis that significantly contributes to Reconceptualising Early Childhood Education.

The Redding-­Jones Dissertation Award has been developed in honor of Jeanette Rhedding-­Jones (1943-­2013) who mentored doctoral students and early career researchers across many countries. She encouraged and inspired young academics to reimagine early childhood methodologies and practice and to push the boundaries of early childhood research, teaching, policy and pedagogy.

To be considered for the award a dissertation will clearly demonstrate contributions to:

• Introducing alternative theoretical and/or methodological approaches

• Reconceptualising early childhood research and policy

• Re-imagining and/or re-orienting pedagogical practices that directly support young children, their families, educators and/or communities


Nominations for the 2025 Rhedding-Jones Outstanding Dissertation Award

Eligibility

The nominee's dissertation research should demonstrate contributions to reconceptualizing early childhood education as described above.

The award will be considered for those graduates who have submitted their doctorate in the period between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2024 (graduated). The nominee’s active engagement with both the Reconceptualising Early Childhood Education (RECE) Conference and the field of early childhood education will be taken into account.

Nominations are welcome for doctoral theses written in any language. However, in case the language of the doctoral thesis is not English, we require some of the supporting documents to be submitted in English. Please see overleaf for complete nomination instructions.

Application Material

Nomination packets should include:

  1. A nomination letter–in English–written by the graduate’s supervisor/advisor/chair, co-­‐ supervisor or thesis committee member:
    • Outlining the characteristics that make the dissertation exceptional (e.g., importance of the topic, theoretical/methodological quality, analytical perspicacity, contributions to the research literature, and so forth).
    • Confirming the date on which the degree will be/has been conferred.

  2. A copy of the examiners' reports should be provided if applicable. If original reports are in a language other than English, a summary of the examiner's reports in English must be included.

3. The following parts of the actual dissertation:

  • Title page
  • Table of contents
  • The dissertation's introduction and data analysis chapter for a clear overview of the research focus, methodology, and analytical approach offering insight into both the study’s context and how findings were interpreted as well as the contribution to reconceptualizing early childhood research and policy. If the thesis is written in a language other than English, we would appreciate an English translation of the representative chapter. However, this is not a requirement.
  •  List of cited references

 4. A two-page extended summary of the dissertation written by the candidate that articulates the connection of the thesis to RECE. This must be written in English. 

Timeline and Submission Instructions

Please send these parts as one combined file in PDF format. Only complete nominations will be considered. Nominations should be emailed to Margarita Ruiz Guerrero, Chair of the Rhedding-Jones Award Review Committee by August 15, 2025. 

The decision will be made by an Award Review Committee comprised of current RECE members and approved by the RECE Steering Committee. The recipient of the award will be notified on November 1. 

The award will be presented at the 31st Annual RECE Conference held from December 3rd to 6th, 2025 at Universidad Diego Portales and Universidad Alberto Hurtado in Santiago, Chile. Attendance is not required' however a $500 USD grant will be available to assist the awardee with travel costs. 



Recipients of the Rhedding-Jones Outstanding Dissertation Award

2024
Lily Padía (New York University), Communicative justice: Bilingual nonspeaking children and families languaging beyond the spoken word. 

2023
Dr Lindsay Schofield (Manchester Metropolitan University), Ecologies of touch.

2022
Dr. Müge Olğun-Baytaş (Penn State University), Everyday citizenship for young children at a faith-based school: An ethnographic study.

2020
Dr. Ayesha Rabadi-Raol (Teachers College, Columbia University), What if you just listened to the experience of an immigrant teacher?

Dr. Claudia Díaz-Díaz (University of British Columbia), Places that speak: Diversity and social responsibility in Canadian early childhood education.

Dr. Luz Marina Hoyos (Concordia University), Honouring cultural differences in early childhood education and care: A participatory research project with a Colombian Embera Chami Indigenous Community.

Dr. Yulida Pangastuti (University of Auckland), Expansion of early childhood education in Indonesia: Finding voices, telling stories.

2019
Dr. Margarita Ruiz-Guerrero (New Mexico State), Nutrition in early childhood: A Black feminist analysis of Head Start.

2018
Dr. Maria Persons (City University of New York), Critical play: Agency, interdependency, and intersectionality in an early childhood classroom.

2017
Dr. Emma Buchanan (Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne), From developing child to competent learner: A history of the kindergarten child and progressive reform in Aotearoa New Zealand.

2016
Dr. Sapna Thapa (University of Wisconsin-Stout), The elusive nature of equity and quality in early childhood education: Policy rhetoric, meanings and local perceptions in Nepal and Wisconsin, USA.

2015
Dr. Casey Y. Myers (Kent State University), Children, among other things: Entangled cartographies of the more-than-human kindergarten classroom.