Norland Educare Research Journal
About our research
Norland is pleased to announce the publication of the Norland Educare Research Journal (NERJ) to be launched in Spring 2023. The journal is a tribute to the legacy of the educational pioneer Emily Ward, the founder of Norland, who recognised the significance of educare. Emily Ward envisioned education and care as indistinguishable ingredients of childcare by arguing that young children should be cared for by trained professionals and their care should be structured and centred around the child, offered in a loving and nurturing environment. Love and resilience, reflected in Norland’s twin mottoes ‘Love Never Faileth’ and Fortis In Arduis’ (Strength in Adversity) underpinned her philosophy about human existence and experience and continue to be the fundamental guiding principles of the work of Norland.
The NERJ focuses on research aiming at advancing and enhancing the knowledge base for professional practices and policies for home-based childcare. It welcomes papers exploring contemporary issues pertaining to the educare of young children but it particularly invites papers which offer different, alternative, and unique perspectives on the established discourse, and convey thought leadership substantiated by rigorous and credible research, and argumentation. It offers a home to both experienced and new researchers to disseminate their research in a journal which has a distinct thematic focus on the interplay of care and education, reflected in the journal title.
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Scope and aim of the Norland Educare Research Journal
The NERJ is an international double-blind peer-reviewed journal, published twice annually in June and December, and online only. It is a genuine academic ground-roots initiative intended to give voice to researchers of high calibre whose work is under-represented in the field of educare, and provide a home to experienced and new researchers. It is an open access journal, offering free of charge publication to researchers and authors and free access to papers for readers, reflecting Norland’s commitment to democratise knowledge dissemination.
The journal has a dual aim:
- to disseminate research on topics and themes that concern home-based childcare.
- to offer researchers in the field of educare an open access journal for publishing their work free of charge and readers (including professional nannies) to access the journal content without any charges.
Values and commitment
The NERJ is committed to:
- high quality, credible and trustworthy research.
- evidence-based and research-informed professional practice and policy.
- democratising knowledge generation and dissemination to serve best the most precious and important members of our society, the children.
Thematic focus
The NERJ accepts papers that consider educare from discipline-specific and interdisciplinary perspectives such as child psychology, sociology, philosophy, economy, law, policy, health, education, and caring professions. It accepts:
- empirical research papers
- systematic literature reviews and scoping studies
- philosophical and position papers
- critical reviews and commentaries
- methodological papers
Visit our types of papers page for more information.
Submitted papers may address topics such as:
- characteristics and quality of home-based educare; parents’/guardians’ motivations for home-based educare; policy and regulation of home-based educare.
- training, qualifications and continuing professional development of home-based educarers.
- breast feeding, weaning and child nutrition; child health and vaccination; sleeping and sleep problems; routines and self-regulation; well-being, mental health, and behaviour; early stimulation and brain development; emotionality, rationality, and relationality.
- family and intergenerational educare practices; deprivation; postnatal depression and educare; toxic stress; disability, special educational needs, and inclusion; culture, language and family literacy; immigration/forced migration; trauma and resilience.
- research with children and parents and guardians; professional and research ethics; new methodologies in home-based educare.
This is not an exhaustive list and papers concerning relevant topics are welcome.
Papers submitted for publication should follow the Information and Instructions for authors and the journal policies.
Call for papers
We have an ongoing open call for papers and we are interested in proposals for special issues with a distinct thematic focus. Should you be interested in submitting a paper or discussing a special issue, please contact [email protected].
The Norland Educare Research Journal is committed to supporting, and disseminating the work of, researchers who are new to publishing. Should you be interested in publishing your work with us, please complete the form at the bottom of this page.