Viki Bennett Kane

Biography

Viki has extensive experience in early years lecturing, leadership, management and inter-institutional collaboration in higher education, which she has applied to the design and validation of the Norland MA in Early Childhood Education and Care, working closely with Dr Alex Morfaki.

Previously at Bath Spa University for 15 years, she led the long-standing foundation and honours degrees in Early Childhood and Education Studies, focusing on delivering a positive, purposeful and professionally relevant student experience. She maintained collaborative partnerships with regional further education colleges, reviewing, developing and reporting on reciprocal academic understandings and the consistency of standards and procedures. Through this, Viki gained an informed understanding of supporting undergraduate students to develop their own principles and academic practices as they progressed into employment roles working with young children.

She has a master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies, for which her dissertation research used focus groups to examine practitioner reflections on the importance of play for young children. Viki has also collaborated on published research with two other universities, exploring the potential and impact of foundation degree academic study for teaching assistant graduates. She carried out funded research with Bath Spa University and the charity AT The Bus to investigate the practice of art as therapy in primary schools.

Before working in higher education, Viki began her career as an early years teacher after gaining her PGCE in 1992. Teaching the youngest children in schools established her belief in the importance of the reflective, caring and knowledgeable teacher in young children’s lives, who is aware of, and fascinated by, children’s agency and competence. Following her teaching roles, she worked in quality improvement at Wiltshire and Bristol local authorities, monitoring inspection outcomes, running training and professional development, and facilitating local professional networks for early years settings and practitioners.