ABSTRACT
It has often been argued in the UK that teaching and research proceed in parallel but rarely meet to inform each other. It is usually difficult to discern where the relevant results of research have impacted fully on educational practice. This interesting enquiry was set in the context of many UK children, especially in England, attending formal infant classes at four years of age. Overwhelmingly, the whole area of neuroscience has dominated the early year's sector in the past few years. There are conflicting views about the extent to which environmental influences and stimulation shape early brain development and subsequently impact upon one's later physical and mental well-being. Research carries a number of different meanings and it is important to distinguish between them and understand the varied methodologies if its value is not to be dismissed out of hand. Changing perspectives on child development were highlighted in the Introduction, and this section expands on the points made there.
