Jacky Tyrie

Dr Jacky Tyrie is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Director of MA Childhood Studies at Swansea University’s Education and Childhood Studies department within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. With 15+ years in higher education, her work bridges sociology, geography, and early childhood studies, focusing on children’s rights, participation, and equity. She leads the national Children’s Rights in Early Years Network (CREY), fostering collaboration among academics, policymakers, and practitioners.

Education & Career: Previously at Cardiff Metropolitan University, her career highlights include principal investigator roles on multiple funded projects. Current research explores lived human rights experiences of young children and pandemic impacts on under-fives in Wales.

Research Interests:

• Children’s rights in early years policy and practice
• Participatory methodologies with young children
• Gender equity in early education
• Outdoor learning and well-being
• Community engagement in play provision

Professional Roles: Trustee of Play Wales, Affiliate of Children’s Human Rights Observatory, and member of Wales’ Children’s Research Network and MatCHNet. She co-developed the ‘Open All Hours’ project to repurpose school grounds for community play.

Grants & Projects: Led Delphi studies on pandemic impacts and co-authored action research on play access. Her work spans Wales’ curriculum reforms and teacher training in participatory pedagogy.

Labs/Teams: CREY Network coordinates cross-sectoral collaborations, while her university’s Outdoor Learning Centre exemplifies community-driven environmental education initiatives.