See below for descriptions and instructions for submitting nominations for the: 2026 Bloch Distinguished Career Award, 2026 Tobin Mentoring Award, 2026 Rhedding-Jones Dissertation Award 

Nominations Sought for the 2026 Bloch Distinguished Career Award
The Bloch Distinguished Career Award is an annual award given to a scholar researcher who, as an active participant in RECE, has made significant and sustained contributions to reconceptualizing early childhood research, practice, and/or theory at local, national, and/or international levels. The purpose of the award is twofold: to honor scholars whose work has informed and influenced critical inquiry in early childhood education and to acknowledge significant contributions to work of RECE in the larger context of educational research, practice, and theory.

Eligibility Criteria

• The nominee should be a senior scholar with a strong record of accomplishmentas described above.
• The nominee should have made significant and sustained contributions to reconceptualizing early childhood research, practice, and/or theory at local, national, and/or international levels.
• The nominee should be someone who has made a significant contribution to building RECE communities of scholars, practitioners, or activists at a local, national, and/or international level.
• Self‐nominations are not accepted.

Application Material

1. At least two letters of nomination stating the basis for the nomination, including a brief outline of nominee’s role in RECE and their research and scholarly legacy with explicit connections between this work and critical issues in early childhood education.
2. Curriculum Vitae (10 pages maximum).
3. Additional supporting materials may be included such as letters of support from scholars and graduate researchers (maximum 5 supporting letters).

Timeline and Submission Instructions
Nominations should be sent to Kyunghwa Lee, Chair of the Bloch Award Review Committee, (kyunghwa@uga.edu) no later than June 26, 2026. Late submissions or additional supporting material will not be accepted after this date.

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 or before September 15, 2026.

The award will be presented at the 32nd Annual RECE Conference held from November 20 to 24, 2026 at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka University of Otago, and Te Kura Ākau Taitoka University of Otago College of Education in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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Nominations Sought for the 2026 Tobin Distinguished Mentoring Award
The Tobin Distinguished Mentoring Award recognizes an established or emerging scholar in the RECE community who has made distinguished contributions in the mentoring of students and/or colleagues, contributing to the development and sustaining of
researchers and/or teachers who focus on the shared principles and values of the Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education group.

Application Materials
Nomination materials must include electronic copies of the following:

1. A cover letter describing the research contributions in this area and the reasons the candidate is uniquely qualified to receive the award
2. A copy of the candidate’s most recent curriculum vita.
3. At least 2 letters of support from former mentees

Timeline and Submission Instructions
Nominations should be sent to Gail Boldt, Chair of the Tobin Award Review Committee, (gmb15@psu.edu) no later than June 26, 2026. Late submissions or additional supporting material will not be accepted after this date.

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 or before September 15, 2026.

The award will be presented at the 32nd Annual RECE Conference held from November 20 to 24, 2026 at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka University of Otago, and Te Kura Ākau Taitoka University of Otago College of Education in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Nominations Sought for the 2026 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

Eligibility
The award will be considered for those graduates who have submitted their doctorate in the period between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025 (graduated). The nominee’s active engagement with both 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
• 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 sent to Margarita Ruiz Guerrero, Chair of the Rhedding-Jones Award Review Committee (ruizgum@wwu.edu) by June 26, 2026.

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 or before September 15, 2026.

The award will be presented at the 32nd Annual RECE Conference held from November 20 to 24, 2026 at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka University of Otago, and Te Kura Ākau Taitoka University of Otago College of Education in Aotearoa New Zealand. While awardees do not have to attend the Conference, a grant to contribute to the awardee’s travel costs to attend the RECE 2026
Conference will be provided.