Dr Anita Soni

Dr Anita Soni

School of Education
Academic and professional tutor

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 3603
Email
a.soni@bham.ac.uk
Address
School of Education
University 麻豆精选
Edgbaston, Birmingham
B15 2TT

Anita is interested in working with children and their families in their early years of life, between birth and 7 years. She is enthusiastic about developing the skills of the Children’s Workforce, especially those working in Children’s Centres, and early childhood/years provision in the maintained, voluntary and independent sectors. This includes teachers, managers, teaching assistants, Family Support Workers, early years practitioners and childminders. She has used a range of approaches to enable this including training, group supervision and consultation. Anita’s particular interests are early childhood, Children’s Centres, the Key Person approach, personal, social and emotional development and supervision, video interactive guidance (VIG) and video enhanced reflective practice (VERP).

Qualifications

  • Professional Doctorate in Educational Psychology, University 麻豆精选, 2010
  • Member of British Psychological Society (BPS) and Health Professional Council (HPC)
  • MSc in Educational Psychology, University 麻豆精选, 2002
  • BSc in Psychology, Open University, 2000
  • MA in Education, University of Central England, 1999 
  • PGCE, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1991
  • BA in History and Social Policy, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1990

Biography

Anita Soni qualified with a BA (Hons) in History and Social policy and immediately trained as a teacher with a specialism in early years at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne. After teaching in Sunderland for 3 years, Anita moved to Birmingham, and taught at three primary schools before applying to become an Educational Psychologist (EP) on the current Masters in Educational Psychology programme.

After qualifying as an EP, Anita worked within the Educational Psychology Service in Worcestershire Children’s Services, continuing to have an interest in work with children aged 0-5. In 2008 Anita became a Senior EP and worked for the Early Years Childcare Service, and Extended Services to Schools and Children’s Centres. She supervised trainee EPs on placement in Worcestershire, and took on a role as a Core Tutor for Year 1 students, before joining the Academic and Professional Tutor Team in 2010.

Teaching

Anita teaches on the Doctorate in Applied Educational and Child Psychology programme.

If you are interested in postgraduate research, please visit our dedicated postgraduate webpages.

Research

2015 - 2018 Improving the curriculum and teaching methods to influence policy and increase the quality of ECDE provision for children with disabilities in Malawi 

Research interests include;

  • Use of video interactive guidance (VIG) and video enhanced reflective practice (VERP)
  • The use of group supervision
  • EP role in Children’s Centres and early childhood provision
  • Children’s participation rights

Other activities

  • Director of Early Years Solutions Ltd 
  • Member of the Executive for TACTYC - Association for the Professional Development of Early Years Educators
  • Chair for Friends of Signpost Inclusion

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Davies, N & Soni, A 2025, '', Support for Learning.

Chibbra, P & Soni, A 2024, '', Educational and Child Psychology.

Mansfield, E & Soni, A 2024, '', Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, pp. 1-15.

Soni, A 2024, '', Educational Psychology Research and Practice (EPRAP), vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1-8.

Halton, L & Soni, A 2023, '', Educational and Child Psychology, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 69-83.

Soni, A & Callicott, K 2023, '', Educational and Child Psychology, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 44-55.

Soni, A, Fong, H & Janda, T 2022, '', Educational Psychology in Practice, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 194-213.

Soni, A, Reyes Soto, M & Lynch, P 2022, '', Journal of Early Childhood Research, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 59-79.

Fong, H & Soni, A 2022, '', Support for Learning, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 21-43.

Soni, A 2022, '' International Teacher magazine. <>

Soni, A, Moss, A, Townsend, H, Webb, F, James, K & Davis, A 2022, '', Attuned Interactions, vol. 9, pp. 1-5. <>

Soni, A 2022, '' International Teacher magazine. <>

Hickinbotham, L & Soni, A 2021, '', Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 135-150.

Chapter

Dunsmuir, S, Soni, A & Wright, S 2024, . in C Hatzichristou, BK Nastasi & SR Jimerson (eds), Handbook of School Psychology in a Global Context: Transnational Approaches to Support Children, Families and School Communities. 1 edn, Springer, pp. 379-395.

Editorial

Barrow, W, Birchwood, J, Callicott, K, Soni, A & Watson, T 2023, '', Educational and Child Psychology, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 5-6.

Expertise

early childhood, supervision, nursery/early years