David Hawker is a professor of the College of Teachers, UK and an Honorary Professor of Durham University. He has held a number of leadership positions in the UK educational system, including as Director General in both the Welsh Government and the English Department for Education. He has advised a number of governments and international agencies on educational policy issues, including early education and childcare. His publications on the subject include contributing chapters to the 4th and 5th editions of Contemporary Issues in the Early Years (2006 and 2010), and the Handbook of International Development and Education (2015, forthcoming). He is a policy adviser to iPIPS, a proposed new international survey of children starting school, based in the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University.