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Articles Teaching and Learning

Cross-phase articles about teaching and learning

106 articles in this category

    We all know that feeling of starting something new: a bit excited, probably quite anxious about where everything is and what is expected of us, worried about not knowing people, the nervous butterflies in the stomach that can range from a flutter t…
    ‘Listening’ in the early years is used to mean valuing and responding to children’s thoughts, ideas and feelings, offering genuine choice and involving children in decisions that affect their daily lives
    Early years educator and technology enthusiast, Richard Waite, takes a closer look at how we are preparing children in the early years for a future of rapidly changing technologies, including AI. 
    Having worked with children with speech, language and communication difficulties for twenty five years I am constantly surprised when I meet typically developing pre-school children with whom I can hold complex conversations.  Children who are abl…
    I’m fascinated by children’s behaviour and the possible reasons behind it.  It can be tempting to just look at what’s on the surface (the behaviour we see) and ignore what’s happening underneath (the underlying causes) but this only leads to short …
    A brief history and summary of the theories and practical aspects of the Reggio Emilia approach. Malaguzzi had a deep sense of respect for children's ability to be partners in their own learning, and this is at the heart of the Reggio approach to edu…
    In her lifetime, Maria Montessori was regarded as one of the foremost female educationalists and her legacy continues today in many Montessori schools worldwide.
    Dewey partitioned childhood into different stages of development, the first stage being from the ages of four to eight years. He believed that during this period the key factors for successful learning were play, conversation, physical activity and s…
    Like other educational theorists before him, Steiner divided childhood up into distinct phases. They fall in seven year cycles and are marked by physical changes in the child. He explained that the early years of childhood are a time of learning by b…
    Pestalozzi realised that children feel safe and secure at home and that it was this atmosphere that was most conducive to learning. However, he founded a number of educational establishments as he was aware that not all children could spend time lear…
    Rousseau's understanding of the early years of child development as being a profound time in our lives is still relevant today. His appreciation of how much a child learns through finding things out for themselves, and of the role of observation and …
    Belle Wallace, creator of the TASC framework for developing children's thinking and problem-solving skills, explains how significant the relationship is between the acquisition of language and the development of thought.
    The last in a series of articles examining recent developments in our understanding of how children learn. Here, Juliet Mickelburgh looks at what is meant by child-initiated learning, its presence in the EYFS, and how it influences good early years p…
    Drawing is an activity that most young children enjoy and there is much evidence to show how it can offer them a powerful means of communicating their ideas, experiences and feelings. In this article, Exeter PhD student Emese Hall tells us about her …
    What exactly are schemas, and how useful are they in providing the right learning environment for our very young children? This article brings together various definitions of schemas, followed by a brief description of named schemas and a discussion …
    Sara Knight, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Anglia Ruskin University, discusses the historical meanings of "schooling" and their relevance to today's young children. She outlines four ways in which we learn, and explains her concerns …
    All children are different because each brings different experiences into the setting but this individuality and diversity is in itself a great opportunity for children to learn to value each other and to appreciate their own special distinctivenes…
    Many of the FSF members follow Alistair Bryce-Clegg's blog and have attended his very popular presentations. Following a discussion here about his innovative 'objective-led planning', we invited Alistair to explain this approach.
    What children need in settings is a chance to spend quality time with an adult, with reading material that excites the children’s interests, in a space that is inviting.  
    It is not always clear  how observations should be used to inform planning, assessments and evaluation of children's progress. Sometimes the huge array of choices can make choosing a next step a really confusing task.
    In this article, Kathy Brodie focuses on how sustained shared thinking can support each of the Prime areas of learning and development, as defined by the EYFS – Communication and Language; Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Devel…
    Kathy Brodie examines how Sustained Shared Thinking can be used to enhance the four areas of learning and development in the EYFS known as the Specific Areas: Mathematics, Expressive Arts and Design, Literacy and Understanding the World.
    “Only through the arts and by being creative can children explore the inner world of their imagination and feeling – the world that is uniquely them”. Sir Ken Robinson, Patron of Earlyarts.   ‘One day a grandma was a parent helper teaching in one ar…
    Nature pedagogy is defined as a natural way of working with children that embraces nature. It is all encompassing, from the educational environments we create, to the process of assessment and planning, through to the Learning Journeys that we enco…
    Planning for individual children is a statutory requirement.   However, such plans do not have to be written down.  A skilful practitioner is making several hundred “in the moment” plans every day.