114 | Quality Early Learning
emotional development, preliteracy and prenumeracy understandings and abilities, ways of understanding the world, and self- expression through the creative arts. It is vital that ECE educators work with parents to enhance the quality of the home experience and the smooth transition from home to preschool. When planning for implementation, a three-step process is advised, including a diagnosis to understand the current cultural and political context, planning for implementation, and ensuring a plan and process for continuous feedback and improvement. See table 2.1 for a summary of the key takeaways in this chapter.
Table 2.1 Chapter 2: Summary of Key Takeaways The nature and quality of adult-child relationships • The role of the ECE educator is most effectively that of facilitator and guide rather than instructor. This has been referred to as a “relational” rather than an instructional pedagogy. • There are three key elements of quality ECE pedagogy: (1) supporting children’s spoken and communication skills, (2) supporting children’s ability to self-regulate their cognitive and emotional mental processes, and (3) creating opportunities for active learning through play.
Element 1: Communicating meaning • Children need to be given opportunities to communicate meaning by representing their perceptions and understandings about the world through a range of linguistic, visual, and physical media, including activities. • Children’s ability to communicate meaning is influenced by their oral language, exploratory talk, and narrative skills. • Various specific activities and tools are available that teachers can use to cultivate these skills, including book reading and story-telling. Opportunities to engage in back-and-forth interactions with teachers and peers, as well as opportunities for children to explain themselves, can all build children’s ability to communicate meaning.
Element 2: Self-regulation • Children’s self-regulation abilities are highly influenced by a range of social factors and so are teachable. • Classrooms supporting self-regulation are characterized by challenging and open-ended tasks, opportunities for children to control the level of challenge, and the encouragement of positive feelings toward challenge. • Children’s autonomy should be supported through the provision of choice and encouragement for children to develop their ideas and interests, and approaches that encourage children to talk about and reflect upon their learning. continued next page
