Part of our responsibility is to prepare our children for an increasingly unpredictable future, and within this, the importance of quality in early childhood education (ECE) is becoming ever more paramount.
The concept of quality itself is contested, heavily subject to perceptions and positions regarding the purpose of education (in general and ECE in particular). However, it is becoming more obvious that a clearer, more coherent consensus is required that draws upon evidence and the aspirations of the outcomes we intend.
The stakes are now higher than ever. We have always known the importance of early childhood experiences and how they affect both immediate and long-term trajectories for success (in all aspects of life). However, the impact and consequences of the pandemic and the rapidly changing social, economic, environmental and technological landscape have further intensified the spotlight on how we provide appropriate educational experiences for children in ECE and establish the appropriate ‘groundwork’ to enable success.
The relatively recent refocus on building core content, acquiring cultural capital and refining knowledge, skills and mastery in the technical aspects of literacy and mathematics has effectively redrawn some elements and understanding of ECE. In some cases, this has heavily reshaped practice and provision. While the statutory EYFS provides a top-level overview of aspirations and expectations, the need to design and implement an appropriate and responsive curriculum remains a key focus of priority for educators.
So, within that curriculum lies the intention that it aspires to good outcomes for all children, providing them with the necessary knowledge, skills and competencies to be successful. This instils a sense of clear purpose to ECE, and within it there must be an acknowledgement of the process of learning itself. The critical ‘Learning Behaviours’, the capabilities that enable and empower the drivers, understanding, connection and purpose of learning, need to be fully understood, facilitated, supported and challenged with the same focus and priority as any other part of more ‘traditional’ curriculum content.
PURPOSE IN MIND
Learning Behaviours are not an‘add on’ or some kind of ‘alternative’ to the more specific skills and knowledge content of the curriculum. They act in a clear and explicit tandem with these, and in a real sense form part of an intricate symbiotic relationship that truly enables learning, development and progress to take place.
In the same way that knowledge cannot exist sustainably as a separate disembodied entity, nor can the abstract nature of Learning Behaviours exist in their own right. Knowledge is retained and recalled with a purpose in mind, an intention, an application in order for it to make sense and have meaning and purpose. Learning Behaviours exist as the engine to ensure that knowledge and skills have the purpose and connection to be valuable, meaningful and therefore ultimately sustainable and purposeful. Without knowledge and skills there is no content that needs to be protected and supported in order to reflect and express what has been learned. But equally, without Learning Behaviours there is no context and purpose to what has been acquired, retained, retrieved.
The two elements are equivalently important and interdependent and require similar understanding and capacity for teaching and supporting the quest for mastery.
The importance of Learning Behaviours has long been recognised and acknowledged in ECE. In a global context, kindergarten curricula, or frameworks for provision, contain elements that support Learning Behaviours and foreground them within the suite of aspirations and expectations. For example, the Pre-primary Curriculum for Hong Kong(1) asserts the aspiration: ‘To enable every person to attain all-round development in the domains of ethics, intellect, physique, social skills and aesthetics according to his/her own attributes, so that he/she is capable of life-long learning, critical and exploratory thinking, innovating and adapting to change.’
In the English EYFS(2), the Characteristics for Effective Learning(3) identify elements of identified Learning Behaviours such as exploring, investigating, persisting, critical thinking and creativity and that are designed to underpin a child’s approach to learning and development.
LIFELONG LEARNING
The recent Ofsted document The best start in life(4) draws upon the evidence of cognitive science and particularly the role of executive functioning as a key element to enabling cognitive processes.
The Education Endowment Foundation’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit(5) identifies the Learning Behaviours of metacognition and self-regulation as having a ‘Very high impact for very low cost based on extensive evidence’.
Additionally, Getting it right in the Early Years Foundation Stage: a review of the evidence(6) identified the Learning Behaviours of self-regulation, executive functioning, metacognition, cognitive flexibility, working memory and inhibitory control as strong indicators of future success when secure within a child’s early childhood experiences.
Although the description of ‘Learning Behaviours’ is a very broad term, there are specific behaviours, disciplines, elements or competencies that can be identified and specifically supported.
This terminology is used throughout the educational sphere and describes attributes of Learning Behaviours that continue and are relevant throughout a person’s life. It is particularly relevant and important that, as already discussed, they are identified as priorities in ECE and supported effectively so that the foundations for their individual and collective development is secure. Equally important is the terminology itself and that there is a strong consistency of language and description so that the continuum from ECE to middle childhood, adolescence and beyond is clear.
Here are the 12 key Learning Behaviours:
Executive functioning
The best start in life(7) describes this as: ‘Executive function (also known as cognitive control) refers to mental processes that begin to develop from birth and are considered essential for learning, as well as for cognitive, social and psychological development.’ While it is often described as including other Learning Behaviours such as inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility, it is further defined as a behaviour that ‘makes it possible to mentally play with ideas and successfully navigate challenges, and to stay focused while doing so’(8).
As part of acquiring and developing the competency of executive functioning, children in ECE develop their ability to understand their thinking and how this organises their knowledge. They learn strategies to manage this to access their memory and recall information, skills and knowledge. This allows them to develop thinking behaviours that enable them to sequence and plan events and actions. They will be able to describe how they are able to do this.
Co-regulation/ Self-regulation
Identified as an element of PSED as an Area of Learning and Development in the EYFS(9), it is described as follows: ‘Children should be supported to manage emotions, develop a positive sense of self, set themselves simple goals, have confidence in their own abilities, to persist and wait for what they want and direct attention as necessary.’(10) Through the developing competency of co- and self-regulation, children learn how to manage and control their emotions, impulses and immediate desires. As this deepens and develops, they begin to understand the consequences of their actions and are initially supported and then acquire strategies to modify, reflect on and adapt their impulses in order to act appropriately.
Working memory/Retrieval
While the process of learning and thinking is more complex than simply activating – or retrieving – what has been remembered, it does lie at the core of these processes and is a fundamental prerequisite of learning and progress. All knowledge and skills are ‘learned’ and need to be remembered in order to be used. The issue with memory is not the creation of the memory itself but the ability, or capacity, to retrieve it. Being able to access this, to remember something and then utilise it or apply it, is an important means by which knowledge and skills are strengthened and secured.
Metacognition
This is thinking about thinking and the ability to understand how knowledge and skills are learned, understood and retrieved. Being able to articulate and identify how something is ‘known’ requires a skilful use and confidence with knowledge, connections and retrieval. This means that children will be able to think about situations and address challenges to provide solutions or outcomes. They will learn how to describe their thinking processes and are able to explore how they know what they know using recall, memory and visualisation where appropriate.
Cognitive flexibility
Cognitive flexibility refers to the brain’s ability to transition from thinking about one concept to another. The quicker you are able to switch or ‘shift’ your thinking, the greater your cognitive flexibility. Cognitive flexibility describes the brain’s ability to think about different ideas during an episode of learning and shift from one focus to another, drawing in the relevant knowledge and skills as required. Children learn how to confidently move their thinking between different concepts and situations. They develop the ability to use this to review and understand different ideas and become able to describe the thought processes that they use.
Motivation
Sustaining motivation is critical. Being driven to pursue ideas and thoughts, and resolving obstacles that these pose, is a vital learning – and indeed lifelong – behaviour. A child’s intrinsic motivation enables them to channel their energy to fully engage in experiences and activities and overcome challenges so that they remain focused on achievement. Through this, they develop a range of skills and behaviours that foster vital life skills of independence, self-management and persistence. Through this, they also establish self-awareness and the foundations of resilience.
Curiosity
It is generally agreed that curiosity is an innate, biologically primed behaviour and that babies are born with an ‘exploratory urge’. The need to explore, experiment, follow ideas and fascination is a core driver of learning and development and vital for children to access and retrieve knowledge and skills that support this. When this is effectively recognised and supported, it ensures that children are able to pursue their interests and ideas to understand and make sense of themselves and the world around them. While the competency is an ‘innate’ one, it still requires specific acknowledgement and support to enable it to thrive.
Creativity
Understanding and recognising the processes in creativity are important because although children’s activity is intrinsically creative and their perceptions are unique and original, they still require the opportunity to discover their own strengths and use them to pursue their own expression and communication. Through exploring concepts, materials and knowledge in all learning domains, children develop and sustain the ability to think differently and combine ideas. A part of this entails generating ideas and activating the imagination, part will be how and where this is communicated, and part will be thinking critically by learning how to make decisions and choices based on information and how they then approach situations.
Resilience
The ability to ‘bounce back’ after encountering adversity is an important life skill in itself but especially relevant in the sphere of learning. Making mistakes, learning from them and being able to re-apply them for a renewed and better informed challenge is an important way in which connections are made, knowledge is embedded and strengthened and skills are honed and refined. Using determination and self-discipline to follow through in difficult situations ensures that children retain and enhance their focus.
Emotional literacy
Emotional literacy is a critical skill, based on knowledge and language by which children learn to understand that they have a range of their emotions and that these can change or be affected by different situations. Effective emotional literacy ensures that children are able to recognise different emotions and name them, understanding their purpose, limitations and impact on themselves and others. This will enable children to talk about emotions, what events or situations trigger or lead to experiencing emotions and develop strategies for managing them effectively.
Independence
Autonomy of thought and action is developed when children have opportunities to make choices and follow ideas. By initiating and pursuing their own fascinations, ideas and self-initiated projects they refine and enhance the necessary skills and draw from appropriate knowledge to communicate, represent and problem-solve. As an outcome from motivation and curiosity, the ability to think and act independently drives the process of self-led activity. In doing this, children learn to approach and engage with activities and experiences on their own, asking adults for help when required. They are keen to complete and experience different elements of learning and development with increasing and confident independence.
Involvement
The pioneering work of professor Ferre Laevers(11) identified the concept of ‘Involvement’ as the necessary intensity – or ideal level quality – of thought that takes place that secures long-term development and progress. It is considered a vital element that secures and extends learning and enables a child to fully utilise their knowledge and skills to the optimum effect. He describes this intense state as when a child demonstrates high levels of concentration, persistence and energy, they make choices and become absorbed and focused on what they do.
This level of detail and complexity may appear initially daunting. However, ECE educators need to be aware that although Learning Behaviours are – or should be – an intrinsic part of the curriculum and exist in tandem with more expected learning domains, they are applicable and achievable in everyday practice. As with the majority of knowledge and skills, they are learned – and therefore teachable – aspects of development and progress. Educators need to consider the nature and definition of each Learning Behaviour, and how this manifests itself in an ECE context. This will provide a plethora of opportunities to identify, support and facilitate their development.
Key considerations might be:
- Is supporting and developing Learning Behaviours explicitly planned for, in whole group and small group contexts? Do educators focus on teaching the importance of a Learning Behaviour and how it is demonstrated using texts, stories and recounting experiences? Within these, are the Learning Behaviours named and made explicit so that children are aware of them in everyday life?
- Do the learning environment and resource areas provide opportunities for children to develop, sustain and embed Learning Behaviours? Do resources and materials create situations in which different aspects of Learning Behaviours are demonstrated, and are these reviewed and celebrated at the end of a session, as any other attainment or achievement would be?
- During child-led episodes of activity, do educators see Learning Behaviours as opportunities for ‘teachable moments’, identifying a possible impactful interaction where this is supported, challenged or consolidated?
Jan Dubiel is an independent ECE consultant and adviser
REFERENCES
- The Curriculum Development Council of Hong Kong (2003)Guide to the Pre-primary Curriculum
- DfE (2023)Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework
- DfE (2023)
- Ofsted (2022)Best start in life: part 1: setting the scene
- https://bit.ly/3rKPcNb
- Centre for Research in Early Childhood
- Ofsted (2022)
- Ofsted (2022)
- DfE (2023)
- DfE (2023)
- Laevers F, et al. (2012)A Process-Oriented Monitoring System for Early Years (POMS-EY)