Features

Learning & Development: Practitioner Role: Part 1 - Time to talk

Practice Positive Relationships Learning & Development Child Development Practitioner Role
To be effective communicators, young children need attention from adults who are tuned in to what is worthwhile to them, writes Julie Fisher in the first of a four-part series about the role of the practitioner in early learning.

Photographs by Justin Thomas at Headington Quarry Foundation Stage School and The Slade Nursery School and Children's Centre, Oxford.

How do young children communicate? What are the barriers to communicating effectively with children? Where and with whom do children talk most freely? These are just some of the questions raised by 'Interacting or Interfering? - The Oxfordshire Adult-Child Interaction Project', which aims to give practitioners a better understanding of their role in supporting early learning.

The Project involves 14 practitioners, who work across a variety of schools and settings and educate children aged from six months to six years. Project participants agreed to be filmed once a term for two years. This filming has yielded an invaluable library of footage for analysis and reflection on the adult role in early learning (see box, page 20).

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included

  • Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month

  • Unlimited access to news and opinion

  • Email newsletter providing activity ideas, best practice and breaking news

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here