The revision of the EYFS and then the publication of two non-statutory guidance documents: Development Matters 2021 and Birth to 5 Matters might feel overwhelming for early years practitioners who are still trying to get to grips with the loosening of restrictions in the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the option of two quite different non-statutory guidance, gives practitioners, teams, and settings a choice. They can choose to use one, the other, a mixture of both or neither.
Being asked to make a choice is actually very positive for the sector. We hear a lot about practitioners being asked to use their ‘professional judgement’ and now there is an ideal opportunity to do just that. Considering all these changes, early educators can use this autumn term to pause, think and reflect about their practice, what they believe and what they are ultimately trying to accomplish.
Although the pandemic has been frightening, lonely and tragic in many ways, lots of people seemed to find the slower pace of life refreshing. Being forced to relinquish travel meant people had time to engage more with their community and locality. The pandemic also gave people time to pause, think and reflect about what they most valued.
This time for the early years sector is also unique and allows us to build on the wider pandemic learning and consider what we value when working with our youngest citizens. Pedagogy is a word that many people use but is often left unexplained. Birth to 5 Matter’s glossary defines is as:
‘the understanding of how children learn and develop and the practices through which adults can enhance the process, rooted in values and beliefs about what we want for children and supported by knowledge, theory and experience.’ (Birth to 5 Matters p,120)
Put simply, pedagogy is what you believe about children, how they learn and how adults support them. Pedagogy is also steeped in what you value. For example, if I believe that being outside is important for children’s wellbeing and the increased levels of oxygen helps their brain function better, increasing their learning capacity – I will make sure that the children in my setting can be outside more often than not.
When faced with opposition to this, I will work hard to remove barriers to allow this to happen – because I believe in the importance of outdoors learning. How you set up your environment, mealtimes, toileting, and intimate care procedures all reflect what you believe and value about children, their learning, care and development. Often in the busy-ness of early education settings, routines are followed, and the day happens sometimes because ‘we’ve always done it like this’ or your practice might be instinctive.
Implementing best practice needs to be rooted in reflection and requires clarity of both thought and purpose. Using this time to pause and consider which non statutory guidance to use and how it might be used, offers a time to re-boot and examine what you are doing, how and why you are doing it. When you start to think about your pedagogy, or what you believe, working with the children becomes more intentional. This pausing and re-evaluating is not necessarily a one-time event.
Change or decision-making does not need to happen instantly. We often talk about children’s learning journeys. This is a great metaphor which captures something of the motion and developing nature of learning.
I was talking recently to a colleague about his experiences of using Birth to 5 Matters (Tim Hopkins Podcast, Birth to 5 Matters). He also described the process as going on a journey. Being an early educator, committed to best practice means continually learning.
In the sector, we are all on a journey finding out new things, adding to what we know and developing our professional judgement. We live, we learn, we adapt, and we grow in knowledge and experience. So, in this time of change, reflection and re-calibration let’s commit ourselves to journey together as we endeavour to offer the best possible experiences for our youngest citizens.