Nursery World - Learning & Development: PSED: Part 1

Much emphasis is put on academic achievement, but how do we support
each child to become a person? Marion Dowling begins a three-part series

In this current climate, which emphasises the need to focus on young children's achievements and ratchet up their academic standards, perhaps we should return to basic principles and ask ourselves two questions, namely:

In responding to the first question, it is useful to recall two historic quotes. In the 1967 Plowden Report, Lady Plowden recommended that 'children should be agents in their own learning'1. The belief that young children should be supported to act for themselves is now strongly represented in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) through the characteristics of effective learning.

Almost 30 years later, in the influential Start Right report, Sir Christopher Ball pointed out that mastering subjects or disciplines provided merely 'tokens of learning'. He emphasised that 'the art of learning is concerned with the "super skills and attitudes" of which motivation, socialisation and confidence are the most important. These are the fruits of early learning2.

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