Currently there is a great deal of interest in supporting three-, four- and five-year-olds as independent learners and promoting active thinking skills in primary and secondary school children. There is also concern about what happens to young children when their early experiences of learning are highly structured by adults and they have minimal choice over activities that are supposed to promote their development.
I have seen some excellent practice with under-threes that truly reflects one of the principles within Birth to Three Matters: 'Children learn when they are given appropriate responsibility, allowed to make errors, decisions and choices, and respected as autonomous and competent learners.'
This important principle comes alive when babies and young children have plenty of scope to choose from a well-resourced indoor and outdoor environment, supported by alert and interested practitioners.
Many sequences in the Birth to Three Matters video show children who are able to play with and organise materials from the permanent play provision of their setting. (Please do look again at this resource: it provides very clear messages about what genuinely good practice looks like.) In the settings shown in the video, you sense that adults are close by, yet children feel confident to develop their own pretend play and spread out in their garden.
Observation of three- to five-year-olds has shown that, when children are confident interacting with each other, they are more likely to tackle a practical problem in play together. Adults are valuable, but it is unhelpful if children believe that these adults always have the best solution or only answer.
Of course, practitioners do plan some enjoyable experiences in advance - in the short term, not weeks ahead. Young children cannot show they recognise a special activity, nor ask for it when they have the words, until they have experienced this interesting event at least once.
Again and again
It is unclear whether the baby in the Competent Learner section is experiencing painting for the first time. The very young painter was trusted to make his own marks and nobody is telling him what to do. If it was the first time, you can be sure that next time this baby's eyes will light up as he recognises the adult preparations for total immersion in being a baby artist.
Of course, there will be a next time and very soon, because early learning is supported by repeated activities and not by one-offs. I have seen babies and toddlers, long before they can put the message into words, sharing their delight for resources that are special, precisely because they are not available every day.
Young children need, and want, to practise by 'doing it again', whether this is their swishy painting, tackling the climbing frame or joining in a song (Strong Child). Genuinely helpful practitioners notice what interests them right now and respond to that focus. Good examples from the video include the practitioner responding to the baby's interest in the balls (Competent Learner) and the childminder reacting to what interests the toddler and the baby in the book that she is reading to them (Skilful Communicator). Through such experiences, these children are coming to appreciate that their preferences deserve respect.
Children cannot develop as independent learners if their opportunities are 'pre-packaged' rather than 'free range'. I have seen some instances where practice is dictated by commercially produced planning materials that claim to deliver 'what Ofsted wants'. Inspection is a serious matter and some practitioners are very anxious about being judged and found wanting, but young children do not become active in their own learning, nor enthusiastic about what they do, when everything has been pre-planned.
The key question for the Ofsted inspection is now 'What is it like for a child here?' The answer will be 'boring' and possibly 'miserable' if young children spend their waking hours with adults who read questions from a sheet and guide little hands to make the picture planned for that day, regardless of the children's interest in what they are doing.
In the balance
A second key principle from Birth to Three Matters is equally important for reflecting on how children can develop as self-reliant and independent learners: 'Young children are vulnerable. They learn to be independent by having someone they can depend upon.'
The task for practitioners is to remain fully aware of the balance between keeping babies and young children safe from distress and harm, yet letting them try new experiences. All the practitioners shown in the video are available and affectionate with the children. Yet, the images are not those of adults hovering over or stopping children's play in case something should go wrong.
Children need a chance to stretch themselves physically as well as intellectually and to decide for themselves what is enough of an adventure for today. The child is able to walk along the 'snake' in the garden (Healthy Child). Even if she were to lose her balance, it is not far to the ground. Supportive practitioners are ready to offer a helping hand when a child requests it.
The responsibility of practitioners, in partnership with parents, is to create confidence in young children so that they can take care of themselves in ways appropriate for their age.
* Adult thoughtfulness about the environment enables a young child to be self-reliant in matters such as brushing up the sand that he has mistakenly tipped from the tray (Strong Child).
* Sensible planning means allowing enough time for care routines, and ensuring that under-threes are able to share in their own personal care.
From their perspective, being an independent learner includes having a go at putting on their own socks or cutting up their own food.
* Babies and young children need to be able to relax in a nurturing environment. Young children who feel emotionally secure will attempt an intellectual challenge and bounce back from errors and dead-ends.
Birth to Three Matters recommends the approach of heuristic play, and one excellent illustration of it is Elinor Goldschmied and Anita Hughes'
'Heuristic Play with Objects - Children of 12-20 months exploring everyday objects', a video showing children busy concentrating and exploring using all their senses.
It came out in 1992. As early years practice in England goes through another phase of change with the introduction of the Early Years Foundation Stage, it is timely to recall what has not changed - the nature of children and what they need.
Further resources
* Cambridgeshire Independent Learning in the Foundation Stage project, 'Developing independent learning in the early years', a report by David Whitebread www.educ.cam.ac.uk/cindle/index.html
* Dowling, Marion (2006) Supporting Young Children's Sustained Shared Thinking (DVD and booklet), Early Education, tel: 020 7539 5400
* Lindon, Jennie (2006) Care and Caring Matter - oYoung children learning through care, Early Education
* McGuiness, Liz From Thinking Skills to Thinking Classrooms DfEE Research Brief RB115, visit Publications section of www.teachernet.gov.uk
* Elinor Goldschmied and Anita Hughes (1992) 'Heuristic Play with Objects - Children of 12-20 months exploring everyday objects', National Children's Bureau
