The past year has been a period of rapid change for the early years sector, especially in view of the revised Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and its impact on the assessment system for monitoring children's progress through the EYFS Profile at the end of the reception year.
Practitioners and teachers have responded as best they can to changes and to the new framework for inspection that has been implemented. The revision of the curriculum focused on reducing bureaucracy and on ensuring that practitioners used more of their time interacting and communicating with children rather than observing them.
The review also questioned teaching and learning in principle and, in particular, examined the dichotomy between adult-led and child-initiated activities. This article is about trying to understand what is meant by teaching in the EYFS, and to investigate what the difference is between adult-led and child-initiated learning. The aim is to help practitioners feel more confident about how they want to deliver a high-quality service to children and parents, and thereby ensure the best outcomes for children's learning.
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