Teaching Young Children: Choices in Theory and Practice

Preface

Introduction

Part One: Teaching and the Environment

Positioning equipment and materials
Collecting
Scheduling

Part Two: General Teaching Techniques

Demonstrating
Describing
Encouraging, praising and helping
Facilitating
Feedback
Grouping
Listening
Modelling
Positioning people
Questioning
Reading
Recalling
Singing
Suggesting
Telling and instructing

Part Three: Specialist Teaching Techniques

Co-constructing
Community building
Decolonising
Deconstructing
Democratising
Documenting
Empowering
Philosophising
Problem-solving
Reinforcing
Scaffolding
Task analysis

Part Four: Educational Philosophies, Goals and Teaching Techniques

Building a strategic approach to teaching techniques

This book presents early childhood students and staff with a broad and diverse range of teaching techniques to support children's learning. It examines 26 techniques ranging from simple ones, such as describing and listening, to more complex methods, such as deconstruction and scaffolding.

The strategies selected are derived from the best current research knowledge about how young children learn. A detailed evaluation of each strategy enables childcare staff, early childhood teachers and students to expand their repertoire of teaching strategies and to critically evaluate their own teaching in early childhood settings.

Vignettes and examples show how early childhood staff use the techniques to support children's learning and help to bring the discussion of each technique to life. Revised and updated in light of the latest research, new features include:

* Coverage of the phonics debate
* Addition of ICT content
* Questions for further discussion
* Revision to the chapter on problem solving
* Updated referencing throughout

Teaching Young Children is key reading for students and experienced early childhood staff working in diverse settings with young children.