A question I still hear educators get wrong — and it matters more than you think.
Walk into almost any early childhood setting and ask an educator what intentional teaching looks like. Chances are, they’ll describe a lesson. A planned activity or an explicit instruction moment. Children sit at the table and follow the teacher’s instructions. That’s not quite what intentional teaching means . The the confusion has real consequences for children’s learning.
Let me explain.
Intentional teaching in the EYLF
Contemporary theories in early childhood education highlight the role of interactions, rights of children, and children’s agency. Learning is largely child-centred. So the focus of all the frameworks, such as EYLF and My Time, Our Place and this state version, such as the Victorian framework are on so-called intentionality. Intentionality is not the same as direct teaching. It’s not explicit teaching, so please do not confuse these terms. You also probably have heard the term intentional teaching, which means being intentional, being thoughtful and purposeful in your actions as a teacher, making decisions. This is the definition from EYLF 22 page 66.
Intentionality is also linked to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. In particular, Professional Standards 3 requires educators to draw on a range of teaching strategies to plan and implement effective teaching and learning. Children also learn in their own ways through interaction with others, with the environment, with other children, but they interact and act in ways that lead their learning, and that’s when intentionality shows up in their play. Sometimes they set up their own challenges, sometimes they challenge other children, sometimes they’re problem-solving and doing something intentionally.
For example, I remember I had a child who would go around with me to do the final checkup before closing down because he was often late to be picked up, and we would do it, and he enjoyed this kind of learning. He was intentional.
Children can also lead their own learning. Sometimes they ask for experiences to be set up. For example, I had an American child who was very much into learning about artists. Maybe they do go to museums a lot or maybe they had experiences living in the world in different places. So I set up a Monet-inspired art space which supported his exploration. So agency is quite linked to intentionality.
Children use agency to investigate and learn as well as expect the right to be listened to and taken seriously, as we know from the UNROC convention. So we can be intentional in many ways. For example, we can be intentional through our conversations with children, the words we use. And if you’re struggling with that, I have a guide on what to say when.
We can ask questions, yes, so we can participate in substantial thinking, a concept developed by Siraj Blatchford in 2003. Educators listen carefully, ask questions, and make comments to promote deeper thinking and extend learning. When educators are intentional, they use specific language in conversations to talk about size, patterns, and other concepts. They talk about processes such as writing and painting. They model art techniques, and they scaffold children’s learning. This is what intentional teaching.
