ChildLinks Issue 3: Pedagogical Approaches in Early Childhood

The choice of pedagogical approach in an early childhood setting is an extremely important aspect of quality provision to ensure the best possible health, wellbeing and learning outcomes for young children. Choosing an appropriate approach is complex, and requires knowledge and understanding across a range of factors. While there are many different pedagogical approaches available, and settings may choose to use a blend of approaches, some warrant particular consideration. This issue of ChildLinks considers how pedagogy influences the experiences children have in early childhood settings. It also looks at the factors in play when considering age-appropriate approaches for young children, and examines some of the key pedagogical approaches. In the first article in this issue, Marie Willoughby from Barnardos explores what we mean by pedagogy, examining the educator’s role both in choosing an appropriate pedagogy and in putting it into practice. Dr Geraldine French of Dublin City University then considers slow relational pedagogy, which encompasses all that educators do within relationships, environments and experiences in their daily care of young children, looking at why it is important and how it can be achieved. Later in the issue, Sharon Byrne considers an Infant Mental Health Approach in Early Childhood Education and Care, outlining how Youngballymun focuses on improving wellbeing and learning outcomes for children in north Dublin. Milica Atanackovic from Early Childhood Ireland later highlights the Reggio Emilia Approach and how this approach is disseminated in Ireland. Also in this issue, Dr. Christina Tatham from the University of Sheffield considers third space pedagogy, outlining a study that explores the complex, superdiversity of children, and suggesting a third learning space, one beyond the formal learning spaces, where children explore multiple identities, funds of knowledge, and cultural and linguistic repertoires. Cecilia A. Maron-Puntarelli from Indiana University in the U.S. then gives an overview of her research, reflecting with her former university students about the classroom activities that shaped their adoption and implementation of play pedagogy during their early years of teaching, and considering the influences that support or inhibit play as a pedagogical practice. Finally, Dr Carmel Conn, Associate Professor at the University of South Wales, explores findings from a study carried out in primary schools with an early years provision in the UK that considered what constitutes inclusive pedagogy for young children in mainstream settings.

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