Exploring Learning in the Early Years

Abstract

“It’s not until you look at yourself that you see what’s really there” (Practitioner researcher reflection).¹ When practitioners research their own settings and strive to understand children’s learning, “what’s really there” can be surprising. In this chapter we draw data from two projects where classroom and early childhood education practitioners engaged in research that explored their interactions with children and ways of understanding and enhancing their learning. Our research provides a platform for critical engagement with Professor Nuthall’s work. Nuthall uncovered hidden aspects of children’s learning and challenged teachers to acknowledge that what they “intend and believe to happen in their classrooms is frequently not what students experience” (Nuthall, this volume, p. 1). His research highlighted the difficulties involved in promoting children’s learning and challenged the correlations between what teachers do and what students learn. In our research, we examined the gap between what adults may believe is happening and what children experience, and the challenges and dilemmas practitioners face in their daily practice of supporting children’s learning.