Early Years | Teaching & Learning
In This Section
Overview
Overview
In the Early Years, we promote happy, positive relationships, so a child can communicate learning and make connections, growing in independence and self-confidence.
We engage each child’s sense of wonder and natural curiosity through play and differentiated learning opportunities. We believe that our carefully planned and resourced inquiry-learning environments inspire thinking, collaboration and applying conceptual understanding.
Early Years teachers at ISL understand the importance of play in a child’s development and design an appropriate curriculum, working with young children to encourage, motivate and develop positive attitudes. EYs teachers are aware of when it is appropriate to intervene and interact sensitively to extend the children’s learning and challenge their problem-solving and thinking skills, and when to allow the children to come to satisfactory conclusions on their own.
Teachers support/’scaffold’ children’s learning when they are struggling with an activity or when they will not succeed without practitioner intervention. Once the children have succeeded with the activity the teacher can then withdraw their support. Teachers plan for the different play/active learning activities for children and consider what role practitioners will play in these activities, as well as what questioning skills and interactions will take place.
The learning environment indoors and outdoors is organised to provide a wide range of differentiated play experiences daily. Teachers plan time for observing, monitoring, documenting and assessing children along with evaluating the structured play activities.
Learning Philosophy
Learning Philosophy
At ISL, we recognise and respect the diversity of our learners in terms of background, culture, language, gender, interests, readiness to learn, modes and rates of learning, confidence and independence as learners.
All learning at ISL is governed by 8 Key Principles that are aligned with the Primary Years Programme (PYP). We believe that:
- The goal of learning is to gain lasting understanding
- Learning with understanding is enhanced by self-assessment, reflection and thinking about the way we think
- Learning with understanding is facilitated when students construct meaning around the major concepts and principles of a discipline, make connections among the disciplines and apply trans-disciplinary skills
- Learners benefit from continuous assessment that provides clear, thorough and individual feedback
- Learners learn most effectively when they take an active role through inquiry, analysis, problem solving and discovery
- Learners learn best when they are appropriately challenged, interested in the material, find it relevant and are confident that success is within their grasp
- Learners learn in many different ways, have diverse abilities which are most effectively addressed when teachers differentiate instructional opportunities
We recognise that students differ as learners in terms of background, culture, language, gender, interests, readiness to learn, modes of learning, speed of learning, support systems for learning, self-awareness as a learner, confidence as a learner and independence as a learner.
These differences profoundly impact how students learn and the support they will need at various points in the learning process. Teachers create flexible, rich learning environments and construct learning experiences based on what they know about each of their learners in order for each student to continue to develop further.