Nurturing Children's Learning and Development

In this chapter, authors use the bioecological model to consider high-quality early years practice and the central role of early childhood educators in nurturing children’s learning and development. In particular, they explore the dynamics of development and the power of a nurturing pedagogy, which emphasises the importance of relationships. They also consider mechanisms and approaches to sustaining quality and the importance of pedagogical leadership and play to quality practice. According to Rosa and Tudge, it “is easy to argue that persons and environments are mutually implicated in human development, but it is more difficult to explain how that functions”. Concentrating more on dynamic development than on normative expectations highlights practices most beneficial to individual children at particular moments within particular contexts. The bioecological model introduces new domain of process into the microsystems of development, emphasising distinctive contribution of proximal processes to development – those close interactions that individuals have with other people, materials and ideas that occur in day-to-day life.