ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the nature of progression in science through the 3 to 7 age range, explore the tensions faced by teachers in the light of sometimes conflicting requirements and will conclude with suggestions for practice to reduce children's experiences of discontinuities. The major empirically-based Effective Provision of Pre-School Education Project found that effective pedagogy includes interaction traditionally associated with the term 'teaching', and identified that the most effective pedagogy combines both teaching and providing freely chosen yet potentially instructive play activities. Pedagogy considers how teachers teach, countering stereotypes of practice. Learning and Teaching Scotland recommend shared planning, for example by developing a shared project from pre-school to primary, in order to enable dialogue and a shared understanding of roles and progression between practitioners. A final consideration: while teachers might each year improve their practice and make children's transitions a more positive experience, the children will move on once again to another transition.
