ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the proposition that the ways in which we think and talk about young children can and do affect the ways in which we provide for their learning and support their development. It examines some ways of thinking about children, and children's learning, taken from recent accounts of Early Years classrooms and tries to show how we might take steps to re-organise and re-shape our thoughts, our assumptions and our expectations. In recent years, there has been considerable interest in an approach to Early Years education practised in the Emilia-Romagna district of Northern Italy. The chapter argues that the way forward for Early Years education is in a re-examination of some of our taken-for-granted assumptions and expectations. Future developments in Early Years education will spring from the efforts of educators who prioritise the serious work of thinking for themselves about children's learning, and thereby achieve an enhanced understanding of children and childhood.
