ABSTRACT
CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter will outline the role of the Early Years Graduate Practitioner/Early
Years Teacher (EYGP/EYT) with respect to the strategies needed to lead high-
quality practice that supports children’s learning and development from birth to
seven years. If we look internationally, we see that there are different approaches to
this which provide an important, diverse context and these are the starting point for
this chapter. For example, in Scandinavia, and in the Infant and Toddler centres and
pre-schools of the Reggio Emilia region of Northern Italy, ‘documentation’ of
evidence for pre-school children takes several forms, and formal schooling does not
normally begin until after the child’s sixth birthday. You can read a more detailed
account of international perspectives in chapter 10. The focus on what ‘evidence’ to
gather is also varied, based as it is on a profile of the individual child as physically
active and socially capable, with a developing sense of empathy and fairness, and
the ability to co-construct their own learning. This approach also views the adult as
a facilitator rather than a transmitter of knowledge. To some extent this is in contrast
to the increasing dependence on ‘outcomes’-directed curricula we find in England,
and to a lesser extent, in Wales, where the early years phase of education extends
until the end of Year 1. In this chapter, we will focus on the English Early Years
Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Key Stage 1 as it applies until the end of Year 1.
