Associate Professor Sue Cherrington (Victoria University of Wellington) and Dr Tara McLaughlin (Massey University) discuss how early childhood teachers and practitioners can be intentional in their teaching, with a particular focus on the concept of sustained shared thinking.
To help you navigate the webinar easily, there is a list of the key topics covered in the session below, including the time each was discussed. The key ideas discussed in this webinar are also shared in a short insight article.
Topics discussed in this webinar
Times shown in minutes and seconds from the start of the video
| 1.05 | What is intentional teaching and how might we recognise intentional teaching in practice? |
| 4.25 | Intentional teaching and child-centred curriculum |
| 8.49 | What is sustained shared thinking and why is it an important pedagogical strategy? |
| 12.35 | How teachers can encourage sustained shared thinking |
| 20.43 | The difference between sustained shared thinking and co-construction |
| 23.25 | ‘Rough draft’ and ‘final draft’ speech |
| 26.07 | How environment contributes to intentional teaching |
| 30.00 | Preparing questions and language to use in play areas |
| 33.01 | Sustained shared thinking with infants and toddlers |
| 36.42 | Planning for sustained shared thinking |
| 41.42 | Concluding comments and challenges |
Questions for exploring the key ideas from this webinar
- What kinds of intentions do you have when you interact with individual children in your setting?
- In what contexts do you think it might be useful to support children’s thinking by using “rough draft” speech?
- How and when might you plan interactions with children as a way to support their learning, rather than / alongside planning environments and experiences?
- How supportive are your organisational practices and teamwork for enabling teachers to pursue sustained shared thinking with children? How might you improve these aspects?
- What might you intentionally try tomorrow / this week in your setting to encourage more sustained shared thinking interactions?
Further reading
Siraj, I., Kingston, D. & Melhuish, E. (2015). Assessing Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care: Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Well-being (SSTEW) Scale for 2-5-year-olds Provision. London, United Kingdom: Trentham Books.
