Children as capable: daily plans in a preschool community

Abstract

Quality, teaching and assessment in early childhood are often steeped in developmental logic and narrow understandings of teaching and learning. Pedagogy situated in agency and complexity disrupts these taken-for-granted narratives and offers multiple ways of teaching, learning and doing. In this article, the authors offer an example of these pedagogies through daily plans. Daily plans are a process of mark-making, deep listening and engagement with children’s theories of their everyday worlds. Further, they illustrate a reciprocal relationship between child and teacher, co-participating in learning and teaching. Through daily plans, children engage as capable, pedagogical intentions are made visible, and the complexity of teaching and learning is realized.