In the first of a four-part series on the adult role in supporting early learning, Julie Fisher looks at the different purposes of learning initiated by the adult or the child

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The Ofsted document Bold Beginnings(Ofsted 2017) has exposed fundamental differences in the way young children in England are viewed as learners. How we view children as learners naturally determines how we situate the role of their educators.

The tussle between the supremacy of adult-led learning as opposed to child-led learning has underpinned the changing role of the educator since the days of the great philosophers in the 18th century. Surely, here and now, in the 21st century, there should no longer be any tussle, but there is, and it is a tussle that needs to be addressed if children are to enjoy developmentally appropriate experiences that enable them to learn, and boost their motivation to learn.

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