In this chapter, we focus on the implementation of the planning cycle in infant and toddler settings and how it might be co-constructed, documented and shared with key stakeholders. Throughout this book, we have examined how the first three years constitute a foundational period with particular competencies, vulnerabilities and opportunities for growth and learning. Infants and toddlers deserve, and indeed have a right to experience, curriculum that is specifically designed to nurture their unique ways of being, belonging and becoming. At the same time, very young children are not a homogenous group but individuals with their own interests, dispositions, strengths and challenges. Quality curriculum is planned to be responsive to these individual differences. Planning curriculum is an important professional practice requiring educators to act with what the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) calls intentionality, meaning their curriculum and practice is deliberate, thoughtful and purposeful.

Infants and toddlers are immersed in the social culture of their family, community and society from before they are born. Every family has distinct social practices and ways of interacting which shape very young children’s holistic physiological, cognitive and emotional learning, development and wellbeing. These practices reflect the values, beliefs, norms and expectations of their community and culture. Over time, through repeated social encounters and experiences, the social culture of their family and community is passed on as infants and toddlers become socialised into these specific ways of engaging with others. Social practices and interactions thus form the basis of the relationships that infants and toddlers form with significant others. As a result, the social opportunities that very young children experience and participate in during their everyday existence have far-reaching consequences for their sense of identify and belonging.

Chapter 4 discusses the different modes of teaching that teachers can employ in class: direct, discussion, activity, enquiry, collaborative and group approaches are all examined in detail, with the advantages and disadvantages of each mode considered and practical advice given on when and where to employ them within a pupil-centred environment. The predominance of particular modes in class is examined, and the importance of teachers using a wide range is stressed, in addition to a discussion of what each mode is particularly suited to achieving. The chapter also examines Resource-Based Learning and Task Based Language Teaching in detail.

Like reading, writing is an essential part of academic studies and professional work. Through writing, we form and communicate clear thoughts so that we can collaborate with each other and refine critical understandings. In the Australian Curriculum, writing is about students using expressive language and composing different types of texts for a range of purposes as an integral part of learning in all curriculum areas. Different text types include ‘spoken, written, visual and multimodal texts’, while students can also create ‘formal and informal’ written, visual and multimodal texts for presentation.

Chapter 11 looks at how skills and competences necessary for successful language learning can be developed in the language classroom through the use of drama, music and games. Developing an understanding of the culture and literature of countries where the foreign language is spoken and what is appropriate at different ages and stages of learning is also examined in this chapter. The use of music and rhyme helps to embed the foreign language in learners’ minds, promoting pedagogical diversity and consolidating learning, particularly with regards to pronunciation, fluency, listening comprehension, memorisation of vocabulary and grammatical structures, as well as increasing cultural awareness. Drama and games can motivate learners and create a relaxed atmosphere where language skills can develop, thus promoting learner interaction, improving skills and consolidating knowledge.

Most simply, the words ‘pedagogy and care’ capture and describe the core work that is done in the earliest years of education with very young children. Early childhood education (ECE) shares the same general aims as primary, secondary and tertiary education, with an overarching focus on learning and development. Educators working with infants and toddlers practice in a space where pedagogy and care are inextricably linked. It could thus be argued that ideas about pedagogy in relation to infants and toddlers are hardest to reconcile. This challenge may be due to the particular history of infants and toddlers as the youngest children in society, driven by discourses of maternalism and inherently tied to an image of their place in the home, where they were for many centuries. However, infants and toddlers are attending ECE settings in ever-increasing numbers and upholding their right to quality pedagogy is a professional responsibility of all ECE services, leaders and educators.

From the moment they are born, infants are active and competent learners. Before birth, they perceive and respond to stimuli from the outside world and the people in it. Newborns recognise and respond socially to other people and pay attention to interesting objects and events. Infants are born ‘ready to learn, and during their first three years, they learn, develop and grow at a faster rate than at any other time in their lives. Rapid physical development enables mobility, exploration and physical manipulation; emerging social and emotional skills foster relationships, wellbeing, and belonging; increasing communication and language competence support social interactions, literacy development and learning; and cognitive advancements cultivate critical ways of thinking and understanding. The skills and understandings that infants and toddlers achieve during their first three years form the cornerstone from which all future learning, development and wellbeing is built.