Beginning Teaching, Beginning Learning: In Early Years and Primary Education

This bestselling textbook provides an introduction to the fundamentals of teaching and learning in early years and primary education. If you are training to work in schools or other educational settings, the book offers a wide range of practical and straightforward guidance, covering essential topics such as safeguarding; attachments and relationships; assessment; the indoor and outdoor environment; new technologies; behaviour management; and well-being.

Thoroughly updated throughout and retaining its lively and engaging style, this new fifth edition extends your knowledge and understanding of working and playing effectively with young children. Enlivened by thought-provoking cameos and reflective questions, the book gives you the confidence to reflect upon, challenge and enhance your own pedagogies.  Key features include:

• Real life cameos drawn from schools and settings

• Questions to promote thinking included in each chapter

• Suggested further reading  including a range of annotated references

• Up-to-date research and issues that teachers may face

Beginning Teaching, Beginning Learning is essential reading for student and newly qualified early years and primary teachers and practitioners, as well as those who educate and train them.

"This outstanding book should a core text for beginning teachers working in the birth to 11 age range.  It places Early Years and Primary education in the historical context and encourages new teachers to become reflective practitioners by adopting a questioning approach based on thoughtful comparative experiences.  

One aspect which makes this stand out from other similar texts is the focus it has on developing a deep understanding of the partnership between children’s learning and the beginner teacher. Contributors, many of whom have been teachers themselves, include experts not only in their specific fields of interest but also in teacher education more broadly so understand what is relevant for those on initial teacher education courses and those in the early stages of their teaching career."

Jane Warwick, Primary PGCE Course Manager, University of Cambridge, UK

"Beginning Teaching, Beginning Learning should be a core text on all birth to 11 years ITT courses.  The book neatly combines grounded cameos of actual teaching experience with real life questions and dovetails these with a thoroughly referenced scholarly critique.  Through its engaging style and approach the book speaks clearly and directly to the inquisitive, curious and professional novice teacher who wishes to be both thoroughly reflective and knowledgeable of the latest research.  This book is hugely successful as it manages to be both very wide in its content whilst encouraging a questioning and in-depth critical thinking throughout".

Guy Roberts-Holmes, MA Early Years Education Programme Director, UCL Institute of Education, UK