The Learning Square

The 'talking points for teams' at the end of each chapter of the book 'Finding Our Way' are intended to support dialogue among colleagues as they reflect on the ideas explored in a chapter. The questions are not designed to generate consensus or uncover a single "right" answer. Rather, they invite teams to make their thinking visible, explore different perspectives, and consider how beliefs and values are expressed through practice. Fiona Zinn Consulting Finding Our Way in ECE

1. How do your individual beliefs about children’s identities, rights, and cultures shape the environment you create as a team?
2. What strategies can you implement together to strengthen the relationships among children, families, and educators to enhance a sense of belonging?
3. How do you facilitate a collaborative learning process that encourages children, families, and educators to co-construct meaning together?
4. How do you recognize and support play as a vital aspect of children’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development?
5. In what ways does play provide children with opportunities for agency and inquiry, and how can you enhance this experience as a team?

Chapter 3 of Finding Our Way: Developing a Shared Pedagogy invites us to explore the rich intersections of play, learning, and development.
Too often, these ideas are discussed separately. Yet in the lives of young children they are deeply intertwined. Through play, children make sense of their experiences, build relationships, develop theories about the world, negotiate identities, solve problems, communicate ideas, and imagine possibilities. Play is not separate from learning and development — it is one of the primary ways through which they unfold.
In this chapter, Fiona Zinn Consulting and I explore how our identity of the child influences the ways we understand play and how contemporary perspectives on learning and development challenge us to move beyond linear and predictable views of growth. We consider the importance of relationships, culture, context, agency, and meaning-making in shaping children's experiences.

At the end of each chapter, we offer Navigational Points - big ideas that teams can return to as they reflect on their own perspectives and consider practices that are congruent with these understandings.
Navigational Points
1 The educator’s view of children, their identity, rights, culture, and individuality, shapes the environment and children’s experiences.
2 Children’s growth is rooted in social and cultural contexts; relationships play a central role in shaping their development and sense of belonging.
3 Learning is a co-constructed, multidirectional process where children, families, and educators collaborate, share diverse perspectives, and reflect together.
4 Play serves as a fluid space for agency and inquiry. Through play, children actively engage with others, make choices, negotiate, communicate, and create meaning from their experiences, enriching their understanding of themselves and their surroundings.
5 Play is central to children’s development, promoting problem solving, self-regulation, empathy, and active engagement with others.
6 Play encourages children to think creatively and critically, allowing them to experiment with ideas, solve problems, and use symbolic representations to communicate complex concepts. It builds their metacognitive skills and nurtures their ability to engage deeply with the world around them.

As we continue finding our way together, we invite you to consider: Which of these navigational points resonates most strongly with your current practice? And where might there be opportunities for further reflection and growth? Finding Our Way in ECE

Some news to share...
After several wonderful years of working alongside schools around the world as an independent consultant, I am delighted to be returning to school-based practice as an Instructional Coach in the Early Learning Center at Singapore American School.
I am excited to once again be part of the daily rhythms of school life - working alongside colleagues, children, and families as we explore questions of teaching, learning, play, inquiry, and belonging together.
While this marks a new chapter, it also feels like coming home. I am looking forward to joining a community that values collaboration, reflection, and a strong image of children as capable, curious, and full of potential.
Here's to new relationships, new learning, and the journey ahead.