The word pedagogy comes from the Greek meaning ‘to lead a child’ and often describes teaching, in terms of everything we do, provide and the rationale of why we do it that way.  So within the context of early childhood this would include what we do as pedagogues, or teachers to lead our children – the relationships we foster, the teaching strategies we employ, for example tapping into children’s fascinations and interests and taking into consideration their needs, backgrounds and strengths, the learning environment we create for play and exploration, and the ethos we adopt in our settings. By using the phrase a loving pedagogy I aim to combine the loving, caring aspects of our role and describe an approach to working with children that can underpin all aspects of our provision.

There are a number of different pedagogical approaches within early childhood education, for example, Froebel, Montessori, Steiner, Reggio Emilia, Curiosity Approach, Forest/Beach Schools, Te Whāriki, High/Scope, Mosaic Approach, In the Moment Planning, Trauma and Attachment aware… and many more besides. Some of these describe whole provision approaches that define the ethos of the setting and would be mutually exclusive. Schools and settings can adopt a loving pedagogy alongside their current approach because it provides the foundation upon which other philosophies and approaches can thrive.

Thinking about pedagogy and defining our pedagogical approach is important because as the modern proverb says, ‘If you stand for nothing, you fall for anything…’ (author unknown). Early childhood educators need to discuss as a team how they view children and childhood, their understanding of child development and theory and what they want their provision to be like, including the skills, knowledge and dispositions that they want to foster in their children. Put simply, our pedagogical approach shapes our children. Thus adopting a loving pedagogy promotes love, kindness and other prosocial behaviours.