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| Overview |
Throughout this online workshop, participants will have an opportunity to experience a day in the life of a Kindergarten class (children turning six this academic year) at the International School of Paris. Sean Walker and Anne Van Dam reflect on the values and intentionality that lie behind the decisions that impact on how children in Sean’s classroom experience time, space, materials, interactions and relationships. Learn how Sean builds a culture of inquiry through listening, responding and acknowledging children as competent learners.
Early childhood classrooms benefit from high levels of intentionality where educators plan for every child’s strengths and needs as well as planning for the interests, ideas and theories that develop within the group. Join Anne and Sean as they reflect on what impacts learning through play and show you some tools to observe, document and interpret learning. |
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| Workshop Goals: |
- Reflect on how values and research impact pedagogy
- Know what interactions shape a culture of inquiry in EY classrooms
- Understand the importance of observation and documentation in the planning process
- Consider ways to plan in response to young children’s thinking
- Appreciate the role of concepts to frame learning around ideas and engage children as thinkers and meaning makers
- Moving beyond isolated “lessons” to planning for opportunities for children to make connections within a coherent bigger picture
- Deepen understanding of learner agency and how it impacts young children’s learning, identity and well being
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Week 1
- The school’s history and current identity - photos
- The school’s early childhood philosophy - electronic copy
- Democratic values - agency - listening - video: listening conferencing in the morning, conversation - what should we put in, sharing what we have done what is missing
- The group’s identity and research projects so far - train
- The role of concepts
- Current investigations - unit three / trains - engines / non fiction / speed / stories / boundaries / gender / copying - juxaposition
Week 2
- Daily and weekly rhythms - pieces of the day, routines
- Rituals of belonging and identity- checking in - the stories they share, emotions from, culture of thinking, start and end of the day
- Learning spaces designed to be inclusive, promoting competence, independent exploration and learning through play - photos spaces
- Engage with children as thinkers and meaning makers - video snippets, questioning
- Engagement and participation (independent, collaborative, self-directed, co-constructed, thinking, theories, wonderings, curiosity, play) - play
Week 3
- Engagement and participation
- Planning for opportunities for children to make connections within a coherent bigger picture. - conceptual idea connections - pictures - connections activity sean - unit - Morning to unit - coming back to the dancing partners statement
- Documenting - planned and spontaneous observations- tools and strategies
- Teacher interactions: responding to children’s ideas and play and using intentional interactions to scaffold and extend children’s learning - Sean - Maria- Anne to notice and document
- Supporting the development of literacy and numeracy skills - within the day make this explicit - Wednesday math place value/number work - phonics
Week 4
- Supporting continuity of learning by sharing relevant information with families - screenshots of SeeSaw, newsletters
- Planning for opportunities for children to make connections within a coherent bigger picture - concepts within lit and num afternoon
- Enhancing self-efficacy and agency - photos and videos of Independence / autonomy / taking care of belongings - practice / do the things you are good at / lightbulbs
- Documenting - planned and spontaneous observations
- Teacher interactions: responding to children’s ideas and play and using intentional interactions to scaffold and extend children’s learning
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| Potential Audience: |
| Early years educators and their leaders. |
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| About Anne Van Dam |
Anne Van Dam is an experienced educator and educational consultant who is deeply passionate about the role of play in children's learning process. She believes in the power of documentation as a tool for educators to reflect on and grow in their practice by exploring the various threads, ideas, and connections that underpin children's investigations.
Throughout her career, Anne has held various roles in the field of education, including teacher, curriculum coordinator, head of school, and vice-principal. Her international experience includes working in schools located in China, Singapore, Switzerland, and The Netherlands.
Anne's passion for education and dedication to empowering educators and young learners led her to collaborate with the International Baccalaureate (IB) regional office in The Hague, where she worked with the PYP (Primary Years Programme) development team on the IB PYP review. Her focus areas during this collaboration included learner agency, early years education, inquiry-based learning, and aspects of creating a strong learning community.
Since 2015, Anne has been working as an independent educational consultant. Her primary goal is to support schools and educators in developing a shared pedagogy that recognizes and honors young children as incredible learners and meaning makers. |
| About Sean Walker |
| Sean has been teaching for 30 years and is currently teaching a mixed-age class (3-5 year olds) for the second year after teaching Kindergarten (5-6 year olds) for four years. He is the GLL (Grade Level Leader) for Early Years at his school in Paris, France. Sean is certified to lead CBCI (Concept-based curriculum and instruction) workshops based on the work of Lynn Erickson as well as PYP workshops for the IB. Previously, Sean has been a maths coordinator and worked with the national curriculum in the UK and a state curriculum in the USA. Sean is passionate about play, playful learning and inquiry to nurture children’s curiosity and excitement about learning and the world they live in. |
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| Dates & Timings |
October 31st, November 7th, 14th & 21st, 2026
Each Session is for 2 Hours
London 7:00 am | Zurich 8:00 am | Dubai 11:00 am | India 12:30 pm
Hong Kong 3:00 pm | Melbourne 6:00 pm
This workshop will be not recorded
Please click here to check your time for the workshop |
| Investment |
USD 500
Includes: Certificate of Participation for 10 Professional Development Hours. |
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