Intentional teaching is an active process that embraces and builds on children’s knowledge, perspectives, capabilities and interests. Through this approach, children also act intentionally when they actively engage with others and make choices through play.
Teachers and educators:
- purposefully select a range and balance of intentional teaching strategies to extend children’s thinking, communication and deep understanding
- use and adapt strategies for planned and spontaneous learning, to suit the individual/s and the learning.
Strategies include:
- challenging — offering children opportunities to extend their knowledge and skills in the context of secure relationships. Teachers and educators gauge when to offer challenges and opportunities through provocation and reflection that will encourage perseverance, build resilience and extend children’s thinking and learning
- collaborating — co-constructing learning with children, enabling them to take the lead in their learning while working with them to contribute to, rather than dominate, the direction of the experience. This can also include involving others (e.g. family members and members of the community) who may have particular expertise or knowledge that can inform and support learning
- differentiating — tailoring teaching, learning and environments by making adjustments that support the individual learner to access, participate and engage in learning. This may include making reasonable adjustments to learning priorities, communication, assessment or environments
- encouraging — acknowledging children’s efforts and engagement in learning and making comments that support, motivate and encourage children to persist
- explaining — making ideas, concepts, situations or requests clear for children by providing more detail or connecting to previous experiences
- identifying — drawing children’s attention to new ideas and topics, pointing out things of interest that may generate areas for inquiry, exploration and investigation
- imagining — creating an environment in which children are encouraged to wonder, use imagination and think creatively to inquire, investigate, hypothesise and express themselves. Teachers and educators plan opportunities for children to have freedom to engage in experiences and, where they can, explore multiple possibilities
- instructing — using explicit instruction when other strategies might not be safe or appropriate
- listening — creating opportunities for shared, sustained interactions, listening deeply and thoughtfully to what children are communicating through gesture or body language, and actively responding to their contributions
- making connections — helping children to see relationships and extend thinking by comparing their experiences and ideas and reflecting on ways these may connect to previous learning
- modelling — demonstrating a skill or routine and providing opportunities for children to practise and master the skill or routine
- negotiating— working with children to consider their own and others’ perspectives, and to develop problem-solving strategies and solutions that are fair and equitable for all involved
- pausing — providing time and space in conversations and play for children to process what has been communicated before they respond
- providing choices and learning opportunities — offering opportunities for children to make safe choices and experience the consequences of their actions encourages children’s agency, autonomy and independence. Teachers and educators provide choices in the context of relationships so children can experience safe risk.
- questioning — using open-ended questioning to extend children’s thinking and problem-solving. Teachers and educators emphasise reasoning and willingness to be flexible when gaining information from questioning
- reflecting — guiding children to reflect on their learning experiences and to engage in thinking that helps them to build on prior learning. Teachers and educators strengthen the process of reflection through quality interactions and collaborative documentation about current learning and what comes next for each child
- researching — helping children to gather information to find solutions to problems or extend on an idea or interest. Researching involves asking questions and using a range of sources
- scaffolding — providing children with a supportive framework to take the next steps or move to a higher level of thinking. Teachers and educators use their knowledge of children’s perspectives, capabilities and interests to break down skills and routines to guide each child. This may also include peers scaffolding each other’s learning.
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- Last updated:
- 24 July 2025
