This resource allows you to record your own reflections after watching the video below.
Video transcript
Adele Amorsen
Goodstart National Lead – Early Career Teachers
Goodstart Early Learning
Teachers are teaching intentionally all the time. It's a part of everything that teachers do. I think when, when teachers, are being planned and purposeful, as a part of writing their planning documents, they are able to draw in knowledge of each child's individual needs and everything they know about that child in terms of interests and skills and abilities, and take the time to consider how all of that might meet with the environment and the resources that are also intentionally planned. And having that, written up ahead of time as part of intentional planning through the planning process and our written documentation for planning, just gives teachers that little bit more time to think really purposefully and planfully around what will work best for each child in each situation.
As children engage in spontaneous play, which is much of their kindergarten day, the role of the teacher there is to firstly be really keenly observing and watching and listening for that teachable moment. Because there's that moment in time when teachers can really enrich the learning. So it's still intentional teaching because teachers are making an intentional decision around how can I best support this child in this moment as some beautiful, spontaneous learning is happening.
I think the moment for when to step in and when to step back is a decision that teachers make very carefully because they have a really rich and strong knowledge of the child. Being able to recognise that moment when the teacher responding by extending a child's learning or stretching or challenging a child's learning in the moment will add to their growth and development, as opposed to those moments when we step back and allow children to, engage in perhaps a social response where they learn something for themselves.
Sophie Heasman
Senior Early Childhood Teacher
Goodstart Early Learning
The children have a current interest in, group board games at the minute. It came from our whole group priority. So we introduced them to a couple of board games, including snakes and ladders and this is an experience that we can tailor to individual needs. As well as those social skills of turn taking, it can also support some children in recognising numbers and counting.
So when I create, individual group goals, I will connect them together and I'll kind of group the children based on who has similar goals together. So that when I do my short term planning and I'm intentionally, creating those teaching experiences, I can look at which children are grouped together and I can put them under the individual learning goals section of my planning. So that when I go and look at my planning, I can see, okay, these three children, they really need support with their counting. So that's how I'm going to support them in this experience. But these two children, they need support with turn taking. So I'm going to use some teaching strategies to support them at the same time.
So, when I look at a student's assessment profile I look at where they're at on the continuum of learning. So, if I can see that they're challenged in a certain area, or they need more support in that area, I'm able to then plan intentional teaching moments that can really support them in developing that journey. And then I can also see the progress that they've made over the year, and to make sure that they are progressing in all those developmental areas. And if there are any gaps in that where they need more support, I can really visually see that and my whole team can see that. And then in the moment of, spontaneous teaching moments, we're really able to capture those goals and bring that into our teaching moments.
The phases in the continua really support me because I can see where the child aligns at that moment in time, and it can give me ideas of teaching strategies and how to support them.
- Last updated:
- 24 February 2026
