The Role of the Adult in the Early Years

The Role of the Adult in Early Years

Written By Liane Roberts -  @early_years_with_Liane

I wanted to write this blog post to merely touch upon the wide, very much talked about topic of the adult’s role in Early Years.

As an Early Years teacher, I have been fortunate enough to have gained a vast amount of experience on how the adult’s role is perceived and how this differs in a wide range of educational establishments.

The role of the adult is so important and yet is viewed so differently based on the opinions and expectations of individual establishments.

As I’ve previously mentioned I am pretty ‘old school’ and having been teaching in early years for so long I’ve experienced the approach where the adult’s role consisted of washing paint pots, cleaning tables after activities and ‘watching over’ the children as they play.

How happy am I that this remains very much ‘old school’? … or at least, I hope?



The early years of a child’s life provide the foundations for their future development and achievement. When it comes to early years provision there are many elements that have to work in partnership to support, facilitate and enhance children’s learning opportunities. And the quality of these elements is critical to how well children will be able to fulfil their lifelong potential.

For me personally, a high-quality educational setting is where all children have the opportunity to play, as well as experiencing a good balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities, Where educators are well equipped with the skills to build on the children’s knowledge and experiences, and present opportunities for progression as well as providing a space for extension and challenge. These opportunities will positively build on the children’s love of play.



Educators are a vital part of the enabling environment in early years, and while we understand the difficulties of knowing when to stand back and observe, when to speak or remain silent, or how and when to interact. And, of course, the concern that the opportunity may be missed if we spend time weighing up our possible actions. Observation of our own practice can be subjective because have differing opinions and responses as educators, this of course varies according to the child, moment, and again the educator. I am a strong believer that the solution to all of this is to embrace the art of reflective practice. This enables us as educators to think about decisions we make and our interactions and possible interventions. Also, we can reflect about why we may respond in certain ways, the outcome that was achieved, and whether or not the best choice was made in that moment and if not why? It is in recognising the immediate effects of particular interactions that educators can improve their teaching and enhance children’s learning. With that in mind, this is not me talking about moving the children on too quickly or when they are not ready, it simply means we are meeting each child where they are, meeting them on their own developmental path and following their lead, whilst celebrating the power of their explorative and curious minds.

The crucial role of the adult in supporting children’s learning is enhanced when educators fully understand how their own practices affect children’s development as resilient, independent thinkers and learners, as well as gaining new concepts, knowledge and skills.

Early years settings are informed by a range of values, philosophies and assumptions about learning, child development and teaching styles, but we know as educators that we can only develop our practice through CPD, experience, research, and personal reflection which then impacts on attitudes, knowledge, skills and how we engage with children.



Educators must embrace and learn to use play as a valuable tool for children’s learning. The critical role of the educator during play must include continuous facilitation, engagement, and appropriate individualisation for each child’s developmental level.

If this is facilitated in a sensitive way the children’s emotional and communication skill will flourish and the educator will be able to observe a wealth of important steps in the child’s development.

As educators, if we return to our own pedagogy and our interpretation of how children’s minds work, we cannot help but conclude, that all children are naturally keen to explore and learn. Our role to ensure this happens at each and every possible moment.


What do you think the role of the educator is within the Early Years?