Reimagining the ‘characteristics of effective teaching and learning’ as a framework for feedback in the Early Years

VERITY DOWNING, INDEPENDENT ACADEMIC, UK The purpose of the ‘characteristics of effective teaching and learning’ (CETL) section of Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guidance is to signpost teachers towards prioritising not just what students learn, but how they learn. Through affording due respect to students’ attitudes towards their learning and how they respond to their educational environment, it is hoped that teachers will be able to tailor their practice to be of optimum suitability. Despite the September 2020 update to the CETL, which saw the existing guidance of multifaceted complexity unnecessarily substituted for a new, overly prescriptive and narrow tick list, the principles and importance of this area remain and should be upheld. Teachers should be encouraged to not only use the CETL as a frame through which to view students’ learning habits and to contemplate this area as a primary reference point during assessment periods, but to also position the feedback that