How do we know that
children learn?
Milla Mikkola
Co-Founder of Kindiedays
“When you teach a child
something, you forever take
away his chance of discovering
it for himself”
- Jean Piaget
Learning through experiences
results in a change in knowledge
and behaviour
Finland’s cornerstones for
learning in ECEC
Children are curious to learn by nature
Children learn via interaction with other people and the
environment around them
Children learn by playing, moving, exploring
The value of learning is in the
process and context
Children’s strengths and interests as the starting point for
learning
Activities are interesting, goal-oriented and suitably
challenging
Educators interact, support and guide
Experiencing success and joy in learning is every child’s right
If learning
happens in
the process,
how can we
assess it?
There are three
problems in this
scene:
Different strengths,
starting points
Everyone may not be
ready for the same
exam
Assessment should
happen during the
learning process and
within the context
How to find evidence about
children’s learning?
The importance of
Pedagogical
DocumentationFind out the child’s strengths, interests, needs
Observe children’s activities
Document in pictures, videos, notes
Reflect and discuss with child to include their views
Engage families to participate
Use the gained knowledge in future planning
Observe,Observe
How to
document in
practise?
They know
me! I get to
participate in
suitably
challenging
activities
Reaching my personal best!
I’m heard! I
can follow my
own learning
and
experience
success
I’m motivated
and self-
confident, and I
have a positive
attitude towards
learning!
How do we know children
learn?
The observations and documents are the evidence of
learning, because they’re authentic.
Learning does not require scoring to prove its worth.
Happy children is the proof!