Rich conversations in mobile settings

A teacher drives a mobile preschool van to a school site, where her colleagues assist in setting up play-based learning opportunities. In this learning environment, the teacher scaffolds mathematics learning as children use coloured tiles to sort, create patterns and begin to match numerals to their collections of objects. She provides modelling and mentoring to her assistants, reviewing the teaching and learning program to identify children’s interests that can act as a springboard for further learning. The teacher provides parents with regular opportunities to discuss their child's development and to be involved in the educative process.

The mobile preschool provides services within rural New South Wales, drawing families from a wide geographic radius. The teacher and the service value 'rich conversations' for learning and apply sociocultural theories to their interactions with children, scaffolding their learning from their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) to higher-level thinking. The team identify children’s interests and use a Daily Reflection sheet to plan collaboratively for the child's next stage learning. In the program, parents are encouraged to chat to staff as they bring their children, many staying for longer discussions about what they might focus on with their children. Parents are also encouraged to be engaged in the educative process working with their own and others’ children.