What is intentional teaching, and why does it matter?

Walk into a quality early childhood centre and you'll see educators making constant judgement calls. Should I jump in here, or let the children figure this out? Should I ask a question, or just observe? Should I name what's happening, or stay quiet?

This is intentional teaching. It's one of the eight Practices identified in the Early Years Learning Framework, and it's a key part of how children learn in approved early childhood education.

This article explains what intentional teaching is, why it matters, and what it looks like in our centres.

What intentional teaching is

The Early Years Learning Framework defines intentional teaching as “deliberate, purposeful, thoughtful and reflective” teaching.

In plain language: an educator notices an opportunity for learning, makes a deliberate choice about how to respond, and acts with a clear intention. That might be asking an open-ended question, modelling a skill, scaffolding a concept, introducing a new vocabulary word, or simply staying out of the way.

Intentional teaching is the opposite of going through the motions. It's the educator's active engagement in shaping the moment, with a clear sense of why.

Why it matters

Quality early childhood education isn't accidental. Decades of research show that the children who get the most out of early learning are those whose educators are deliberate and intentional in how they respond, scaffold, and teach.

Intentional teaching matters because:

• Children's questions and curiosities don't pause for educator convenience , they have to be met in the moment
• Learning happens through interaction, not just exposure. Children learn far more from a thoughtful conversation than from being left alone with the same materials
• Educators with clear intent are better at differentiating: noticing when a child needs more challenge, more support, or simply to be left alone
• It models thinking. When educators say “I'm wondering...” or “What if we tried...?”, children pick up the pattern

Examples in practice

A few examples of intentional teaching from a typical day at our centres:

The block tower. Two children are building a tower. It keeps falling over. An educator notices the third collapse and the rising frustration. She kneels alongside, picks up a wide block, and says, “I wonder if a wider base would change how it stands?” That's intentional. She didn't take over. She didn't fix it. She named a possibility and let the children decide what to do with it.

The colour question. A three-year-old asks why the leaves are yellow. The easy answer is “because it's autumn”. An intentional teacher says, “That's a great question. What do you think happens to the leaves when the weather gets cold?” Now the child is doing the thinking, not just receiving an answer.

The conflict. Two children argue over a single dump truck. An educator can step in and assign turns. Or she can pause, watch, and wait to see if they negotiate it themselves. Both responses can be intentional, depending on the children, the day, and the goal.

Story time. An educator chooses a book about a child whose family looks different from the typical book character. She reads it without making a big deal of it, but the choice was deliberate. Children in the room come from many backgrounds, and seeing themselves in books matters.

The balance between intentional and child-led

Intentional teaching doesn't mean adult-directed teaching. The EYLF is clear that play-based, child-led learning is the foundation. Intentional teaching is the educator's contribution to that, not a replacement for it.

Some of the most important intentional moments are decisions not to intervene. An educator who watches a child puzzle through something difficult, resisting the urge to help, is being just as intentional as one who steps in with a question. The skill is reading the moment.

This is also why reflective practice matters so much. Educators get better at intentional teaching by reflecting on what worked, what didn't, and what they'd do differently next time.

How this looks in our centres

Across the four Eikoh centres, intentional teaching is part of how every educator approaches their day. It shows up in:

• The way educators document children's learning, with notes about what they tried and why
• Team huddles where educators share what they're noticing and what they're trying
• The questions you'll hear in any room (“What do you notice?”, “What do you think might happen?”)
• The variety in how different educators respond to similar moments , there's rarely one right answer

If you'd like to see this in practice, book a tour at one of our centres in Normanhurst, St Ives Chase, Roseville, or West Ryde.