All Workshops
Oct 11, 2026, 12:00 AMVirtualEGP 3800.00
Understanding Learning in the Early Years
Young children are naturally curious, capable and driven to explore their world through play. This workshop explores how play can become a powerful vehicle for inquiry, meaning-making and conceptual understanding. Grounded in the PYP approach to early learning, participants will examine how relationships, learning environments, symbolic exploration and transdisciplinary experiences can position young learners as active, capable and agentic participants in their learning. The workshop focuses on moving beyond “play as an activity” towards play as intentional learning, where educators thoughtfully observe, respond to and extend children’s thinking.
What You Will Learn
- Explore the image of the young learner as capable, curious, competent, and agentic.
- Examine how play supports inquiry, exploration, meaning-making, and knowledge construction.
- Explore how children use symbolic exploration and expression to represent, communicate, and develop their thinking.
- Consider how transdisciplinary learning connects children’s experiences, ideas, and understandings across different areas of learning.
- Explore approaches to teaching that extend children’s thinking while preserving agency, curiosity, and ownership.
- Examine how relationships and learning environments influence children’s exploration, communication, collaboration, and meaning-making.
- Explore how educators can observe, document, and respond to learning through play.
- Develop an understanding of how everyday play experiences can become intentional opportunities for inquiry and conceptual learning.