Improving early education through high-quality interactions

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The importance of shared attention

All children are powerful learners. Before starting in an early years setting, some children have already experienced many sustained and supportive interactions with adults that promote their learning and development. For example, plenty of early play and conversation, sharing books and singing songs.

Children who have experienced fewer sustained and supportive interactions might have shorter attention spans. They might have fewer interests or be less confident communicators. Educators may need to take more time and care in developing warm and supportive relationships with them.

However, research evidence suggests that sometimes the opposite happens. The Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY) report found that:

children who are “struggling” learners receive the most behaviour management interactions from adults, while very capable learners and those who are learning ‘as expected’ receive more social talk and caring interactions from the adults in their settings.
EEF logomark

Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY) Report

Siraj-Blatchford,Muttock, S., Sylva, K., Gilden, R. and Bell, D., 2002.

One way to act on this research evidence is to prioritise support and attention to children who seem harder to engage. One way of doing this is through building episodes of ‘shared attention’.

Educators can create episodes of ‘shared attention’ by showing genuine interest in a child’s play. They might get down to the child’s level and let the child lead the way. Educators can also create exciting activities that naturally draw children over.