1. Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework Principles and Themes

2. Overview of presentation
Purpose
To introduce Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework
To look in detail at the Framework’s
Principles
Themes
Notes
This presentation looks at what Aistear is, who it is for and its purpose.
It then looks in more detail at the curriculum framework’s 12 principles and 4 themes. 2 2 2 2

3. Aistear, a journey .... Notes 3 The word Aistear means ‘journey’.
It was chosen as a title for the curriculum framework for two reasons:
We all start out on our learning journey on the day we’re born.
Aistear describes our ‘learning destination’ using aims and broad learning goals. There are many different roads and paths to these goals. No two settings will offer the same experiences and activities to children. Children, practitioners and parents plan and take their own learning journeys guided by Aistear’s aims and goals.
Aistear’s logo uses a ‘boat’ or a ‘road’ symbol to reflect the idea of a learning journey. The ‘green boat’ is intended to connect with Ireland as an island nation and the ‘green isle’; while the bi-lingual strapline reflects our two official languages – our cultural heritage. 3

4. For whom? Why? Aistear is for all children from birth to six years.
can be used in the range of settings:
childminding settings
sessional services
full and part-time daycare settings
infant classes in primary schools
children’s own homes.
helps children to grow and develop as confident and competent learners.
Notes
Aistear is for all children from birth to six years.
The Framework can therefore be used in the range of early childhood settings in Ireland including
childminding settings
sessional services, for example, playgroups, naíonraí and pre-schools including Early Start units, as well as parent-and-toddler groups
full and part-time daycare settings such as creches and nurseries
infant classes in mainstream and special primary schools for junior and senior infant children
children’s own homes.
This means Aistear can be used by childminders, practitioners in out-of-home settings and by parents.
The purpose of Aistear is to describe the types of learning that are important for children in early childhood. The Framework provides practical information, ideas and suggestions to help childminders, practitioners and parents provide experiences and activities to nurture this learning in children. 4 4 4 4

5. Aistear - What’s in it? Principles and Themes – WHAT?
Guidelines for Good Practice – HOW?
Well-being
Identity and Belonging
Communicating
Exploring and Thinking
Partnerships
Interactions
Play
Assessment
User Guide
Using Aistear alongside Síolta, the Infant Curriculum and the Child Care (Pre-School) Regulations
Notes
Aistear has four elements:
Principles and Themes. The principles summarise the characteristics of good practice in supporting children’s early learning and development, while the Themes describe the ‘WHAT’—What are the types of learning and development that are important for children at this time in their lives?
Guidelines for Good Practice focuses on the ‘HOW’ of children’s early learning and development—How as an adult, can I help children to learn and develop at this young age? In responding to this question, Aistear focuses on four key aspects of practice—partnerships between practitioners and parents and families; learning and developing through interactions and through play; and supporting children’s learning and development through assessment.
User Guide gives practical information about starting to use Aistear.
Key Messages summarises important points from research used in developing Aistear.
Principles and Themes and Guidelines for Good Practice are the two key elements of Aistear.
Key Messages from the Research Papers
Summarising key points from research which underpin Aistear 5

6. Principles and Themes Notes 6
Let’s take a closer look at the Framework’s principles and themes. 6

7. Connections with others Learning and developing
Aistear’s 12 principles
Early childhood
Connections with others
Learning and developing
Uniqueness
Equality and diversity
Citizenship
Relationships
The role of the adult
Parents and families
Holistic
Active
Play; hands-on experiences
Relevant and meaningful
Communication and language
Learning environment
Notes
Aistear is based on 12 early childhood principles.
The principles are presented in 3 groups.
Group 1 concerns children and their lives in early childhood.
Group 2 concerns children’s connections with adults and with other children.
Group 3 concerns how children learn and develop.
Click on the word ‘principles’ in the slide title to link to a 4 minute presentation with audio on Aistear’s principles. This presentation is part of the Aistear Toolkit on the NCCA website at
The principles link closely with those underlying Síolta, The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education (2006) and also with many of those underpinning the Primary School Curriculum (1999). (The Aistear toolkit contains an audit of Aistear and Síolta – this audit looks at some of the main similarities and differences between the two frameworks. Another audit looks at Aistear and the infant part of the Primary School Curriculum.)
Aistear uses a particular strategy to present and explain the 12 principles. The next two slides look at this strategy. 7

8. Principle: Play and hands-on experiences
Much of children’s early learning and development takes place through play and hands-on experiences. Through these, children explore social, physical and imaginary worlds. These experiences help them to manage their feelings, develop as thinkers and language users, develop socially, be creative and imaginative, and lay the foundations for becoming effective communicators and learners.
Notes
Each principle begins with a short piece of information about what and/or how children learn and develop during their early childhood. The example in the slide is taken from the principle, Play and hands-on experiences. 8

9. Principle: From the child’s perspective
Play is important to me, and it is important for my learning and development. … Watch how I play, and see how you can support me.
Give me time and space to play with other children. When I play with them I learn about co-operation, about how to deal with conflict, about how others think and feel, and what different actions and things mean. … You can help me to learn … when we play together.
Provide me with objects, toys and equipment that reflect my own and others’ cultures. … Let me experience the different types of play …
Involve me in lots of meaningful, hands-on experiences in order to learn, to develop, and to become independent. ...
Notes
The ‘theory’/information piece is followed by an explanation of the principle from the child’s perspective.
This explanation highlights the adult’s important role in supporting children’s early learning and development.
The explanation also describes the types of experiences the child might have when the principle can be seen through everyday interactions and routines in the setting.
The example on the slide is the child’s interpretation of the principle, Play and hands-on experiences. 9

10. Identity and Belonging
Aistear’s themes
Identity and Belonging
Notes
Aistear uses themes to describe children’s early learning and development.
The themes take the place of developmental domains as in the PILES model for example, and the place of subjects as in the infant part of the Primary School Curriculum.
It’s important to remember, however, that most if not all developmental domains and all subjects in the Infant Curriculum, connect with each theme.
There are four themes in Aistear:
Well-being
Identity and Belonging
Well-being 10 10 10 10

11. Exploring and Thinking
Aistear’s themes
Exploring and Thinking
Notes
The other two themes are
Communicating
Exploring and Thinking
Communicating 11 11 11 11

12. Presenting children’s learning and development through themes: a) dispositions b) skills c) attitudes and values d) knowledge and understandings
Notes
Aistear uses the 4 themes to describe WHAT children learn.
Each theme has aims and broad learning goals. Together these describe important
dispositions (the way children approach tasks and activities), for example do they show an interest? are they prepared to ‘stay with a task’ even when things ‘don’t go their way’? do they get involved in activities?
skills, for example turn-taking, climbing, walking, cutting, mark-making
attitudes and values, for example caring for others, challenging unfair behaviour, showing respect for others’ belongings
knowledge and understanding, for example recognising shapes and colours, using ‘things’ to represent other ‘things’, knowing that words and pictures give information
These are just some examples of the types of learning that Aistear’s aims and goals describe for children.
Each theme also offers ideas and suggestions for the types of activities the adult might provide for and with children to help them learn and develop. These are called sample learning opportunities. We’ll come back to these later.
ACTIIVTY: ‘Matching Aistear’s themes and aims’
Use the activity, ‘Matching Aistear’s themes and aims’ from the online Aistear Toolkit at
Through this activity, introduce participants to the Framework’s 4 themes, and to the aims in the themes.
Using the feedback from participants, highlight how connected the four themes are to each other. 12

13. Theme: Well-being Children will be strong psychologically and socially
be as healthy and fit as can be
be creative and spiritual
develop positive outlooks on learning and on life
Notes
The theme of Well-being is about helping children to be confident, happy and healthy.
The theme helps children to
be strong psychologically and socially
be as healthy and fit as they can be
be creative and spiritual
develop positive outlooks on learning and on life. 13 13

14. Theme: Identity and Belonging
Children will
develop strong self-identities and feel respected and affirmed as individuals
have a sense of group identity where links with their family and community are acknowledged and extended
express their rights and respect the identity, rights and views of others
see themselves as capable learners
Notes
The theme of Identity and Belonging is about helping children to build a positive sense of who they are and to feel that they, their family and community are valued and respected.
The theme helps children to
develop strong self-identities and feel respected and affirmed as individuals
have a sense of group identity where links with their family and community are acknowledged and extended
express their rights and respect the identity, rights and views of others
see themselves as capable learners. 14 14

15. Theme: Communicating Children will
develop non-verbal communication skills
use language with growing confidence and competence
make sense of their experiences through language
express themselves creatively and imaginatively
Notes
The theme of Communicating is about helping children to share their experiences, thoughts and feelings in a variety of ways and for a variety of purposes.
The theme helps children to
develop non-verbal communication skills
use language with growing confidence and competence
make sense of their experiences through language
express themselves creatively and imaginatively. 15 15

16. Theme: Exploring and Thinking Children will
develop increasingly complex strategies for observing, thinking, exploring, understanding, and
problem-solving
use symbolic representation
learn about and make sense of the world
develop a positive image of themselves as learners, and come to see themselves as explorers and thinkers
Notes
The theme of Exploring and Thinking is about helping children to make sense of the things, places and people in their world by interacting with others, playing, investigating, questioning, and forming, testing and refining ideas. .
The theme helps children to
develop increasingly complex strategies for observing, thinking, exploring, understanding, and problem-solving
use symbolic representation
learn about and make sense of the world
develop a positive image of themselves as learners, and come to see themselves as explorers and thinkers.
ACTIVITY: ‘Exploring Aistear’s learning goals’ AND/OR
ACTIVITY: ‘Planning activities using Aistear’
Use either/both of the above activities from the online Aistear Toolkit at
Through the activity(ies), help participants begin to become familiar with what children can learn through Aistear.
Support practitioners to reflect on their own practice and identify opportunities for supporting children’s learning and development towards some of the learning goals. 16 16

17. Sample learning opportunities
Each theme
has ideas and suggestions for experiences and activities
presents sample learning opportunities for 3 overlapping age groups
Notes
Each theme has a set of sample learning opportunities. These are suggestions, ideas or prompts for the many different types of activities and experiences the adult might plan with and provide for children to help them learn and develop across Aistear’s 4 themes.
The sample learning opportunities can be adapted and extended to suit the needs and interests of the children in a particular setting. They can also be amended for the outdoor/indoor environment.
The ‘opportunities’ are presented for three overlapping age groups—babies, toddlers and young children.
The ‘opportunities’ are presented in this way as children learn and develop at their own pace. Also, similar experiences can be used at different times in early childhood to help children learn different things. For example, babies might hand-print with paint to learn about ‘cause and effect’ (if I put paint on my hand and press it down on a surface, I can make a mark/picture/print). Young children might print to explore patterns or to find out about mixing colours, or to make wrapping paper for use in their play shop.
Toddlers:
12 months to 3 years
Babies:
birth to 18 months
Young children:
2½ to 6 years

18. Find out more National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA)
24 Merrion Square, Dublin 2
W: and E:
Notes
Aistear can be found in full, in both English and Irish on the NCCA website at Keep an eye on the website as you will also find up-to-date information on it about the Framework.
The NCCA has developed an online toolkit for Aistear. The toolkit contains resources including presentations with audio, handouts and PowerPoint slides which you might find useful in becoming familiar with the Framework and in beginning to use it in your settings. More items including planning templates and examples of Aistear-in-action in different types of settings, will be added to the toolkit over time. You will find the toolkit on the NCCA website at
Finally, if you have a query about Aistear and can’t find the answer on the NCCA website, and I can’t answer it for you, you can