Nursery and Mantle of the Expert

Abstract

This article describes an academic year in a nursery class teaching Mantle of the Expert to children who are 2 years 10 months to 4 years old. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate how Mantle of the Expert and the approaches used by older children can be simplified and re framed in a way that allows younger children to access the same approach but at a level that meets their need developmentally. The article describes how we develop and encourage imaginative play in the learning landscape that the children have access to and how more formal approaches of Mantle are taught during whole class carpet time. The article simplifies the first nursery classes Mantle by breaking this down into 4 weeks. Nursery focus on context, client, commission and problem solving. This article demonstrates how a reflective, experimental approach to Mantle of the Expert in nursery can work by meeting the needs and requirements of the cohort of children as well as taking into consideration their development and learning needs.