Why do some educators just seem to "stand around"?

Okay, before you come for me about that title.... hear me out. 

I often have service leaders (Nominated Supervisors, Room Leaders, Educational Leaders) say to me some version of "I've got an educator who just seems to stand around - they don't do anything." Now, the underlying belief is that said educator is lazy, that they aren't pulling their weight, that they're just killing time until lunch. 

But while putting together an upcoming professional development session on scaffolding children's play and thinking, I realised that some of these "standing around" educators may not actually know what it is they should be doing. 

I've worked with and observed educators in the past who definitely fit into this camp. Often they will become task oriented - they are tidying up a shelf, or sweeping the floor, simply because it is a thing to do. Sometimes they become "supervisors" - doing their job in terms of making sure that children are safe from harm, but not really working in an intentional way with children. The flip side of this can be the educator who thinks that they need to be engaged in direct instruction and structured activities to be viewed as "doing their job." 

What if instead of thinking the worst of someone on our team (i.e. "they're just lazy"), we tried to see the potential in them - the potential for learning and growing and becoming a more intentional educator? 

There are so many ways that we can scaffold children's play and thinking, but these are a learned skill - not just something we instantly know how to do. It takes practice to know when and how to step in and provide a scaffold for a child. Sometimes it takes seeing someone else do it. Sometimes it takes ongoing reflection as a team about ways in which we can scaffold play and thinking - perhaps broadening all of our understandings about what scaffolding really is. 

Now I'm sure there are going to be some people reading this who will say "nope, that educator is just lazy", and to be fair, I don't know your educators or your team - you do. But I just feel like as leaders in particular, we need to do everything we can to mentor and help educators grow their practical skills. If you see an opportunity for scaffolding play and thinking - model it. If you hear a child sharing their knowledge and an educator who just says "oh interesting" and stops the conversation there - chat to them about it, shine a light on the potential of the interaction. 

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And... if you are reading this when it's first published, you could join us (or have them join us!!) for our live online session on February 25th, 2026.

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It's been amazing to read so many comments about this blog post, and to hear various perspectives. Earlier this year, Nic delivered a live online session on scaffolding children's play and thinking, and while we were definitely talking about how to scaffold, it wasn't about interrupting or taking over or directing. 

The session and the conversation in your comments have highlighted the need for a PART 2 of this blog post, which focuses on the other reasons for "standing around" - the tuning in, the presence, the observation, and just how valuable that is!

If you haven't read that second post, you can do that here. 

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Psst... We have received so much interest in the recording for our previous session on 'How to Scaffold Children's Play and Learning' (which was unfortunately cut-short by the tech-fairies) that we have decided to run it again!

Join us online on May 26th at 11am, or register for access to the session recording for 7 days!