What does teaching and  learning really look like in the EYFS?

Whilst observing recently in a Reception class, I was struck by the language used by the class teacher, and this set me thinking....
After an initial whole class session on the carpet, she invited the children to 'go off and play', but wanted a small group of about six children, to work with her.  The idea that children only 'learn' when an adult is present, is wholly incorrect, but this teacher had already set most of the children in her class off on a 'play' trajectory, where self-awareness and discovery to share with others, was lost.

The true pedagogy of the EYFS is that children learn through play.  It seems these concepts have become polarised; children either 'learn' or they 'play'.  Unfortunately, and I hope I'm wrong, but a wind of change appears to be sprouting in the OFSTED camp, and schools where children in EY 'sit and learn' are receiving 'good', when actually the teaching is at best 'satisfactory' and in some cases 'inadequate'.

This poses a dilemma; one that has quietly simmered for a long time, but which may be now coming to the boil.  Do we as teachers,  stay true to the pedagogy of EYFS, that children 'learn through play' or do we offer an ever increasing reductive curriculum for young children, that focuses on attainment and scores?

Of course the wise amongst us knows this is not an 'either or'  question.  But, as has always been the case in the teaching profession, we are buffeted  from one extreme to the other and it is only the confident, often experienced teachers that quietly go about their day in the firm knowledge that their children will flourish, learn and attain.

If the classroom environment offers exciting opportunities for children to explore and discover, they will learn.  Add to this, rigour in the form of high expectations, clear challenges and an awareness of 'next steps' for learning, children will view the activities they become involved with as 'playful learning' opportunities. Very young children can be involved in their own learning (AfL) and soon know if they are challenging themselves and 'doing their best'.
Adults scaffold and steer children's learning through high levels of engagement, which will include episodes of direct instruction, but this is by no means the whole picture of what teaching and learning looks like.  So, children go off to 'learn' in a playful, engaging way.