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Learning through play is a term used in education and psychology to describe how a child can learn to make sense of the world around them. Through play children can develop social and cognitive skills, mature emotionally, and gain the self-confidence required to engage in new experiences and environments.[1]

Play

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According to proponents of the concept, play enables children to make sense of their world. Children possess a natural curiosity to explore and play acts as a medium to do so. In the book Einstein Never Used Flash Cards, five elements of children’s play are listed:[2]

  • Play must be pleasurable and enjoyable.
  • Play must have no extrinsic goals; there is no prescribed learning that must occur.
  • Play is spontaneous and voluntary.
  • Play involves active engagement on the part of the player.
  • Play involves an element of make-believe.

Seven common characteristics of play are listed in Playing and Learning, by Beverlie Dietze and Diane Kashin: Play is active, child-initiated, process oriented, intrinsic, episodic, rule-governed, and symbolic.[3]

Play and Work

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There are critical differences between play and work. Play is mostly a self-chosen activity by the child, rather than prescribed by a parent or teacher; it is a process, rather than a predicted outcome or product. Work, on the other hand, has a definite intent and a prescribed outcome.[4]

According to Dietze and Kashin:

In order for an activity to be considered play, the experience must include a measure of inner control, ability to bend or invent reality, and a strong internally based motivation for playing. If parents and educators try to label experiences as play, but in reality have specific requirements for the activity, then it becomes work not play. For example, it is really impossible to play with flash cards whose purpose is to have a child memorize something on each card. This is not playing and children quickly differentiate between pure play and work being disguised as play.[5]

Play is not wasted time, but rather time spent building new knowledge from previous experience.[6] However, long term developmental qualities of play are difficult to research. [7]There are various ways in which researchers may choose to look at the differences between work and play. Researchers may choose definitions of play or work based on:

  1. Primary Activities: Even if a culture considers a child’s action is play, a researcher may choose to define the child’s action as work because it does add “ immediate worth to the family unit.” [8]
  2. The Parent’s Concept: Parents from different cultures define children’s actions of work and play differently.[9] For example, a Mayan mother who’s daughter sets up her own fruit stand may consider this action as play. [10] However, many westerners would consider this work if the child is actually successful at selling items from the fruit stand. A child in the United States who sets up a lemonade stand is considered to be working for money.
  3. The Child’s Concept: Children have different ideas of what play and work are in comparison to adults. A child who is “pretending” to cook may have the belief that he or she is working and contributing to the family.

Classical, modern and contemporary perspectives

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There are three main groups of play theories:[3]

  1. Classical theories focus on play from the aspects of burning off excess energy; recreation and relaxation; replenishing energy after hard work; practicing future roles, and recapitulation theory (passing through successive stages by ancestors). Herbert Spencer suggests that play is a mechanism to allow humans to expend excess energy not required for survival; this can be achieved by children through play.
  2. Modern theories examine play from the perspective of how it impacts a child’s development. According to Dietze and Kashin, “The learner is no longer regarded as a passive receiver of knowledge, but as an active constructor of meaning”.[11] This perspective is emphasized within the constructionist theory through experiential learning. Theorist John Dewey suggests that children learn best by both physical and intellectual activity; in other words, children need to take an active role in play.
  3. Contemporary theories focus on the relationship of play to diversity and social justice in daily living and knowledge. Children learn social and cultural contexts through their daily living experiences. The Zone of Proximal Development concept, developed by Lev Vygotsky, suggests that children require activities that support past learning and encourage new learning at a slightly-more-difficult level. Vygotsky believed that social engagement and collaboration with others are powerful forces which transform children's thinking. Urie Bronfenbrenner states that a child's development is influenced by both the person and the environment (which includes family, community, culture and the broader society).

Culture and Learning Through Play

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The way that children learn through play is culturally specific "as result of differences in childrearing beliefs, values, and practices." [12] [13] Play both influences and reflects the way children from different cultures learn. Most western cultures would agree with the previously described definition of play where play is enjoyable, have no extrinsic goals,no prescribed learning that must occur, is spontaneous and voluntary, involves active engagement on the part of the player, involves an element of make-believe.[2] However, that is not so for most others. For example, Yucatec Mayans do not have emotional aspects in pretend/ make believe play and most of their play is reality based.

Yucatec Mayans learn through Intent Community Participation, a very different model way than most middle class euro families do.[14] This learning style stresses observation and intent activity that intertwines individuals into community action.

Unlike children from the U.S., Yucatec Mayan children do not pretend play because they must incorporate all age groups into their play and their cultural structure does not support idea of "pretend." [15] [16] Instead of having imaginary circumstances and friends, they play through various pre scripted real life situations. The children often have a set list of circumstances they can reenact. All of these circumstances reflects everyday life of the Yucatec. For example, children will go through the steps of making tortillas, weave, and clean clothing. This is as a result of not having Age Segregation. Unlike children of the industrialized middle-class who play with children of the same age, The Yucatec Mayan children must incorporate young infants to those in middle childhood. Thus, play scripted to allow all age groups to enjoy exploring activities of daily life.

Different age groups have different cognitive capabilities. [17] For example, when older Yucatec children pretend to discipline (modeling parental structures and exploring emotions), children who are younger react negatively because they do not understand that the discipline is a game. [18]

Their culture also emphasizes learning through observation. Children must be active participators by observing and modeling activities that are useful to the whole community. " It is inheremtly integrated into the daily activities of the compound." [19] Their repeated realistic representations of the adult world is represent through their play.

Yucatec Mayan parents aslo do not support the idea of pretend.[20] Pretend Play is considered a form of lying because children are not representing something that actually happens. For example, a mayan mother told an ethnographer that she would "tolerate" her child pretending that the leaves in the bowl was a form of food. [21]


Importance

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Play is sufficiently important to the United Nations that it has recognized it as a specific right for all children.[22] Children need the freedom to explore and play. Play also contributes to brain development. Evidence from neuroscience shows that the early years of a child’s development (from birth to age six) set the basis for learning, behavior and health throughout life.[23] The child’s neural pathways are influenced in their development through the exploration, thinking, problem-solving and language expression which occur during play episodes.[24] According to the Canadian Council on Learning, "Play nourishes every aspect of children’s development – it forms the foundation of intellectual, social, physical, and emotional skills necessary for success in school and in life. Play 'paves the way for learning'”.[25]

Learning occurs when children play with blocks, paint a picture or play make-believe. During play children try new things, solve problems, invent, create, test ideas and explore. Children need unstructured, creative playtime; in other words, children need time to learn through their play.[2]

According to researcher Charles E. Pascel, "Play is serious business for the development of young learners. This is such an important understanding. A deliberate and effective play-based approach supports young children’s cognitive development. When well designed, such an approach taps into children’s individual interests, draws out their emerging capacities, and responds to their sense of inquiry and exploration of the world around them. It generates highly motivated children enjoying an environment where the learning outcomes of a curriculum are more likely to be achieved”.[26]

In childhood

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Young boy and girl filling a pail in a sandbox
Children in playground sandbox

It has been acknowledged that there is a strong link between play and learning for young children, especially in the areas of problem solving, language acquisition, literacy, numeracy and social, physical, and emotional skills. Young children actively explore their environment and the world around them through learning-based play.[27] Play is a vital part of a child’s optimal social, cognitive, physical and emotional development.[28] Researchers agree that play provides a strong foundation for intellectual growth, creativity, problem-solving and basic academic knowledge.[2][29] [30] According to researcher Dorothy Singer, “Through make-believe games children can be anyone they wish and go anywhere they want. When they engage in sociodramatic play, they learn how to cope with feelings, how to bring the large, confusing world into a small, manageable size; and how to become socially adept as they share, take turns and cooperate with each other. When children play, they are learning new words, how to problem solve, and how to be flexible”.[31]

As children learn through purposeful, quality play experience, they build critical basic skills for cognitive development and academic achievement. These include verbalization, language comprehension, vocabulary, imagination, questioning, problem-solving, observation, empathy, co-operation skills and the perspectives of others.[32]

Through play, children learn a set of skills: social skills, creativity, hand-eye coordination, problem solving and imagination. It is argued that these skills are better learned through play than through flashcards or academic drills.[33] Additionally, Slovak researchers Gmitrova and Gmitrov have found evidence clarifying the importance of pretend play as a medium through which children can progress in areas beyond the educational curriculum.[34]

Beliefs about the play-learning relationship

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According to Kelly Fisher and colleagues, experts and parents have different beliefs about the relationship between play activities and learning. While parents ascribe more learning value to structured play activities (e.g., educational videos), experts identify structured activities as "non-play" and associate less learning value with these activities compared to unstructured activities (make-believe, or pretend, play). [35]

Play-based learning

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Play develops children’s content knowledge and provides children the opportunity to development social skills, competences and disposition to learn.[36] Play-based learning is based on a Vygotskian model of scaffolding where the teacher pays attention on specific elements of the play activity and provides encouragement and feedback on children’s learning.[37] When children engage in real-life and imaginary activities, play can be challenging in children’s thinking.[38] To extend the learning process, sensitive intervention can be provided with adult support when necessary during play-based learning.[37] Play-based learning can also be defined as:

"… children being active and involved in their learning. Children learn best through first-hand experiences… the purpose of play-active learning is that it motivates, stimulates and supports children in their development of skills, concepts, language acquisitions/communication skills and concentration. It also provides opportunities for children to develop positive attitudes and to demonstrate awareness/use of recent learning, skills and competencies, and to consolidate learning."[39]

According to researchers Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, “The level of children’s play rises when adults play with them. The variety of play children engage in also increases when adults join in. The joining in is different from controlling. Controlling makes children follow their parents' agenda and does not lead to as much cognitive development as when parents follow their children's lead”.[2] There are several ways educators/parents/guardians can facilitate children’s learning during play:[40][41][42]

  1. Adults can role-model positive attitudes towards play, encouraging it and providing a balance of indoor and outdoor play throughout the year. When adults join in they should guide shape, engage in and extend it, rather than dictating or dominating the play.
  2. Orchestrate an environment by deciding what toys, materials, and equipment to be included in that environment. It is important to offer a variety of materials and experiences at varying levels of difficulty. The choice of materials is important, because it provides the motivation for children’s exploration and discovery. Both indoor and outdoor experiences should provide exploratory centres and space. The play environment should allow children to make choices, and to explore play possibilities. The play environment should reflect the child’s daily living experiences.
  3. Observe carefully as children begin to use the toys, materials and equipment. Observation is an ongoing process, providing information about the child’s interests, abilities and strengths and opportunities for further learning and development. Observation helps identify ways adults can build on and guide the learning.
  4. Insulate oneself carefully into the play activity
  5. Listen, repeat, extend and ask questions at the right time
  6. Extend children’s natural observation by providing the language necessary to help children articulate what they see happening. Adults can promote play and opportunities for expansive discoveries; they can enhance (or facilitate) play by encouraging children to bring their interests and experiences into the play. The adults can ask questions, to expand and enhance play.
  7. Help children recognize the concepts that emerge as they grapple with the environment, make hypotheses, recognize similarities and differences, and solve problems
  8. Provide social knowledge while allowing children the opportunity to learn the physical and logico-mathematical knowledge that helps them understand the world around them

Play helps children learn by connecting with their senses and new language that contributes to their learning.[42]

Criticism

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Knowledge acquisition

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Forty years of research has shown positive correlation between play and children’s learning.[43] This has led many to generalize the conclusion that play is beneficial for all learning. Many of the findings are reflective of procedural knowledge rather than declarative knowledge.[44] It is not certain whether correlational research can prove or know what degree play is responsible for these advantages .[43] The assumptions that children can learn declarative information, such as words or facts, simply based on evidence that children acquire skills in play can not be made.[44] The true value of play is not that it can teach children facts, but that it can help them acquire important procedural knowledge, which is beneficial in acquiring declarative knowledge.[44]

Pretend play: creativity, intelligence and problem solving

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An analysis of more than 150 previous studies on the relationship between pretend play and child development claimed that pretend play may be overrated. Regarding creativity, the study has shown unconvincing evidence of pretend play enhancing creativity.[43] Correlation studies were inconsistent, with some showing relationships only to social pretend play, pretend play, or constructional play, and other studies failing to show relationships to those same constructs.[43] In terms of intelligence, the research has claimed it is not certain whether play promotes intelligence or intelligence promotes play and other adult interventions are no different in promoting intelligence in children.[43] For problem solving, the form of construction play is correlated with solving problems that involve construction (puzzle toys). Further research should examine if such “play” helps problem solving generally.[43]

Play-based learning programs

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Play-based learning programs include:

  • HighScope is an example of a teacher-led approach. The philosophy is that children should be involved actively in their own learning. Adults working with the children see themselves more as involved facilitators of play rather than managing the play itself.[45]
  • The Montessori Method emphasizes self-directed activity on the part of the child and clinical observation on the part of the teacher. The objective is to adapt the child's learning environment to his or her development level. This broad approach encourages children to learn through play.[46]
  • Ontario Full Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program,[47] for 4- and 5-year-olds, is a school program consisting of exploration, investigation, guided and explicit instruction.
  • Ontario Early Years Centres is a parent-child interactive program with a focus on play-based learning. Parents and caregivers stay with the child, and can obtain information about programs and services available for young children and their families.[48]
  • The Reggio Emilio approach has a vision of the child as a competent learner, and has produced a child-directed curriculum model. The curriculum has purposeful progression, but no defined sequence. Teachers follow the children's interests, and do not provide focused instruction in reading and writing. The Reggio approach believes that children learn through interaction with others (including parents, staff and peers) in a friendly learning environment.[49]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Human growth and the development of personality, Jack Kahn, S usan Elinor Wright, Pergamon Press, ISBN 978-1-59486-068-3
  2. ^ a b c d e Einstein Never Used Flash Cards, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Rodale Inc., ISBN 978-0-08-023383-3
  3. ^ a b Playing and Learning, Beverlie Dietze, Diane Kashin, page 46,Pearson Prentice Hall, ISBN 9780135125464 Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: checksum
  4. ^ Wiltz & Fein, 2006 as cited in Playing and Learning, Beverlie Dietze, Diane Kashin,2011, page 3,Pearson Prentice Hall, ISBN 9780135125464 Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: checksum
  5. ^ Bergen, 2009 as cited in Playing and Learning, Beverlie Dietze, Diane Kashin,2011, page 5,Pearson Prentice Hall, ISBN 9780135125464 Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: checksum
  6. ^ Isenberg and Quisenberry,2002 as sited in Thinking It Through: Teaching and Learingng in the Kindergarten Classroom Playing is Learning, page 12, Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, 2010
  7. ^ Chick,Garry as sited in Work, Play, and Learning, page 123 The Anthropology of Learning in Childhood,2010
  8. ^ Chick, Garry (2010). Work, Play, and Learning. Plymoth, UK: AltaMira Press. pp. 119–143. ISBN 978-0-7591-1322-0.
  9. ^ Chick, Garry (2010). Work, Play, and Learning. Plymoth, UK: AltaMira Press. pp. 119–143. ISBN 978-0-7591-1322-0.
  10. ^ Rogoff, Barbara (2011). Developing Destinies: A Mayan Midwife and Town. Cambridge: Oxford University Press.
  11. ^ Katzeff, 2003 as cited in Playing and Learning, Beverlie Dietze, Diane Kashin,2011, page 36,Pearson Prentice Hall, ISBN 9780135125464 Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: checksum
  12. ^ Gaskins, Suzanne (2009). "The Cultural Roles of Emotions in Pretend Play". Play and Culture Studies. 9 (Transactions at Play): 5–21. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Goncu, Artin (2006). Play and Development. New Jersey: Laurance Erlbraum Associates,Inc. pp. 179–202. ISBN 0-8058-5261-1.
  14. ^ Rogoff, Barbara (2011). Developing Destinies: A Mayan Midwife and Town. Cambridge: Oxford University Press.
  15. ^ Gaskins, Suzanne (2009). "The Cultural Roles of Emotions in Pretend Play". Play and Culture Studies. 9 (Transactions at Play): 5–21. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Goncu, Artin (2006). Play and Development. New Jersey: Laurance Erlbraum Associates,Inc. pp. 179–202. ISBN 0-8058-5261-1.
  17. ^ Lightfoot, Cynthia (2009). The Development of Children. New York: Worth Publishers.
  18. ^ Gaskins, Suzanne (2009). "The Cultural Roles of Emotions in Pretend Play". Play and Culture Studies. 9 (Transactions at Play): 5–21. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ Goncu, Artin (2006). Play and Development. New Jersey: Laurance Erlbraum Associates,Inc. pp. 179–202. ISBN 0-8058-5261-1.
  20. ^ Gaskins, Suzanne (2009). "The Cultural Roles of Emotions in Pretend Play". Play and Culture Studies. 9 (Transactions at Play): 5–21. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ Goncu, Artin (2006). Play and Development. New Jersey: Laurance Erlbraum Associates,Inc. pp. 179–202. ISBN 0-8058-5261-1.
  22. ^ “Fact Sheet: A Summary of the Rights Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child”, Article 31, http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf, accessed February 11, 2010
  23. ^ Mustard, Fraser. "The Early Years Study" (PDF).
  24. ^ Playing and Learning, Beverlie Dietze, Diane Kashin,2011,Pearson Prentice Hall, ISBN 9780135125464 Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: checksum
  25. ^ Canadian Council on Learning (Early Childhood Learning Knowledge Centre), “Let the Children Play: Nature’s Answer to Early Learning”, Lessons in Learning (Ottawa: CCL, 2006), p. 2
  26. ^ "With Our Best Future in Mind" (PDF).
  27. ^ "Early Learning For Every Child Today" (PDF).
  28. ^ Playing and Learning, Beverlie Dietze, Diane Kashin,2011,Pearson Prentice Hall, ISBN 978013512546
  29. ^ Fisher, K., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R.M., Berk, L., & Singer, D. (2010). Playing around in school: Implications for learning and educational policy. In A. Pellegrini (Ed), Handbook of the Development of Play (pp. 341-362). New York, NY: Oxford Press.
  30. ^ Fisher, K. & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2012). Fostering mathematical thinking through playful learning. In S. Saggate & E. Reese (Eds.), Contemporary Debates on Child Development and Education.
  31. ^ Dorothy Singer, as cited in Einstein Never Used Flash Cards, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, page 213 Rodale Inc.
  32. ^ Thinking It Through: Teaching and Learingng in the Kindergarten Classroom Playing is Learning, page 28, Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, 2010
  33. ^ "Preschool". DisneyFamily.com. Disney. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  34. ^ Gmitrova, V. and Gmitrov, G. The impact of teacher-directed and child-directed pretend play on cognitive competence in kindergarten children. Early Childhood Education Journal (2003) Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 241-246
  35. ^ Fisher, K., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R.M., & Glick Gryfe, S. (2008). Conceptual split? Parents' and experts' perceptions of play in the 21st century. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29, 305-316.
  36. ^ Wood, E. and J. Attfield. (2005). Play, learning and the early childhood curriculum. 2nd ed. London: Paul Chapman
  37. ^ a b Martlew, J., Stephen, C. & Ellis, J. (2011). Play in the primary school classroom? The experience of teachers supporting children’s learning through a new pedagogy. Early Years, 31(1), 71-83.
  38. ^ Whitebread, D., Coltman, P., Jameson, H. & Lander, R. (2009). Play, cognition and self regulation: What exactly are children learning when they learn through play? Educational & Child Psychology, 26(2), 40-52.
  39. ^ Welsh Assembly Government. 2008. Play/active learning: Overview for 3- to 7-year olds. Retrieved October 21st, 2012, from: http://wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/earlyyearshome/foundation_phase/foundationphasepractitioners/playactive/?lang=en
  40. ^ Playing and Learning, Beverlie Dietze, Diane Kashin,2011,Pearson Prentice Hall, ISBN 9780135125464 Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: checksum
  41. ^ Fisher, K., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R.M., Berk, L., & Singer, D. (2010). Playing around in school: Implications for learning and educational policy. In A. Pellegrini (Ed), Handbook of the Development of Play (pp. 341-362). New York, NY: Oxford Press.
  42. ^ a b Burton, R. (2011). It’s time to stop defending play. Exchange (01648527), May/June 2011, Issue 199, p. 68-71.
  43. ^ a b c d e f Lillard, A. S., Lerner, M.D., Hopkins, E.J., Dore, R.A., Smith, E.D. & Palmquist, C.M. (2012). The Impact of Pretend Play on Children’s Development: A Review of the Evidence. Psychological Bulletin. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0029321
  44. ^ a b c Pinkham, A. M., Kaefer, T. & Neuman, S. B. (2012). Knowledge Development in Early Childhood: Source of learning and classroom Implications. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
  45. ^ "International Research, International early childhood practices and outcomes". High Scope International. HighScope Educational Research Foundation. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  46. ^ Andy Sharman (13). "Montessori schools: Where learning is child's play". The Independent. The Independent. Retrieved 11 June 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  47. ^ "Full Day Early Learning - Kindergarten Program" (PDF). Ontario Ministry of Education, Full Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program Policy 2010- 2011. Ontario Ministry of Education. 2010–2011. Retrieved 11 June 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  48. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Ontario Early Years Centres. Ontario Ministry of Youth and Child Services. 27. Retrieved 11 June 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  49. ^ "Reggio Philosophy". Ontario Reggio Association. Ontario Reggio Association. Retrieved 11 June 2012.

Category:Learning Category:Psychology of learning

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