Learning Through Play
How Children Learn and What they Learn - Which is More Important?
Aug 27, 2009
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum in England, which became statutory in 2008, declares that “all areas (of learning and development) must be delivered through planned, purposeful play, with a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities.” (Statutory Framework for the Foundation Stage, DfES, 2007, p11).
Play in Childhood
Play is, by definition, a child-friendly activity – children play instinctively and derive a great deal of pleasure from it. Play is an intrinsic part of childhood and is bound up with the concept of what it means to be a “child”. However, for professionals (and parents, to a certain extent), the key issue is not so much should children play, but rather how and what will they be learning?
“Process versus product” is an interesting pedagogical debate, and early years theorists have argued that curricula driven by outcomes and attainment, are overly narrow and less effective than those which value the journey and foster lifelong learners.
The Unique Child
Approaches that emphasise the learning process are also likely to value the uniqueness of children – the notion that individual children have the right to learn in a way that suits them (direction, pace, interests and so on). These play-based perspectives seek to build a curriculum around the child, as opposed to making the child fit the curriculum. Indeed, approaches such as Reggio Emilia, deem the child to be “the curriculum” in essence, rather than viewing the curriculum as a separate, externally imposed entity.
Play, when allowed to flourish through imaginative, thoughtful provision, can of course facilitate both the process and the product. Children who enjoy a rich and diverse range of opportunities (to explore, discover, talk, take risks, make choices, solve problems and use their imagination) are more likely to develop desirable skills, attitudes and knowledge, than children whose learning potential is restricted by highly prescriptive activities based on a narrow set of learning outcomes.
Observing Play
This can be illustrated through practitioners’ observations, which often reveal that children work at a higher cognitive level in play situations, than they do in normal classroom tasks.
Teachers and practitioners should be mindful of the effect that a particular assessment question or set task can have on assessment outcomes – for example, if an adult asks a child to show how many ways ten bricks can be partitioned into sets of two, then the child is likely to oblige and demonstrate this particular skill but nothing more. However, if the adult were to observe the child sharing pretend food in the “home corner” with a group of friends, then the practitioner may be surprised to see other mathematical skills and number operations being used, such as addition, subtraction, counting on/back, number bonds beyond ten, simple division and so on.
The EYFS stipulation that play should be “planned” and “purposeful” (Statutory Framework for the Foundation Stage, DfES, 2007, p11) has raised some concerns over what constitutes planned, purposeful play, and whether this conflicts with a truly child-centred approach. There seems to be an implicit value judgement within these terms – the implication that not all play “counts”.
The value of play is a controversial issue, and perhaps not all forms of play can be considered purposeful or valid in an educational sense. However, if play is considered to be a rightful entitlement for children, then should it not be accepted in all forms (within reason)? If some educationalists feel the need to “vet” or censure children’s play, then perhaps it is not the play that is inappropriate but the setting or context itself.
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