Play and Learning in Early Childhood Education

2018 ◽  
pp. 147-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalila Maria Lino ◽  
Cristina Parente
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Reggio Emilia ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Learning Through Play

The key role of toys and play in early years education has been highlighted by several childhood pedagogues such as Froebel, Montessori, Weikart, and Malaguzzi, among many others. It is consensual among the international educational community that children now spend far more time being instructed and tested in literacy and math than they do learning through play and exploration exercising their bodies and using their imagination. This chapter aims to reflect on the power of play for children's learning and development and to analyze how three pedagogical models—the High Scope, Reggio Emilia, and Montessori—integrate play through their curriculum development. The chapter is organized in several topics, namely (1) the role of play in early childhood education (0 to 6 years); (2) the High Scope curriculum and opportunities given to children to engage in free play and play with purposes; (3) the Reggio Emilia approach: play through 100 languages; (4) the Montessori method, from hands-on activity and self-directed activity to collaborative play; (5) final remarks.

The status-quo of play-based pedagogies in Western Australia: Reflections of early childhood education practitioners

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-42
Author(s):  
Sandra Hesterman ◽  
Anna Targowska
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Beliefs And Values ◽  
The Status ◽  
Study Participants

This paper discusses the findings of a qualitative research project conducted in 2017 that explored practitioners’ experiences and perceptions of the provision of play pedagogies in contemporary Western Australian early childhood education contexts. Interviews were conducted with four play-based learning teachers and an open-ended survey was completed by 40 early childhood educators who were members of the audience at a Western Australia conference in 2017. The study participants discussed beliefs and values pertaining to quality play-based learning and tensions associated with the diminishing role of play in the early years of schooling and its impact on young children. They also highlighted several enablers and barriers that influence and shape current early childhood education practice. The findings of this study provide further evidence for the issues identified in recent Early Childhood Australia (Western Australia) discussion papers and in other research surrounding play-based learning in the current social-political context.

scholarly journals Estrategias pedagógicas y didácticas desde los enfoques pedagógicos de María Montessori y Reggio Emilia para la construcción de un currículo emergente en Educación Infantil / Pedagogic and didactic strategies from the approaches María Montessori and Reggio Emilia for the construction of an emergent curriculum in childhood education

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-42
Author(s):  
Angie Alejandra Cepeda Escobar ◽  
Maria Angélica Arias García ◽  
Karent Yubeli Castañeda López ◽  
Diana Johana Forero Mendonza ◽  
Tatiana Geraldine Ramírez Bello ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Reggio Emilia ◽  
Emergent Curriculum ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Maria Montessori ◽  
Urban Contexts ◽  
Didactic Strategies ◽  
Pedagogical Approaches

El artículo muestra los resultados de la investigación realizada por maestras licenciadas en educación preescolar de la Fundación Universitaria Monserrate en Bogotá, Colombia. Se pretendió buscar rutas metodológicas y didácticas adecuadas en la educación infantil, con el fin de potenciar de las dimensiones del desarrollo de los infantes, con base en enfoques pedagógicos de María Montessori y Reggio Emilia, vinculando perspectivas del desarrollo infantil, la pedagogía y la didáctica pertinentes en contextos urbanos vulnerables. Se muestra una concepción de currículo emergente, proporcionando así una nueva mirada al rol de maestro y el papel del niño en la educación infantil. The article shows the results of the research carried out by teachers in pre-school education at the Fundación Universitaria Monserrate, in Bogotá, Colombia. The aim was to search for appropriate methodological and didactic routes in early childhood education, in order to enhance the developmental dimensions of infants, based on pedagogical approaches of Maria Montessori and Reggio Emilia, linking perspectives of child development, pedagogy and didactics relevant in vulnerable urban contexts. It shows a conception of emergent curriculum, thus providing a new look at the role of the teacher and the role of the child in early childhood education.

Playing With Environmental Education

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-135
Author(s):  
Amy Cutter-Mackenzie ◽  
Susan Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Environmental Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Approaches To Learning ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Early Childhood Pedagogy

This article represents the early collaboration of Cutter-Mackenzie and Edwards in early childhood environmental education. The article grappled with the notion of knowledge and its role in the teaching and learning of early childhood education. At that time, ‘knowledge’ was viewed as difficult to integrate with play-based approaches to learning in early childhood education due to reliance in the field of traditional theories of play as a basis for early childhood pedagogy. This meant that open-ended or free play dominated practice, where the role of the teacher was invariably to be seen but not heard.

scholarly journals Using Images to Capture Faculty’s Beliefs About Play and Learning in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marleah Blom ◽  
Miranda D'Amico
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Photo Elicitation ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Qualitative Research Study ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care

Findings are presented from a qualitative research study that used photo-elicitation methods to explore faculty members’ beliefs about play and learning for children in Early Childhood Education and Care environments when teaching preservice early childhood educators in recognized post-secondary Early Childhood Education programs in Canada. Participants believe that play is a vehicle for learning, advocate for children’s free play in Early Childhood Education and Care settings as well as express concerns about the decline of play in children’s lives. Implications of findings and the benefits of using images to elicit teacher beliefs in research will be discussed. Research on faculty members’ beliefs is limited and findings come at an opportune time as advocacy for play in the early years is needed.

Play-based Learning and Intentional Teaching: Forever Different?

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 4-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Curriculum Innovation ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Children’S Learning ◽  
Children's Learning

PLAY-BASED LEARNING IS a cornerstone of early childhood education provision. Play provides opportunities for young children to explore ideas, experiment with materials and express new understandings. Play can be solitary, quiet and reflective. Play can also be social, active and engaging. While play is commonly understood as the basis for learning in early childhood education, this is not always the situation in all settings. Cultural variations in learning and play suggest that social interactions and observational learning also create powerful pedagogical learning environments for young children. International and national research highlights the value of sustained and reflective interactions between children and educators in promoting children's learning. Increasingly, the notion of quality in play-based pedagogy invites educators to integrate traditional beliefs about play with new insights into the role of social interactions, modelling and relationships in young children's learning. Overseas, the movement towards quality play-based pedagogy reflects debate and policy initiatives captured by the notion of intentional teaching. In Australia, the Early Years Learning Framework makes explicit reference to intentional teaching. Intentional teaching arguably engages educators and children in shared thinking and problem solving to build the learning outcomes of young children. However, the pedagogical relationship between play-based learning and intentional teaching remains difficult to conceptualise. This is because the value placed on the exploratory potential of play-based learning can appear to be at odds with the role of intentional teaching in promoting knowledge development. This paper reaches beyond binary constructs of play and intentional teaching, and invites consideration of a new Pedagogical Play-framework for inspiring pedagogical and curriculum innovation in the early years. This paper was a keynote address at the 2016 Early Childhood Australia National Conference addressing the theme Inspire-be inspired to reach beyond quality.

Tradition and Transformation in Danish Early Childhood Education and Care

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Ida Dannesboe ◽  
Bjørg Kjær
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Public Provision ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Role Of Parents

Denmark has a long tradition of public provision of early childhood education and care (ECEC) as part of what is known internationally as the Nordic welfare model. Both traditions and transformations within Danish ECEC are parallel to the establishment and development of this model. The emergence of child-centered pedagogy, so characteristic for Danish ECEC, is part of specific historical processes. Since the 1960s, the ECEC sector has undergone significant expansion and in 2020, most children in Denmark between the ages of 1 and 6 attend an ECEC institution. This expansion has positioned ECEC as a core universal welfare service, including a special focus on preventing injustice and inequality and on taking care of the vulnerable and disadvantaged. Early 21st-century international discourses on learning and early intervention have influenced political reforms and initiatives addressing ECEC institutions and the work of “pedagogues” (the Danish term for ECEC practitioners with a bachelor’s degree in social pedagogy). Since the 1990s, there has been growing political interest in regulating the content of ECEC, resulting in various policies and reforms that have changed the nature of Danish ECEC by introducing new learning agendas. This has been accompanied by an increased focus on the importance of the early years of childhood for outcomes later in life and on the role of parents in this regard. These tendencies are embedded in political initiatives and discourses and shape the conditions for ECEC, perceptions of children and childhood, the legitimacy of the pedagogical profession, the meaning of and emphasis on young children’s learning, the importance of inclusion, and the changing role of parents. These changes in social reforms and pedagogical initiatives interact with national historical processes and international tendencies and agendas at different levels.

Everyday Environmental Education Experiences: The Role of Content in Early Childhood Education

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Cutter-Mackenzie ◽  
Suzy Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Environmental Education ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Content Area ◽  
Early Childhood Curriculum ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Early Years Education ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractIn recent years discussions surrounding early childhood curriculum has focused on the movement from developmental to sociocultural theory. A further area worthy of investigation involves the role of content in early childhood education, specifically the relationship between content, context and pedagogy. The paper draws on teacher vignettes to consider how environmental education can be represented as a content area in early years education. Issues associated with environmental education as an emerging area of importance in early childhood education are also discussed.

scholarly journals Child Education in the Pedagogy Course: Lessons from the Internship

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 357
Author(s):  
Ivone Garcia Barbosa ◽  
Nancy Nonato de Lima Alves ◽  
Telma Aparecida Teles Martins Silveira
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Primary Education ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Public Institution ◽  
The Political ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Child Education

Abstract: this article presents research results comparing Federal Public Institution of Higher Education. The place of Early Childhood Education and the role of the internship in the Pedagogy course. Based on the socio-historical-dialectic perspective, we analyzed the Political-Pedagogical Project of the Course and the Supervised Internship Project in Early Childhood Education and Early Years of Primary Education, considering the possibilities of the internship in the constitution of dialogues between the formative ideology and the realization of the educational praxis in its specificities. The results show that Pedagogy courses still subordinate the pedagogical proposals and practices of Early Childhood Education to Primary School models. A Educação Infantil no curso de Pedagogia: lições do estágio Resumo: este artigo apresenta resultados de pesquisas cotejando Instituição de Ensino Superior pública federal. Problematiza-se o lugar da Educação Infantil e o papel do estágio no curso de Pedagogia. Com base na perspectiva sócio-histórico-dialética, analisamos o Projeto Político-Pedagógico do Curso e o Projeto de Estágio Supervisionado na Educação Infantil e Anos Iniciais do Ensino Fundamental, considerando as possibilidades do estágio na constituição de diálogos entre o ideário formativo e a realização da práxis educativa em suas especificidades. Os resultados evidenciam que os cursos de Pedagogia ainda subordinam as propostas e práticas pedagógicas da Educação Infantil a modelos do Ensino Fundamental.

scholarly journals Understanding Early Childhood Science Education: Comparative Analysis of Australian and Finnish Curricula

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sari Havu-Nuutinen ◽  
Sarika Kewalramani ◽  
Nikolai Veresov ◽  
Susanna Pöntinen ◽  
Sini Kontkanen
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Science Education ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Curriculum Framework ◽  
International Comparative

AbstractThis research is a comparative study of Finnish and Australian science curricula in early childhood education (EC). The study aims to figure out the constructivist components of the science curriculum in two countries as well as locate the similarities and differences in the rationale and aims, contents, learning outcomes, learning activities, teacher’s role and assessment. The curriculum analysis framework developed by Van den Akker (2003) was used as a methodological framework for the curricula analysis. Based on the theory-driven content analyses, findings show that both countries have several components of constructivist curriculum, but not always clearly focused on science education. The Australian Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) integrates children’s science learning within their five specific learning outcomes, whereas the Finnish national core curriculum for early childhood education and care has no defined learning outcomes in general. The Finnish curriculum more clearly than EYLF encompasses science and environmental education as a learning domain, within which children participate in targeted scientific activities to gain procedural knowledge in specific environmental-related concepts. More focus should be turned to the teachers’ role and assessment, which are not determined in science context in both countries. This international comparative study calls for the need of a considered EC curriculum framework that more explicitly has science domains with specifically defined rationale, aims, content areas, learning outcomes and assessment criteria. The implications lie in providing early childhood educators with tangible and theoretically solid curriculum framework and resources in order to foster scientific thinking in young children.

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