EV681 Early Years Pedagogy and principles

Just playing?

• Defining play• Ideologies• Learning through play• Learning and (child)

development• Categorising play• Planning and assessing

play

Just Playing . . .

Think-pair-shareRecall a memory of playing when you were little

• what were you doing or playing? • who were you with?• how old were you?• where were you playing?• why do you remember this?• what ‘props’ did you use?

What might you have been learning about?

What is play?

“. . . includes a range of activities undertaken for their own enjoyment or the satisfaction that results.” Lindon, J. Understanding Children’s Play (2001) p2

How do children define play?

Emotional cues• Voluntary• Under child’s control• Easy• Fun• Physical

Environmental cues• On the floor• Lacks adult

involvement• No adult evaluation• Can be continued

Howard, J & McInnes, K Ch2 in Moyles, J (ed) (2010) Thinking through play Maidenhead: OUP

Why is play important?• Developing dispositions for learning • Acquiring new knowledge, skills and

understanding • Giving opportunities to think and act

creatively• Communicating as part of increasingly wider

social experience • Building self knowledge and awareness• Participating in social norms and values of

culture

“Play is one of the most common and significant ways in which babies, toddlers, children and even adults make sense of their world and of the objects and people in it.”

Smidt. S ‘Play’s the thing’. (2010) TACTYC

What do children say about play?“Play to me is like my heart it beats and it adds rhythmic beat to my life. I love playing all kinds of stuff because it makes me feel like things are happening in my head and everything I hear and see it makes me like life. Because of this feeling I feel good about myself. That’s what play

is to me.” (What children say about play. Play England. 2008)

“I think it’s sometimes a bit harder for

older people to play because they lose their imagination” (The New Charter for Children’s Play. 1998)

“Play is fun, but it’s hard work

too!” ( Daniel aged 6. Working With

Children in the Early Years. Jane Devereux. 2003)

Play is not for all children: “He’s big now . . . got to get

on with his proper work.”Jacqui Cousins (1999)

What do grown-ups say about play?• Froebel – gives joy, freedom, contentment, inner

and outer rest, peace with the world• Freud – exploring, experimenting and managing

emotions• Piaget – practice play; symbolic play; play with

rules• Vygotsky – imagination in action• Bruner – memory in action; flexibility of thought• Hutt – epistemic and ludic• Bruce – integrating mechanisms

Early Years Foundation Stage

“In their play children learn at their highest level...While playing children can express fears and re-live anxious experiences. They can try things out, solve problems and be creative and can take risks and use trial and error to find things out.”

Principles card 4.1

Revised EYFS 2012Characteristics of Effective Learning

• Playing and Exploring – engagement– Finding out and exploring– Playing with what they know– Being willing to have a go

• Active learning – motivation– Being involved and concentrating– Keeping trying– Enjoying achieving what they set out to do

• Creating and thinking critically – thinking– Having their own ideas– Making links– Choosing ways to do things

What Physical Development learning could be taking place?

Children develop fine motor skills through playing with small equipment. Balance, co-ordination and gross motor movements are developed through vigorous physical play.

Children learn about the world around them through exploration and investigation. For example, in blockplay children could be learning about shape, symmetry, or construction rules

. . . and cognitive development ?

Play provides opportunities for children to explore and experiment confidently with language. Children can practice their emergent writing without fear of ‘getting it wrong’.

. . . and language and communication

Play helps to develop children’s confidence and self esteem. Through pretend play children can explore roles and act out feelings. Play encourages children to take turns, share and listen to others.

. . . and social and emotional development

Types of play

• How many types of play can you name/describe?

Parten’s categories of play (1932)

• Unoccupied play• Solitary play• Onlooker play• Parallel play• Associative play• Co-operative play

Five types of play

• Physical play• Play with objects• Symbolic play• Pretence/socio-dramatic play• Play with rules

Types of ‘pretend’ play

• Symbolic play. Pretend play, role play. Objects take on personalities and symbolic meaning (i.e. a clothes peg becomes a key for a door)

• Role play. Occurs when pretend symbols are used together. Children take on roles and act out their understanding of those roles.

• Socio-dramatic play. Interaction and communication with other children in role play/pretend play situations.

• Fantasy [imaginative] play. A form of role play where children experiment with roles they may not know about. For example, pretending to get married or fly to the moon.

• Superhero play. Children role play unreal events using characters from tv/film. Usually a war theme. (We Don't Play with Guns Here By Penny Holland)

Free-flow play

• Tina Bruce’s 12 features of play can be used as a method of evaluating the quality of free-flow play experiences.

• Bruce described play as a process which flows – not an event with an end product or outcome.

“Play is a process...It keeps flowing along. It keeps the learning open and flexible...Children

at play are able to stay flexible, respond to events and changing situations, be sensitive to

people, to adapt, think on their feet...” (Learning Through Play. Tina Bruce. 2001. Hodder Arnold)

12 Features of Play Tina Bruce

• In their play, children use the first-hand experiences that they have in life.

• Children make up rules as they play, and so keep control of their play.

• Children make play props.• Children choose to play. They cannot be made to

play.• Children rehearse the future in their role play.• Children pretend when they play.• Children play alone sometimes.

12 Features of Play...• Children and/or adults play together, in parallel, associatively or

co-operatively in pairs or groups.• Each player has a personal play agenda, although they may not

be aware of this. • Children playing will be deeply involved, and difficult to distract

from their deep learning. Children at play wallow in their learning. • Children try out their most recent learning, skills and

competencies when they play. They seem to celebrate what they know.

• Children at play co-ordinate their ideas, feelings and make sense of relationships with their family, friends and culture. When play is co-ordinated it flows in a sustained way. It is called free-flow play.

Play?• Children (reception) are making identical

Father Christmas faces with resources set out by adult

• Children (nursery class) can choose to play at one of 4 tables: duplo, play dough, sand, drawing, before moving on after 15min. Resources must stay on the tables

• Children (nursery) playing in the home corner are being asked by the adult to count the plates, chairs, teddies, spoons . . .

Planning play or planning for play?

• Contexts• Resources• Accessibility• Time/space• Adult who values play and encourages it; a

play partner

Learning, play and interacting

http://nsonline.org.uk/node/242798

The Role of the Adult in Play

• Creating a supportive environment

• Providing a range of opportunities

• Structuring and planning

• Participating • Valuing and

respecting Observing!

• What can prevent/inhibit play?• What can happen when play is restricted?• What should you do for a child who plays in the

same way/area?• How would you address a child who plays with

an imaginary friend?• Up to what age should play feature in school?

?

Narrative Observations

• Planned, focussed observations of an individual or group of children for a given period of time. Factual recording. Usually planned with a specific purpose or aim.

• Spontaneous observations. Short, concise, factual record. Post-its, notebook.

Narrative observation• Kim was playing in

the home corner. She set up the ironing board and did some ironing. Then she washed up cups and saucers and tidied up. She wrote a shopping list and dressed up, then took a bag to the ‘shop’ in the nursery garden.

• Kim was playing in the home corner. She pulled the ironing board across the entrance and did some ironing. K put the ironed clothes in the basket. K collected the cups and saucers and placed them in the bowl in the sink. K ‘washed’ them and put them in the cupboard. K made some circular marks on some paper with her right hand, folded it in ‘half’ and put it in a envelope. K put the envelope in her pocket. K put a purse in her shopping bag and fastened it. K wrapped a shawl around her and went to the garden to the ‘shop’ tent and went inside.

Sampling

Time Sampling. Systematic approach to observation. Short, concise recording at regular intervals over a given period of time.

Event Sampling/frequency sampling. Used to record specific events as they occur.

When might these observation techniques be useful?

Checklists

• Recording developmental milestones• Monitoring progress against targets• Summative recording of progress

How much information can a checklist observation give you about an individual child?

Participatory and Non-participatory Observation

• Participant observation occurs when the adult is engaged with the child or children. Notes can be taken during the observation or immediately afterwards.

• Non-participant observation occurs when the adult remains outside of the activity. Non-participant observation can be very challenging with young, curious children!

Observation to inform practiceObserving and listening to children enables adults

to reflect on what children are learning and to consider the most appropriate strategies to support their learning.

Regular observation can help to build a profile of a child which can then be used to develop appropriate programmes for future learning, based on individual needs and interests.

The value of observation lies in effective interpretation and how the information is used to inform planning.