Play Theory and Practice

English as a Global Language

by Torleif Sleveland

Media Fluency

by Meagan Hicks

Life skills

by GÁLVEZ VILLALOBOS ÁNGEL DE JESÚS

U212 - BOOK 3 - Children's Cultural Worlds

by LUCY EVANS

Play in Contemporary Classrooms

Contemporary Directions

Play is challenged

Recess seen as threat of taking precious academic time

Leading to obesity and bad habits

Academic pressure to show results and play cannot concretely do so

Play put aside to devote more time to instructional skills

Social Justice and Equity

Research on how play becomes context in which children confront larger social issues

Sex role expectations and biases

Poverty and wealth expressions

Use race on deciding playmates/ roles for certain races

Materials

Controversial Materials

Toys that promote violence, stereotyping, noneducational shows, and technology

Toys based on TV shows

Can create shared-play situation

Not age appropriate Encourages consumerism

War Play

Can meet emotional need that's being explored

Teaches children violence solves problems

Social and Communicative Role

Social Setting

Children negotiate what roles, where to play and who plays

Supported when teacher includes play objects that prompt children to think how to act within their cultures

Form own peer cultures - usually transmitted orally

Concerning because often challenges authority

Contributes to social status in classroom

Gives means for solidifying social groups and group identities

Signaling Play

What is said is untrue, but follow along to participate in play

Communication between two or more, especially language

May be a necessary foundation for later literacy

Change themselves, type of activity and rules

Play with sounds of voices, rhyming, nonsense

History

Late 19th/Early 20th Century

Maria Montessori

Child-centered curriculum for disadvantaged children

Work activities designed to develop skills

Seen like play - repeated activities and used senses

Implemented in U.S. after exhibition in 1915

Stanley Hall

Creating scientific basis for teaching

Sigmund Freud saw play as coping mechanism as balance needs with social pressures

Called attention to children's emotions and play therapy for dealing with problems

Karl Groos saw play as practice for future life

informed work on development and education

John Dewey made laboratory school and disagreed with Hall

Saw play as a way that children build ideas by doing

Play actions serve purposes; learn social skills

Children and play go through developmental stages

Play helps children be more civilized Play identified with evolutionary stages

19th Century

German immigrants brought Kindergarten to U.S.

Two Views

Free play with Froebel's objects and children choose what to do based on interests

Teacher guides play directly with close supervision

Some states made K part of public schooling

Froebel

First to create play-based curriculum where children could naturally learn

Used "gifts and occupations" (balls, paper folding, etc) to encounter physical world, math, and art

Based on learning between mom & child

Sparked the debate on direct teaching vs. "natural" learning by play

Cognitive Role

Lev Vygotsky

Play is learning itself

Students forced to learn about world - makes it an idea that is separated from any real experience or daily actions

Different cultures will have different pay tools that connect to larger cultural ideas

Play is not just a stage; opens children's minds to their society's world of ideas where they are supported to think on higher levels

Jean Piaget

Stages of Play

Functional, symbolic, games with rules

Inspired play as necessary and research on the effects of play interventions

Play is how children assimilate experience on their way to learned knowledge - not how children learn but way they practice their thinking

It is how students begin to create symbols that reflect their thought

Play in contemporary classrooms faces challenges due to academic pressures and the need to demonstrate tangible learning outcomes. This has resulted in reduced playtime, contributing to issues such as childhood obesity and poor social habits.