PLAYTEORI1

Learning in the Early YearsPrinciples to Practice?

Dr Mary Wild , Oxford Brookes University

Oxford University Museum of Natural History,14th September 2007

for somebody rather than about something

(Spock, 1987)

Stating the obvious?

The physical display

The printed word

Learning Styles

Visual Auditory Kinaesthetic

Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Gardner,1993)

The Holistic Nature of Learning

A Competent LearnerA person whomakes connections,is creative and imaginative, explores,experiments, plays.(Birth to Three Matters, DfES, 2003)

An active learnerPiagets Theory

Active engagementEngaging: the mind as well as the hand

(Hein, 1991: based on Dewey Experience and Education, 1938)

InvolvementWhen children are involved, we know that they address their capabilities and that they are developing:they learn at a deeper level, they become more competent (Laevers et al, 2005)

When adults follow childrens interests they respect the choices children make and follow the childs agenda, ..knowing that when a child is involved and interested they are likely to benefit much more from an experience than from joining in one in which they are not particularly interested. (Langston & Abbott, 2007)

Stages of Development:PiagetSensori-motor (0-2yrs)Child comes to know world through his/her physical/sensory actions2. Pre-operational(2-7yrs)Child now uses language and can mentally represent thoughts but only in a limited way 3. Concrete operational (7-12yrs)Child can begin to think logically but only in relation to concrete problems i.e. the here and now4. Formal operational( 12+ yrs but)Ability to think about abstract/ hypothetical problems

A more competent child(Donaldson, 1978)

Meaningfulness

Human sense

Social ConstructivismThe importance of others in learning:Zone of Proximal Devp (Vygotsky, 1978)Scaffolding ( Wood, Ross & Bruner, 1976)Guided Participation (Rogoff, 1990)SST (Siraj-Blatchford et al, 2002)

May also be child child

Play and learning

Play indeed is the childs work, and the means whereby he or she grows and develops (Isaacs, 1929)

Play is the principal means of learning in early childhood (Plowden Report, DES 1967)

Play and learning:the theory

In play a child always behaves beyond his average age..Play contains all developmental tendencies in a condensed form and is itself a major source of development (Vygotsky,1978, p102)

Play is the principal business of childhood(Bruner et al, 1976, p20)

Play and learning: the researchEPPE Research (Sylva et al , 2004)

In the most effective centres, play environments were used to provide the basis of instructive learning (p3)http://kl.ioe.ac.uk/schools/ecpe/eppe/index.htm

Play and learning:the practice

There should be opportunities for children to engage in activities planned by adults and also those that they plan or initiate themselves. Children do not make a distinction between play and work and neither should practitioners. Children need time to become engrossed, work in depth and complete activities.

Children's Museums Movt. (USA)Early History:1899 Brooklyn Childrens Museum; 1913 Boston;1917 Detroit; Indianapolis 1925; Duluth 1930.

Most museums are categorised according to their collections. Only these special and particularly marvellous places for the young are categorised according to their audience Katz & Katz (1965)

The museum as a joint adventure (Cohen, 1989)

Children's museums: principlesto practice

Direct hands-on experienceSpace framesLearning in contextExhibits which elicit an emotional response (Lewin-Benham,1989)

Successful practice?Activity ? Engagement ? Challenge?The Eureka Moment? (Hein, 1989)

You may never know but you can know youve made it possible

ReferencesBruner, J.S., Jolly, A. & Sylva, K. (1976). Play. Its Role in Development and Learning. Harmondsworth. Penguin.Cohen, S. (1989) Fostering Shared Learning Among Children and Adults: The Childrens Museum. Young Children, May 1989DfES (2003) Birth to Three Matters, A Framework to Support Children in their Earliest Years. Crown CopyrightDonaldson, M. (1987) Childrens Minds. London. Fontana PressGardner, H. (1993) Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences: New York Basic (A revision of his original work 1984) Hein,G.E. (1991) The Museum and the Needs of People.CECA (International Committee of Museum Educators) Conference. Jerusalem, October 1991 accessed at http:/www.astc.org/info/educator/conlearn 11.03.99

Hein, G. E (1989) Learning about Learning In Museums. Hand to Hand, Winter 1989Isaacs, S. (1929). The Nursery Years. London. Routledge & Kegan Paul Fisher, J. (2002). Starting From the Child. (2nd Ed.). Maidenhead. Open University Press. Katz,H, & Katz, M. (1965) Museums USA: A History & Guide,. New York. Doubleday.Langston, A. & Abbott, L. Developing High Quality Experiences for Babies and Toddlers. Maidenhead. Mc Graw/Open University PressLaevers et al, 2005 Well-being and Involvement in Care Settings. A Process-oriented Self-evaluation Instrument. Accessed sept2007 at www.kindengezin.be/Images/ZikohandleidingENG_tcm149-50761.pdfLewin-Benham, A. (1989) Children's Museums: A Structure for Family Learning. Marriage and Family Review 13, (3-4 )

Piaget, J and Inhelder, B (1966) The Psychology of the Child. London. Routledge and Kagan Paul Plowden, (1967). Central Advisory Council for Education (England)Children and their primary schools : a report of the Central Advisory Council for Education (The Plowden Report).London : HMSORogoff, B. (1990) Apprenticeship in Thinking. Oxford. Oxford University Press Spock, M. (1987) keynote address to Inter Activity Conference of the American Association of Youth Museums, published in Hand to Hand, Spring 1988Siraj-Blatchford, I., Sylva, K., Muttock, S., Gilden, R. and Bell, D, (2002) Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years. London. DfES/Crown Copyright

Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I. And Taggart, B. (2004) The Effective Provision of Pre-school Education: Final Report. Nottingham. DfES PublicationsVygotsky. L. S. (1978) Mind in Society. The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge MA. Harvard University Press Wood, D., Bruner, J., and Ross, G. (1976). The Role of Tutoring in Problem Solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines. 17 (2), 89-100