The need for play based learning

With the push in the United States for standardized testing, so our students can compete with their global peers, we have seen big changes in the education system. The passing of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) gave rise to higher accountability and expectations for our schools, teachers, and students. In an article in the Washington Post by Lindsay Layton, she states that in a student’s education career from preschool to the twelfth grade they take of the average of 112 state-mandated tests (Layton, 2015). This has caused many districts to encourage teachers to teach to the test. I teach kindergarten and this year I added up how many days we are doing testing and it is a unbelievable 32 days out of our 180 days of school. The testing trend is having a huge impact on early childhood education. No longer is kindergarten used for socialization and developing motor skills The focus now is to read by the middle of kindergarten. However, we are seeing more research to support play-based learning, especially in kindergarten.

The need for play is not a new concept.

• 1700's philosopher named Jean Jacques Rousseau- "nature requires children to be children first’’

• 1930's John Dewey believed that young children need to have activities connected to their interests. Child-centered learning through play and exploring were a few of his beliefs

• 1960s Swedish psychologist, Jean Piaget’s theory aligned with and supported many of the previous theories on play. He felt that there were different stages of development in childhood and these ideas were used as a structure for Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)

In a widely published report by Edward Miller and Joan Almon titles “The Crisis in Kindergarten”, they argue the value of play in the classroom. In their research, they have found an increase in anxiety, depression, and behavior issues in students caused by the high pressure of kindergarten. They have found correlations between early engagement in pretend play and reading and numeracy comprehension (Miller & Almon, 2009, pp. 50-53).

One of the greatest challenges is how to educate teachers on play. Many of the new generations of teachers were raised on technology and not exposed to play themselves. Not only teachers but the younger generation of parents. Bonnie Nelicebauer of the Child Care Information Exchange has stated that children need adults to initiate in play with them. They need to play with words, ideas and other resources that lead to learning and problem-solving (Miller & Almon, 2009, pp. 54).

As an educator myself, I am constantly looking for new ways to reach my students. I teach kindergarten and I have seen a drastic need to have purposeful and play-based learning in my classroom. We have generations of students that do not know how to play or work with others. They have spent “playtime” on electronic devices alone without interaction from others. This is a huge shift from the past generations that played with siblings and neighborhood children. This has caused students to need to be entertained to engage them in their learning. I have implemented dramatic literacy-based dramatic play in my classroom this year.

I have researched new trends in play-based learning that mostly are mostly in other countries. Denmark seems to be leading the way on play-based learning. The Harvard Graduate School of Education is involved in a project with The Lego Foundation and Project Zero. This project is called The Pedagogy of Play (PoP). This is a researched-based project that is working together to understand and design strategies for playful learning. I hope that with continued research like this educational policymakers will consider changing the pressure that is put on students. With the push for standardized testing and expectations, we are failing our youth. We are the cause of aggression and mental health trends in our youth.

Feeling Groovy with Pete The Cat

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