Importance, Definition, and Types of Play - An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum Chapter 2 PDF

Section I Play in the Context of...

Section I Play in the Context of Early Education Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  Chapter 1 Introduction Play and Teaching in Early Childhood Education Teachers need to engage in “observing children as they play and building curriculum that’s appropriate for each child from what we see and hear”... teachers need to deeply understand that intellectual development occurs through play. Children integrate everything they know in all domains when they play. Play should have a big place in a curriculum for children from toddlerhood through the primary grades. (Millie Almy, 2000, p. 6) Early childhood teachers are now responsible for the education of a diverse group of chil- dren in their classes. This requires that teachers learn to be sensitive to individual differ- ences among these children and become more competent in providing a developmentally appropriate education. For example, children with special needs were withheld from Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. school or were provided with a segregated education. These children are increasingly being integrated into the regular classrooms to provide them with a degree of educational equity that was not previously available to them. Peterson (1987) compares the previous and present concepts about the education of children with disabilities (see Table 1.1). In addition, educating children from diverse backgrounds and with diverse abilities is consid- ered to be more effective for all children (Spodek & Saracho, 1994a). One of the first things early childhood teachers do at the beginning of the school year is to decide how to fill the days with worthwhile activities. The teachers need to plan for the school year, decide what the children will do during each school day, what materials will be provided and how they will be organized within the classroom, and how to schedule each day. In other words, teachers are planning the early childhood curriculum. Much of the planning begins before teachers ever meet their classes of young children. Once the Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  4 Play in the Context of Early Education TABLE 1.1. Previous and Present Concepts about the Education of Children with Disabilities Previous Concepts Present and Emerging Concepts Education is a privilege for those who are Education is a right for all children and is a able to benefit from it means to help them to (a) confront the challenges in their environment, (b) learn, and (c) live fulfilling and productive lives Education is composed of academic Education includes any skills children need to instruction in literacy, writing, mathematics, obtain optimal functioning in society and their and other subject areas relating to the arts environment. For example, some children may and sciences need instruction in skills as basic as walking, eating, talking, and attention, or in motor functions encumbered by a disability Only children who are ‘ready’ to begin formal School prepares children to be “ready” through education can attend public school programs. learning, experience, and training. Their lack of Otherwise, they must wait until they have prerequisite skills clearly indicates their mastered their basic social, self-help, immediate need for education and training cognitive, and language skills Children who are not able to learn through The curriculum and instructional methods are the school’s curriculum need to be removed based on the children’s individual needs. from the classroom and placed elsewhere Within reason, teachers and specialists modify (a special classroom or school) instruction and the environment to promote all of the children’s learning in inclusive settings Children with disabilities are assigned to Children with disabilities are in an integrated special classrooms where they can be classroom with their typically developing peers together with other children with disabilities to learn to participate and function as and will not disrupt the learning of typically members of society. The only time they are developing children in a regular classroom isolated is when they are receiving special services Children with disabilities are expected to fail All children are able to learn at their own pace in school, because their disabilities limit their based on their individual differences. It is the learning responsibility of the teachers and specialists to select appropriate learning alternatives, to break down instructional tasks into small, sequential steps, and to monitor their progress to facilitate these children’s learning Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. children arrive and the teachers get to know them well, plans can be modified and adjusted to be responsive to a particular group of children. In designing the early childhood curriculum, teachers ponder on the following questions: ƒ What materials and activities should be provided? ƒ What makes activities educationally worthwhile? ƒ What activities are developmentally appropriate for young children? Teachers may feel that whatever keeps the children busy and happy is an appropriate activity. Other teachers may be concerned about maintaining some degree of order in the classroom. However, an early childhood curriculum needs to go beyond keeping children Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  Play and Teaching in Early Childhood Education 5 happy, busy, and safe. Activities should provide some form of education to the children and need to be based upon a set of guidelines that underlie educational experiences for young children. For educational activities to be worthwhile, they must be both developmentally appro- priate and content rich. Children’s development goes beyond a simple biological process. As Bruner (1990) argues, it is a cultural process as well. “Cultures characteristically devise ‘prosthetic devices’ that permit us to transcend ‘raw’ biological limits—for example, the limits on memory capacity or the limits on our auditory range” (Bruner, 1990, p. 34). Similarly, Vygotsky (1967) argues that human beings acquire “cultural tools” that extend their developmental capacity. These cultural tools include language as well as the various ways of knowing that are critical to cultural development. The scholarly disciplines and language are considered to be the tools that children must come to understand in order to achieve optimal development in society. It is only when an early childhood education curriculum helps children access the various ways of knowing—including the disciplines of formal knowledge—that it can truly be considered developmentally appropriate. A way to ensure that educational activities are developmentally appropriate and content rich is by developing a curriculum that builds on children’s play. Unfortunately, play is being eliminated from the early childhood curriculum. The Alliance for Childhood reports radical changes in kindergarten practice in the last 10 to 20 years, stating 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 imaginations. Many kindergartens use highly prescriptive curricula linked to stan- dardized tests. An increasing number of teachers must follow scripts from which they may not deviate. Many children struggle to live up to academic standards that are developmentally inappropriate... At the same time that we have increased academic pressure in children’s lives through inappropriate standards, we have managed to undermine their primary tool for dealing with stress—freely chosen, child-directed, intrinsically motivated play (Miller & Almon, 2009, p.15). This same movement is being spread to preschools (Hirsh-Pasek et al., 2009) and most early childhood education programs. The rigid emphasis on teaching academic skills through direct instruction is replacing play. The determined and inflexible substitution of using more didactic academic and content-based methods in the young children’s educa- tion forces early childhood education programs to reject more child-centered, play Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. oriented, and constructivist methods (Nicolopoulou, 2010). Young children’s learning differs from older children or adults and the children’s approaches to understanding their world strongly depend on their play, exploration, and imagination (Gopnik, 2010). Society has specified the schools’ learning goals in relation to basic skills, stressing the learning of letters, numbers, words, and colors even at the preschool level. This concentra- tion on academic skills diminishes the importance of the children’s play. Play allows young children to select their learning, especially if it facilitates their attainment of a broad range of developmental goals; therefore, it must be a vital component in the early childhood education curriculum (Spodek & Saracho, 1987). Play is an essential element in early childhood education programs, because it provides young children with the opportunity to (1) express their ideas and their feelings, (2) symbolize and test their knowledge of the world, and (3) acquire effective support for Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  6 Play in the Context of Early Education academic and pre-academic learning. Through play, young children engage in active learning when they reconstruct their experiences, generate ideas, and test these ideas. Teachers need to develop play activities that relate to the program’s educational goals. Play also allows children to integrate the ideas and experiences so that they construct knowledge and achieve most of their goals (Saracho, 2002a). Throughout the book, research and theory are used to justify the use of children’s play as a curricular tool in the children’s education. Then practical applications in relation to children’s play are suggested for each subject area. In a play curriculum, different forms of knowledge must be addressed and different forms of intelligence must be nurtured. These and other ideas are presented in the chapters that follow. In addition, the chapters explore how these ideas—some of them rather abstract in nature—can be turned into the concrete elements of children’s school experiences. In doing this, each chapter addresses how teachers can choose the resources available to them—the resources of time, space, physical materials, and human resources—in establishing a high quality educational program for young children. This book takes the position that the value of play does not lie in a specific set of meth- odological structured “play” practices to teach specific skills. Play is valuable to young children mainly as a medium for learning. In play, Bergen (1988) refers to the word medium based on Webster’s (2008) definitions. ƒ A condition in which something may function or flourish. Play can be thought of as a condition in which learning may flourish and the cognitive structures of the mind can be noting the interaction of structure and function from which adaptive intelligence is created (p. 3). ƒ A means of effecting or conveying something. Play is often the means by which the child’s thoughts and feelings are conveyed, facili- tating understanding of thoughts and feelings by the child. Since the young child is less able to use “internal” language as a means of conveying and understanding the complexity of his thoughts and feelings, the play medium provides a means of effecting his learning to himself (p. 3). ƒ A channel or system of communication. Similarly, since the language that provides adults with their prime channel of commu- nication is less available to the child, play often provides the channel by which thoughts and feelings are communicated to others. Many of the misconceptions of the child’s understanding are made clear to adults through observations of play activities and the complexities of the child’s learning are communicated through the channel of Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. play (pp. 3–4). ƒ A surrounding or enveloping substance. Observers of young children are often aware of how completely enveloped the child becomes in play. Almost every activity in which the young child engages has elements of play behavior. Thus, play is a surrounding environment through which the child’s learning is filtered (p. 4). ƒ Material or technical means of artistic expression. In the young child active expression is vitally important: indeed, sensorimotor activity is a major mode of behavior. Play seems to be used by children as a technical means of actively expressing learning. Exploring a material from many perspectives, finding out all of the things which can be done with an object, playing out different ways to deal with a social situation all provide means of active expression of learning (p. 4). Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  Play and Teaching in Early Childhood Education 7 Thus, play is a medium for different types of learning (such as achieving social compe- tence, learning about their world, developing knowledge in the different subject areas). Play provides the optimum learning conditions when the environment and approaches focus on the children’s interests and developmental levels. In each chapter, the book is primarily concerned with discussing the medium of play in relation to the specific types of children’s learning that will help them succeed in life. Each chapter in the book also addresses the adult’s role in facilitating the development of play as an increasingly rich medium for learning. Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  Chapter 2 Learning through Play Imitation is natural to man from childhood, one of his advantages over the lower animals being this, that he is the most imitative creature in the world, and learns at first by imitation. And it is also natural for all to delight in works of imitation. The truth of this second point is shown by experience: though the objects themselves may be painful to see, we delight... in the most realistic representations of them in art... The expla- nation is to be found in a further fact: to be learning something is the greatest of plea- sures not only to the philosopher but also to the rest of mankind, however small their capacity for it... the reason of the delight... is... gathering the meaning of things... (Aristotle, 1958) The meaning of play in the early childhood education curriculum has changed throughout the years. Early childhood pioneers (such as Friedrich Froebel, Maria Montessori, and Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. John Dewey, who will be discussed in Chapter 4) believed in the value of young children’s play and developed systematic ways to integrate play into child rearing and in education. Although Froebel and Montessori’s approaches differed, their play activities were prescrip- tive and children had to follow precise directions when using the materials, which were far from playful. The lack of spontaneity in their activities would not be considered play today. In contrast, John Dewey’s (1916) concept of children’s learning is the basis for the present view on the educational use of children’s play. He believed that the young chil- dren’s education should be based on their experiences and on the world surrounding them. Teachers would establish an environment to cultivate the children’s play that would support their mental and moral growth. Presently, play is considered a serious activity that is essential in young children’s education (Spodek & Saracho, 1987), although not Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  Learning through Play 9 everybody is convinced of its value. This chapter discusses the importance of play in the children’s learning. It reviews the definitions of play and discusses how play is used in the children’s social learning and social education. Justifying Play One of the remarkable aspects of early childhood education is the unique need to justify the use of play in the curriculum. This justification becomes difficult in our present world that is obsessed with academics. Professionals, whose major concern is children’s play, frequently deny their concern with play by using words that are misrepresentative and communicate a different definition of play. For example, they state that “play is the work of the child,” thus relate work with play and convert play into work. Professionals believe that if they define play as work, everybody will consider play a serious activity and they can preserve their professional self-esteem (Spodek & Saracho, 1987). For a long period of time, the requirement to defend play has created difficulties in early childhood education. For numerous decades, educators, psychologists, philosophers, researchers, and others have investigated the natural phenomenon of play. They attempted to define it, interpret it, understand it, develop criteria for it, and relate it to other human activities. Play occurs in many forms, which makes its concept complex and difficult to understand. Even though young children, adults, and nonhuman animals participate in play, it differs for each player (Saracho, 2008). A look at the definitions of play can help us become knowledgeable about the reason for misunderstanding children’s play. Philosophers and researchers have developed a wide range of definitions and set of criteria for play. These will be discussed in the next section. Definitions of Play The word “play” has been used in a variety of ways (Spodek & Saracho, 1987) without a consensus definition. Attempting to define the word “play” has presented a challenge. Some observers (i.e., Lorenz, Thorpe) suggest it is wise to avoid defining the word, because there is a high inter-observer agreement in identifying play (cited in Dobbert, 1985). Inter-observer agreement measures how much two or more observers agree on their observation, and in the case of play it is risky to take for granted that an observer can designate the purpose for an individual’s behavior. The observer may suggest that a play behavior takes place without a reason, simply because the observer does not understand the subject’s behavior (Ellis, 1973). According to Schlosberg (1947), many times the reasons for play may be vague, and Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. without manipulating the situation, the evidence that the observer uses to make the infer- ences is weak. This may be why many observers think that if it is not work, it is play. In contrast, Fagen (1981) attempts to use an extensive review of the literature to define play. This is a challenging task, because the definition of play is different among researchers, educators, and philosophers. For example, Mitchell and Mason (1948) compare these thinkers’ definitions: Seashore: Free self-expression for the pleasure of expression. Froebel: The natural unfolding of the germinal leaves of childhood. Hall: The motor habits and spirit of the past persisting in the present. Groos: Instinctive practice, without serious intent, of activities which will later be essential to life. Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  10 Play in the Context of Early Education Dewey: Activities not consciously performed for the sake of any result beyond themselves. Schiller: The aimless expenditure of exuberant energy. Spenser: Superfluous actions taking place instinctively in the absence of real actions. Activity performed for the immediate gratification derived without regard for ulterior benefits. Lazarus: Activity in itself free, aimless, amusing, or diverting. Shand: A type of play directed at the maintenance of joy. Dulles: An instinctive form of self-expression and emotional escape value. Curti: Highly motivated activity, which is free from conflicts is usually, though not always, pleasurable (pp. 103–104). Sapora and Mitchell (1961) cited the following definitions of play, because they capture the sense of the layman’s definition: Gulick: What we do because we want to do it. Stern: Play is a voluntary self-sufficient activity. Patrick: Those human activities which are free and spontaneous and which are pursued for their own sake. Interest in them is self-sustaining, and they are not continued under any internal or external compulsion. Rainwater: Play is a mode of behavior... involving pleasurable activity of any kind, not undertaken for the sake of reward beyond itself. Pangburn: Activity carried on for its own sake (p. 114). Each definition provides a different understanding and interpretation of play, which moti- vates scholars to continue their attempt in defining play (Schartzman, 1978), identifying “paradigm cases” of the phenomenon, postponing definitional problems until later (Matthews & Matthews, 1982), and disagreeing on a definition of play. All the definitions maintain that play is not motivated by any other motive than for an immediate inherent reward in the activity itself. The activity is a reward of itself. The problem of defining play has yet to be settled. Smith and Vollstedt (1985) propose combining the characteristics of a play activity to define play instead of examining the literature in search of the presence or absence of one perfect quality. This requires that a set of criteria be specified to identify play behaviors (Sokal, 1974). Others (including Spodek, Saracho & Davis, 1991) have each specified a set of play criteria. Krasnor and Pepler (1980) suggest that a play activity needs to have flexibility, positive affect, intrinsic Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. motivation, and nonliterality. However, Sutton-Smith and Kelly-Byrne (1984) make the case that several patterns of play behavior are involuntary or inflexible and show a negative affect. Rubin et al. (1983) suggest a broader set of criteria: 1. Play is personally motivated by the satisfaction embedded in the activity and not governed either by basic needs and drives, or by social demands. 2. Players are concerned with activities more than with goals. Goals are self-imposed and the behavior of the players is spontaneous. 3. Play occurs with familiar objects, or following the exploration of unfamiliar objects. Children supply their own meanings to play activities and control the activity themselves. 4. Play activities can be nonliteral. Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  Learning through Play 11 5. Play is free from the rules imposed from the outside and the rules that do exist can be modified by the players. 6. Play requires the active engagement of the players (cited in Spodek & Saracho, 1994a, 1994b, pp. 3–4). Using a set of criteria helps identify play behavior, while a set of specific criteria can help understand play; but it fails to describe the reason people (including children) play. Smith and Vollstedt (1985) tested many researchers’ sets of criteria to describe a play activity. They reported that a combination of nonliterality (Krasnor & Pepler, 1980), posi- tive affect, and flexibility (Krasnor & Pepler, 1980) were used most frequently to identify a play activity. Smith and Vollstedt’s (1985) definition seems to be the most accepted definition of play. Play is joyful, flexible, imaginative, spontaneous, and essential to the children’s development and learning. A dependable definition is needed to assist in identifying play behaviors, but in order for this definition to be trustworthy, it needs to be based on the developmental theories of play, which are discussed in Chapter 3. Spontaneity in Group Play Children are born into a social world. From birth, they begin by exploring that world. At each stage of early development (infant, toddler, preschool, primary-age), children look around and try to make sense of their social and physical environments. They gradually learn more about their expanding community and eventually come to see themselves as citizens (Mindes, 2005). Young children need to understand themselves, the world around them, and their relationship to it. They learn about themselves when they test their knowledge on their physical and social worlds and receive feedback from their outside world. They learn about their environment and try to understand it as they identify the boundaries between themselves and the surrounding world. Young children develop the knowledge and abilities that they need both for their everyday life and to prepare them for future learning. They directly approach the physical world and test what they know about physical things by touching, listening, or viewing. Young children have direct contact with indi- viduals and observe their behavior. However, only the meaning of the observed behavior is important, which suggests that the meaning needs to be understandable. The consequence of social behavior and the context in which the behavior occurs provides meaning to the behavior (Spodek & Saracho, 1994b), such as when children play. For example, dramatic play promotes the children’s personal and social learning. It Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. helps them understand their social world. In dramatic play, young children act out roles that relate to their social settings the way they perceive and understand them. This type of play assists children to interpret their social world, family, school, and community and role play their perceptions of those worlds. When children play with others, they commu- nicate their understandings and test them against their peers’ point of view. In preschool, children usually play together. They might be pretending, running, or making “cakes” in the sandbox. Early pretend play with peer play is associated with competent social development. Therefore, it is important that children engage in play. Some children do not play, because their peers tell them “You can’t play,” or because they have anxious behavior with peers that prevents them from making an effort to play. These children do not learn how to play. Children need many opportunities to play with peers to learn (a) how to engage in prosocial and complex play with peers and (b) how to Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  12 Play in the Context of Early Education find solutions to their conflicts (Howes & Lee, 2007). This is of extreme importance for children with disabilities. For preschool-aged children with disabilities, the educational possibility of peer influ- ence in inclusive settings is determined by their peers’ social acceptance and rejection, which affects the developmental benefits of such settings. Odom et al. (2006) found that in inclusive classrooms half of the children with disabilities were well accepted, but the other half of children with disabilities were at risk of social rejection by peers. Diamond et al. (2008) suggest the use of peers to support the development of young children with disabilities. They suggest that children with disabilities be provided with multiple oppor- tunities to participate in school and community programs that include peers without disabilities. They believe that the children’s development and acceptance will be enhanced if children with disabilities have multiple opportunities for social interaction with their peers without disabilities. Children without disabilities need to understand “what it means to have a disability and children’s decisions to include a child with a disability in activities with peers, along with individual children’s peer-related social competence, can be critical for understanding the social environment of children with disabilities” (p. 142). Young children are energetic, imaginative and curious to behave and interact within their environment. Since they are self-centered, they have a narrow and unilateral view of their environment. Most of their life, they reside with their family, play with their peers, and determine how they should relate to others, how to spend their free time, whom to play with, which books to read, and even how to spend money. Although young children learn about the larger social world through television and other media, travel, family, and friends, they usually need the conceptual base to integrate knowledge from new experi- ences into their familiar immediate social environment. In addition, they need the social skills to consider their peers’ point of view to be able to resolve problems or to anticipate consequences of their behavior (Saracho & Spodek, 2007c). Young children display various patterns of social organization. In spite of their exclu- sive behavioral characteristics and their own distinctive personalities, they organize them- selves over time into logical groups. Young children’s development has an impact on the organization of their social groups (e.g., the development of social, regulatory, communi- cation skills). Researchers have considered the social organization of both the classroom and school and reported on the patterns and the processes that motivate these dynamics (Martin et al., 2005). Young children need to improve their social competence through social education and social learning. Social Learning Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. Social learning refers to the acquisition of essentials in social competence. Initially young children become socialized into the family through their relationships with family members. They learn their roles and expectations within the family as a member of that social group. Through their family interactions they learn to integrate the behavior and thought processes of successful interpersonal relations (Saracho & Spodek, 2007c). Early pretend play with peer play leads to the children’s competency in social learning (Howes & Lee, 2007; Kavanagh, 2006). The beginning of social learning begins in early infancy. During the first half-year of life, infants show their social interest when they smile, make sounds, and reach towards peers. At age one, infants watch, make sounds, reach out, and smile at others. At age two, toddlers start to show more advanced social exchanges in terms of interchange, give-and-take, and co-ordination. By age three, more prosocial Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  Learning through Play 13 behaviors (like helping, sharing) are observed. The children’s social play becomes more obvious and it includes more frequent social contacts. For the younger children, the peer group gives them an important and unique context for the acquisition and implementation of social skills (Rubin & Copla, 1998). Social learning theory suggests how (a) children learn from peers and (b) they are social- ized by their interactions and relationships with peers. The following are the social learning premises (Ladd, 2007): ƒ Peer interactions and relationships give children social information. When children interact and engage in relationships with their peers, they receive information about: (a) themselves and their behavior; (b) peers, peer behavior, and peer relationships; and (c) the situations and contexts where social interactions and relationships take place. ƒ Children process the information they receive from peer interactions and relationships. Children actively process, sort out, interpret, and form conclusions about the information they obtain from peer interactions and relationships, and store it for future use. ƒ Children use the information they receive from peer interactions and relationships. Children use the information they have received from peer interactions and relation- ships to change their future behavior toward peers where they apply the change with their peer interactions and relationships. As children use their changed behavior, they receive information about their behavior which they can use to (a) keep or modify their previous behavior or (b) keep or modify their existing behaviors. Children learn appropriate behaviors from peers in social play contexts. The nature and form of early social learning in peer contexts consist of children learning from ƒ peers’ responses to their behaviors ƒ watching peers ƒ processing information received from peer interactions ƒ creating, practicing, and changing the ways they interact with peers (Ladd, 2007). Toddler and preschool children are very sophisticated in their peer interactions. They engage in pretend play when they need to take turns, reverse their actions, use scripts, Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. and assume roles. However, the sophistication of the toddlers and preschoolers’ peer interaction depends on the size and composition of the peer group. The interaction quickly breaks down if there are too many players or too few players who know the script (Howes & Lee, 2007). The children’s development of social play contributes to their interactions with peers. When children engage in social play, they learn how their peers influence the children’s behaviors (like social skills), thoughts (like understanding themselves and others), feelings (like emotional states, reactions), and characteristics of their development. For example, in peer context, children learn (a) about themselves as persons, (b) about peers as persons, (c) how to manage their emotions and overcome distress, (d) that adverse experiences can endanger children’s health and development, and (e) that gender segregation can cause children to learn unique ways of relating to each other (Ladd, 2007). Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  14 Play in the Context of Early Education In pretend play, children explore and interpret the world including social situations. Children who engage in pretend play are the ones who are more socially competent with peers and adults (McAloney & Stagnitti, 2009). Howes and Lee (2007) also reported that even children between 10 and 59 months of age who engage in more complex play are found later to be more sociable, less aggressive, and less withdrawn. They concluded that complicated play with peers can be used as an indicator of social competence with peers, which shows their social competence. Preschool children play with a broader range of playmates than do toddlers. Sociodramatic play and games-with-rules show an increase in social activities (Rubin & Copla, 1998). Sociodramatic play becomes important. As children get older, they integrate pretense themes in their play. Sociodramatic play creates a context to help children communicate with meaning and provides children with opportunities to learn to discuss, control, and negotiate pretend roles and scripts and the rules for the pretend episodes in their play. In social pretense play, children feel safe to explore and discuss issues of intimacy and trust (Howes & Lee, 2007). Children need to play in a social–emotional climate where children engage in conversa- tions, spontaneous laughter, and enjoyment when they participate in a variety of activities and interactions. Some classrooms have clear, but flexible rules and expectations for class- room routines. Children usually understand these rules in a positive environment. Children will engage in peer play in an environment that values play (Howes & Lee, 2007). Children need to be provided with physical space to play and materials that motivate them to engage in pretend play (Sutterby & Frost, 2006). Young children need to develop knowledge and skills that help them function in their everyday life. They use their senses, seeing, touching, and listening to physical things to immediately learn about their physical world; while children learn about their social world when they interact with others and become aware that their behavior is important. The nature of young children’s learning processes depends on their personal experiences that help them to construct knowledge and create meaning, which makes it important to provide young children with immediate and first hand experiences to facilitate their learning (Saracho & Spodek, 2007b). Social Education Young children need to learn social ways in order to function within a democratic society. Social learning helps them to improve their emotional and practical competence, their perception of themselves, and their acceptance of others, disregard of their compe- Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. tencies and limitations. The episode below provides an example of the children’s social learning. Cody, Brianna, and Dylan are gathered around the sand table during free play time in their preschool classroom. Cody is carefully playing with one of the sand toys when Brianna reaches over and grabs it out of Cody’s hands. Cody immediately reacts by reaching out to hit Brianna and yells out “that’s mine!” After she gets hit, the toy falls out of her hand, she starts to cry, and Dylan moves closer to hug and comfort her. A nearby teacher hears the commotion and comes over to the sand table. Dylan tells the teacher that Cody hit Brianna. The teacher asks Cody to apologize. Cody responds by saying “she took the toy from me!” and starts yelling and gesturing as if he plans to hit Brianna or the teacher. It takes Brianna nearly a minute to stop crying, and Cody ends Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  Learning through Play 15 up sitting in the time out chair for three minutes due to his temper tantrum (Trentacosta & Izard, 2007, p. 59). The above observation is a comparatively common argument in an early childhood classroom, especially in a classroom that provides education to at-risk or economically challenged children. The behaviors that emerged in the observation are examples that indicate that these young children need support in their social and emotional learning. Although these children have a similar chronological age, they indicate different degrees of emotional and social maturity. Usually preschool-aged children lack basic social skills and the ability to deal with their emotions. Nevertheless, in the described episode the preschool play context provides these children with an exceptional setting for them to learn these skills and abilities that will help them to adjust to any challenges that they encounter throughout their lives (Trentacosta & Izard, 2007). Thus, young children will receive the support they need in a social learning environment. The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS, 1984), the largest professional organization in the United States that is dedicated exclusively to social studies education, believes that social learning helps young children understand and function in their personal and social worlds. They are active, curious, and need to develop their competence in socialization, social values, and self awareness. ƒ Socialization is the way young children interact with and respond to the different groups’ expectations and responsibilities. Their social group goes beyond the family. Children are introduced to a larger society as they enroll in their early childhood class, which requires them to learn a new role within a new social institution. They have to learn their role in the school or center, the rules of behavior, their expectations, soci- ety’s way of life, and the social values. They need to learn appropriate school behavior, become competent in meeting their own needs, and to interact with others. Young children also need to learn to share and effectively interact with others, including family members, peers, and teachers. These are behaviors that are compatible with the standards of a specific society. Young children need to become personally competent within a social context, which is a major goal in social learning in early childhood education. ƒ Self-awareness focuses on the young children’s affective development. Children become aware of their self-concepts, manage those feelings about themselves and others, and develop effective ways to communicate and interact with others. They need to learn how to come to terms with their emotions and become responsive about Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. themselves. Young children learn self-awareness when they are provided with oppor- tunities to express their feelings or concerns with the teacher, alone, or in a group. Discussions, role playing, storytelling, and several play experiences help children achieve self-awareness. ƒ Social Values that are essential to convey to children include concern for the worth of the individual, concepts of freedom and responsibility, the importance of democratic decision making, and care for the safety of persons and property. Children develop appropriate social values when they experience a wide array of oppor- tunities for individual selection of goals and activities and consider the alternatives and possible consequences of their actions and of their own feelings. Young children learn social values through role playing, creative dramatics, literature, and art experiences. They Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  16 Play in the Context of Early Education also pick up the values of those around them whom they consider important, including parents and teachers. Children’s values relate to their concept of morality, like what they consider to be fair and appropriate. Stages of moral development, which relate to moral reasoning and values, are part of the children’s developmental processes. It is important for children to understand the moral judgments they can make at their own level. Children develop social values when they are allowed to select goals and activities (Wolfson, 1967). Many consider that education reflects socially or culturally accepted standards or rules of behavior. Young children learn to identify with and accept the standards or norms of their society, which relate to moral education. Moral education is also essential for social learning. Moral education helps young children differentiate between right and wrong. Although there is a general moral code, the sources of morality differ in our society. Lawrence Kohlberg (2008) identified three levels, with two stages at each level, of moral development in children (see Table 2.1, from Turiel, 1973). Kohlberg’s framework shows that the way children judge moral dilemmas indicates their level of development. Very young children usually function below stage two or three. Young children can learn proper behavior, but they will not understand the reason the behavior is considered proper in relation to higher-order ethical principles. The children’s moral stage can be identified when they discuss the reasons for moral judgments and when they respond in role playing situations and question the reasons for their actions. Young children show different patterns of social organization. They have their personal behavioral characteristics and personalities; but over time, they organize themselves into logical groups. The young children’s development affects how they organize their social groups (like the development of social, regulatory, communication abilities). They have TABLE 2.1. Stages of Moral Development Stage Description Stage 1 The punishment and obedience orientation. The physical consequences of action determine its goodness or badness. Avoidance of punishment and unquestioning deference to power are valued in their own right Stage 2 The instrumental-relativist orientation. Right action consists of that which instrumentally satisfies one’s own needs and occasionally the needs of others Stage 3 The interpersonal concordance or “good boy–nice girl” orientation. Good behavior is that which pleases or helps others and is approved by them. Behavior is frequently judged by intention—“he means well” becomes important Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. for the first time. One earns approval by being “nice” Stage 4 Authority and social order maintaining orientation. There is orientation toward authority, fixed rules, and the maintenance of the social order. Right behavior consists of doing one’s duty, showing respect for authority, and maintaining the given social order for its own sake Stage 5 The social-contract legalistic orientation. Right action tends to be defined in terms of general individual rights and standards (laws), which have been critically examined and agreed upon by society Stage 6 The universal ethical principle orientation. Right is defined by a decision of conscience in accord with self-chosen ethical principles. These principles are abstract and ethical; they are not concrete moral rules like the Ten Commandments Saracho, Olivia N.. An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/detail.action?docID=958589. Created from unisa on 2024-08-25 04:41:37.  Learning through Play 17 very complicated social systems in any context (like playgrounds, classroom) that the dynamics of their social interactions may be difficult to understand. Researchers have developed special procedures to study the children’s social behaviors and their peer interactions. They have attempted to identify the children’s social organization in the classroom and school as well as the patterns and the processes that underlie these dynamics (Martin et al., 2005). Curriculum Components of Play Society has specified the school’s goals in relation to basic skills, stressing that children should learn letters, numbers, words, and colors even at the preschool level. The focus on academic skills diminishes the importance of the children’s play. This is unfortunate, as play is an important tool to support young children’s learning. Play permits children to select their learning, especially in relation to the attainment of a broad range of goals (Spodek & Saracho, 1987). Play provides young children with the opportunity to (1) express their ideas and their feelings, (2) symbolize and test their knowledge of the world, and (3) acquire effec- tive support for academic and pre-academic learning. Through play, young children engage in active learning when they reconstruct their experiences, generate ideas, and test these ideas. Young children learn through hands-on experiences; when they manipulate symbolic materials, young children understand the concepts that these symbols represent. Therefore, symbolic play is a natural way to teach young children (Saracho & Spodek, 1987), and it is wise for teachers to develop play activities that relate to the program’s educational goals. They can design play activities that (a) integrate children’s ideas and experiences, (b) construct their knowledge, and (c) help them achieve most of their goals (Saracho, 2002b). Play promotes children’s development of knowledge, meaning of inquiry, creativity, and conceptual understanding (Wassermann, 1992). At all ages children need learning experi- ences within the integrated curriculum to play with words, paints, cubes, problems, materials, and music in their future roles of writers, poets, artists, architects, scientists, and musicians (Stone, 1995–1996). Essential components in the play curriculum are symbolic play, social play, and educa- tional play. When children engage in symbolic play, they use symbolic representations to communicate their thoughts. When children engage in social play, they interact with others to develop and improve their social skills. Educational play, which will be discussed in Chapter 5, is composed of different types of play including manipulative, block, physical, dramatic, and games. Copyright © 2011. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. Symbolic Play Children at a very early age initiate their understanding of imagination, drama, and narra- tive. Their involvement in a fantasy world at such an early age is extraordinary. First year- old infants us