Play in the World of Kindergarten

Play based learning is the new buzz phrase among kindergarten and early childhood educators. As a matter of fact it was not that long ago that the words “play based learning” caused some controversy, misunderstanding and confusion among educators. What exactly did the term play based learning mean? How would you use it within the curriculum? How would we explain play to parents and other educators?

I have been in the field of early childhood education for over 25 years and have seen many changes within that time. When the concept of play began it was in the field of daycare/childcare. As this concept of play and development grew, scientists and researchers within the field of education began to study the benefits of play. As these studies gained notoriety, policy makers within education began to recognize that there were benefits.

In Ontario the education system began implementing every day kindergarten with the emphasis on play based learning. It would consist of one kindergarten teacher and an early childhood educator. The program started with pilot programs in small communities and then implemented the programs into larger communities and cities, it took about 10 years before most schools within the province had full day kindergarten.

I was lucky enough to be a part of every day kindergarten and I personally found it an interesting experience. For me the philosophy behind what every day kindergarten stood for made sense, it sounded like a wonderful program. However, starting at a school where it was their first year there were many missing components, which included supporting and understanding the relationships between teacher and early childhood educator and the concept of play.

Teachers were “teaching” kindergarten for years, and the concept of play based learning was about children taking the lead, using their own ideas, becoming curious, asking questions, and finding answers. Our job as an educational team was to help facilitate and guide children, yet at the same time meet the curriculum content set out by the ministry of education. At that time many teachers that I worked with had a difficult time making this switch. Yet the early childhood educators have practiced this pedagogy for years.

The concept of what exactly children learn at play was a debate in those beginning years and not everyone believed that children could meet the developmental content they would require for first grade while playing.

As an early childhood educator I knew the power of play was important, however not the only concept that children would need to grow and develop. They of course needed the trusting adults, the relationships with peers, the support of their school and their family in order to be successful. So perhaps the phrase “Play based Learning” should become referenced as a more holistic phrase that would include play, trust, relationships, environment, community and family because honestly without weaving all those components together the success rate of children learning through play would be affected.

As I moved through different classrooms and worked with different education teams, I began to understand that circumstances (class size, educational team, supervisor, principal and school) were the foundation on which the full day kindergarten would be built. But what would always be the same was how young children learned, that is through movement, action, experience, curiosity, exploration, environment, opportunity, acceptance, trust in themselves and others, confidence, risk taking and more. Using the educating team's ability to co construct the curriculum into the ways in which children learn instead of taking children and trying to implement a curriculum into them as a whole. This would help create independent learners and open up children's ability to think and make decisions as a whole individual person separating them from the categories and labels that they fall into over time.