Play as Learning
Overview
Play is something that every child enjoys doing. Since this is the case why not use play as a tool for education? Playing with the intent to learn is a great way to keep students interested and motivated in the lessons. This OER talks about different aspects of using play as a learning tool and why it is beneficial for all students.
Active Learning
What is it?
Active learning is an approach where learners are actively involved or engaged in the learning process. Active involvement is characterized by learner choice or autonomy regarding the task itself, as well as how and when learners respond. Active learning leverages learners’ own interests to engage them in the learning process. It uses hands-on, authentic, real-world-related activities with teachers occupying the role of facilitator rather than didactic instructor.
Reference:
"Active Learning" by Maura Healey is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
"Learning through Play at School" by Rachel Parker and Bo Stjerne Thomsen is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
"The Active Learning Method" by Sprouts is licensed under CC BY 4.0
What does it look like?
We use the term knowing in doing to refer to the knowledge children spontaneously use in their play activity. In the richly detailed context of the play, children do not think, then act, as if planning their play in some sequential, deliberate way. Rather, their play activity stems from the creative synergy of the moment. It is shaped by the here and now, the just-previous activity, and all sorts of ideas and notions accrued from past experiences. In the press of absorbing play activity, all these forces tug and pull at children to yield what they know, understand, and prefer. The knowledge they make use of in Polanyi’s (1967) terms, is tacit–that is, children know more than they can say about what they are doing. Moreover, what they know is always on the move, because it is open to new features and structures that push hard for new forms of organization in response to the novelty and surprise that are the hallmarks (and fun) of play. Play, in other words, is a dynamic knowledge system that fluctuates at the edge of children's capabilities. It is, as Vygotsky (1967) astutely observed, a zone of proximal development where children try to “jump above” their everyday behaviors.
Reference:
"Active Learning Looks Like " by Ken Whytok is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
"Knowing in The Doing" by Child Development is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
What are the benefits?
Successfully implementing playful pedagogies involves planning for intended learning outcomes. As discussed above, learning via playful pedagogies is understood in the broadest sense to refer to educating the whole child; fostering a range of skills and understanding. The focus on the whole child's development is a key distinguishing feature of learning through play when compared with other less-playful educational approaches regarding outcomes. All learning gains made by children are valued when learning through play, be they social, emotional, physical, cognitive, or creative.
Active learning positively influences learning outcomes in the following ways:
Cognitive and socio-emotional
Achievement and growth mindset
Social and emotional skills
References:
"Learning Through Play at School - A Framework for Policy and Practice " by Rachel Parker, Bo Thomsen, & Amy Berry is licensed under CC BY 4.0
"Learning through Play at School" by Rachel Parker and Bo Stjerne Thomsen is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
"Learn, Play, Grow" by the Province of British Columbia is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Cooperative and Collaborative Learning
What Is It?
Cooperative and collaborative Learning is an instructional strategy designed to encourage positive peer and social interaction, by grouping students together for an assignment or project. These two terms can be used interchangeably since they are both based on active student participation, but are not the same. Cooperative learners will meet face to face, sharing work as a team, while Collaborative learners will work independently and combine their contributions. This strategy can include meaningful tasks, active participation, and learners working together helping one another. Finally cooperative learning is more effective with learners who have more of a foundational understanding of early grades, while collaborative learning does not require a foundational understanding since it pushes students to draw their own conclusions. This makes for linear learning with collaborative learning picking up where cooperative learning leaves off.
"Learning Through Play at School" by Rachel Parker and Bo Stjerne Thomsen is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Video Reference : "Cooperative Learning" is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
What Does it Look Like?
For Cooperative and Collaborative Learning to be successful there are strategies that educators can follow to help students be successful.
First, is to create positive independence. What this looks like is for the learners to gain an understanding that there are no “free rides” for any of the group members, but there is also an understanding that their fellow learners are there for questions, assistance, and resources.
Secondly, as a teacher, you are responsible for explaining, modeling, and reinforcing how to work in a group. Students should, from there, be able to help, support, praise and encourage each other. This will assist students with their interdependence, and will also help gain verbal and interpersonal skills.
Another strategy that is used to help students gain an understanding of cooperative and collaborative learning is having a distinct indication of their participation in the group. This can be used to individually see if students are comprehending the material as well as be able to give each student their own feedback.
Creating small group skills is another strategy used, this will again help students with their social skills.
Lastly, group processing assists students in being able to reflect on their work as a whole, as well as their work they individually contributed to their group. This deepens their cognitive and metacognitive learning and will help establish a foundation for future group work.
Reference:
"Learning Through Play at School" is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
What Are the Benefits?
There can be benefits for both Cooperative and Collaborative Learning that can assist the students with their learning. Cooperative and Collaborative Learning will help students gain a deeper understanding of the content, will help students remain on task, as well as help students gain confidence in their abilities. Students will be able to have an understanding of what it means to work in a group as well as receive critical feedback. Students will also gain critical thinking knowledge where they will be able to successfully engage with their peers in a positive way. Most of all, both learning strategies will help students gain confidence in their group work skills that they can carry on with them not only in their academic career but also in their professional one.
Reference : "Cooperative Learning and Elementary Classrooms" by Kimberly Lightle is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Video Reference:
"The impact of collaborative teaching and learning" is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Refrences
"Cooperative Learning" is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
"Cooperative Learning and Elementary Classrooms" by Kimberly Lightle is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
"Learning Through Play at School" by Rachel Parker and Bo Stjerne Thomsen is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
"Students Group Work" is licensed under CC BY 1.0
"The impact of collaborative teaching and learning" is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Experiential Learning
What is it?
Experiential learning is a range of educational theories and practices which share common principles about the value of experience, within and beyond the classroom. It is the idea that children can gain knowledge through their experiences. These experiences are inspired by their interests and motivations. In order to have quality experiential learning, the activities need to be comprised of meaningful experiences, important or intriguing inquiry topics, and interaction between peers, teachers, and learners. Experiential learning must consist of four attributes, concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation.
What does it look like?
Experiential learning puts emphasis on the experience part of learning. Instead of being taught in a traditional classroom, learners will use their surroundings as their classroom. This could be going outside, learning through acts of service, kitchen and garden programs, creative arts programs, and community development initiatives. An example would be children going to a community garden and getting to have a hands-on experience with the different plants. This would allow them to use all of their senses to fully learn what it is like to be in a garden. After they have their experience the children must then reflect on the learning.
What are the benefits?
Experiential learning has a lot of benefits. One is that it has been known to foster social and interpersonal skills. This means that this learning style can expand the learner's social networks. Another benefit is that it helps students at high risk for disengagement. Experiential learning is highly engaging because of the hands-on learning as well as a rich discussion environment. Since this style of learning uses a child’s interests as learning motivation, it makes the child more likely to fully participate in the activities. The last benefit is experiential learning encourages relationships between the schools and the community. Since the children will mainly be learning outside of the typical classroom, this increases the chances that they will be able to go out and learn from the people in their communities.
Resources:
"Knowing in The Doing" by Child Development is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
"Learning through play at school " by Rachel Parker and Bo Stjerne Thomsen is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
"What is Experiential Learning?" by Ideas(s) Lab is licensed under CC BY 3.0
Montessori Method
What is it?
- The Montessori Method was developed by Italian Physician, Dr. Maria Montessori in the early 1900’s. This form of education strives to provide children with developmentally appropriate tasks that focus on the progression of concrete thinking to abstract thinking. The Montessori Method uses many different forms of instruction including individual learning with an abundance of hands-on learning activities with montessori-specific materials as well as group work and pair work. The role of the educator in a Montessori classroom is to facilitate and guide students while they are working.
- This method of education believes that children can not only have the ability to be autonomous in the classroom, but that they are motivated to achieve autonomy with their education as well as have the ability to self correct to achieve in order to high rate of success with the work. In a Montessori classroom you will find an organized and prepared space for the children to choose specifically designed materials that they will be able to freely explore and manipulate.
"At the centre of the method we firstly find a new vision of childhood, which considers the child as a proponent of its own development, being able to realize its human potential in a work of delicate construction of the personality through self-education." (Tovazzi & Caprara 2019)
Video Reference: "Montessori Education- Explain in a Nutshell" is licensed under CC BY 4.0
What does it look like?
- In a Montessori classroom you will also find that the method encourages self-humanization; children will often complete their work on the floor to encourage movement. The curriculum is self-paced in an individual or small group setting, and children learn from their peers, environment, and the teacher with the ability to self-correct. Montessori curriculum helps develop perceptual skills, physical coordination, language arts, math, as well as emotional skills. Another emphasis that is placed in the Montessori classroom is learning life skills such as cleaning and self-care. The purpose of not only educating the child’s intellect but also the child’s overall ability to do daily tasks is to help the child grow into an autonomous, capable adult.
- The role that play has in the Montessori environment is through the manipulation of the prepared space. Students have the ability to choose the task that they want to complete by surveying the array of prepared Montessori materials which help build gross and fine motor skills. By giving the students the ability to choose what tasks they would like to work on for that day, the pattern will begin to emerge that they will continue to work on that task until they have successfully completed it. Self-correction and perseverance is developed during this time within the student as well as the building of intrinsic motivation through the satisfaction of completing the task.
Video Reference: "Montessori Dictionary- Prepared Environment" is licensed under CC BY 4.0
What are the benefits?
- The benefits of the Montessori education style is that it ultimately promotes autonomy and increases the intrinsic motivation to succeed in their tasks. A great benefit of the Montessori method is that it greatly focuses on developing a positive relationship with learning as well as developing strong relationships with peers in a supportive and encouraging environment. In a Montessori classroom, the blocks of time where students are working on their tasks are extended for a longer duration when compared to the traditional classroom. These extended time blocks allow students to truly involve themselves in their learning and go through the process of successfully completing a task to their full potential. The most notable impact that this method of education has for development is shown through students’ reasoning skills, positive shared play, and more creativity shown in problem-solving and writing skills. Overall, the Montessori Method encourages self-regulation and positive work habits which will benefit students throughout every stage of development into and through adulthood.
Resources
"Learning Through Play at School" by Rachel Parker and Bo Stjerne Thomsen is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
"MacDowell Montessori, Milwaukee, Primary Classroom" by flickr is licensed under CC BY 2.0
"Montessori approach, math education and gender differences: how can teachers manage pupils’ math anxiety?" by Alice Tovazzi, Barbara Caprara is licensed under CC BY 4.0
"Montessori Dictionary- Prepared Environment" is licensed under CC BY 4.0
"Montessori Education- Explain in a Nutshell" is licensed under CC BY 4.0
"Montessori Pin Map" by Wikimedia Commons is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
"Preschool classroom- Montessori preschool classroom" by flickr is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Additional Resources for the Montessori Method:
Gettman, D. (1987). Basic montessori. St. Martin’s Press.
Orem, R. C. (1972). Montessori today. Capricorn Books.