Planned Purposeful

Playful Learning

Adapted from Dr. Hirsh-PasekLefkowitz Presentation

For the purpose of KNAER Project

WhatWhat’’s going on?s going on?

Just play?

Changing the lensChanging the lens

Narrativ

e

Language Perspective taking

Planning and executive function

Social skills

…the Pascal Report laid out in careful detail how a universal preschool program, taught by educators trained in early childhood development and schooled in the importance of learning- based play, will improve school readiness…

Every Child Every Opportunity…Early learning in Ontario

Early education is on Ontario’s

agenda!

Dr. Charles E. Pascal

The agenda for Ontario is set forth in The agenda for Ontario is set forth in two documents two documents ……

Every Child, Every OpportunityCurriculum and Pedagogy for the Early

Learning Program

…the goal here is not to replicate the sort of teacher-directed program that characterizes grade school; it is to create an environment of child-directed activity that mobilizes the child’s interest and imagination ((ShankerShanker, p. iii) , p. iii)

”Play is serious business for the development of young learners…I observed people recoil at the thought of spending resources on “just having kids play. But research and best practice indicate clearly that a deliberate and effective play-based approach supports young children’s cognitive development” (p. 25)

SOME INTERESTING FACTSSOME INTERESTING FACTS

We are leaving the information age, where getting the factoids was enough….

We are entering a new era, a knowledge age in which information is doubling every 2.5 years.

Integrating information and innovation is key.

Success in the global workforce of the 21st century requires that our children be skilled in the 6CsTM

As Daniel Pink (2005), author of A whole new mind writes:

The past few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind-- computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, MBAs who could crunch numbers. But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind - creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers.

And, the Partnership for the 21st Century Skills (September 10, 2008)

In an economy driven by innovation and knowledge … the ingenuity, agility and skills are crucial to our nation’s competitiveness.

21st Century Skills: Education and Competitiveness

Our children are The workforce of that future, The workforce of the year 2040

High quality preschool programs are characterized by playful environments in which children have strong relationships with their caregivers and are engaged in active learning.

__ Galinsky 2005

In fact, a large body of research suggests that….

This holds for all childrenThis holds for all children

In Canada, England, the US, China and Singapore

For children who are rural or urban

For children who are rich or poor

All children need high-quality early education and the opportunity to learn through play!

But whatever happened to But whatever happened to play?play?

In 1981, a typical school-age child in the United States had 40% of her time open for play. By 1997, the time for play had shrunk to 25%.

What percentage is it down to now??

Recent research suggests that in Canada and in the US Recent research suggests that in Canada and in the US children are not getting enough playchildren are not getting enough play

In the last two decades children have lost 8 hours of free play per week

Thousands of schools in the United States have reduced or eliminated recess to make time for more academic study.

Elkind, (2008) Greater Good

In fact, several recent articles raise the importance of play!

Scientific America, February, 2009:

Play-deprived childhood disrupts normal social, emotional and cognitive development in humans and animals.

NYTimes, September, 2009

Can the right kinds of play teach self control?

NYTimes, February 2010

Playing to Learn

NYTimes, January 2011

Movement to restore play gains momentum

We often wear out our youngest We often wear out our youngest children bychildren by

•Engaging in “drill-and-kill”

activities rather than playful and meaningful learning, even at the youngest ages!

•Testing for “factoids”

in our assessments rather than real learning

These issues and more prompted a report from the American These issues and more prompted a report from the American Academy of Pediatricians in October 2006 entitled:Academy of Pediatricians in October 2006 entitled:

The The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child

Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds

They wrote:

These guidelines are written in response to the multiple forces challenging play. The overriding premise is that play (or some available free time in the case of older children and adolescents) is essential to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth.

And parents are barraged with books that And parents are barraged with books that speak to their newly created anxietiesspeak to their newly created anxieties

about whether their children will succeedabout whether their children will succeed

The challenge is to strike a balance…

between the desire to enrich children’s lives and the need to foster play as a foundation for learning skills like collaboration, communication, content, critical thinking, and creative innovation and confidence.

Content is only 1 of the 6Cs!

Today we show you why, by demonstrating the evidence for playful

learning

1. Early education is important but . . .- How you learn is as important as what you learn

2. Defining playful learning3. Playful learning in self regulation4. Playful learning in academic outcomes5. Implications for Practice and Policy

A talk in five parts

The evidence for playful learning

1. Early education is important but . . .- How you learn is as important as what you learn

2. Defining playful learning3. Playful learning in self regulation4. Playful learning in academic outcomes

Mountains of evidence suggest Mountains of evidence suggest thatthat……

Preschool experience dramatically increases children’s:

Collaboration > Social skills by as much as 62%<Problem behaviors

Communication> Language skills by 25%

Content>Reading by 59%>Writing>Math by 50%

US Head Start Data, 2002, 2005; High scope data Schweinhart, 2004; NIERR State reports, 2008

A recent report examined the Better Beginnings, Better Futures Project following 601 children who participated in programs when their children were between 4 and 8 years…with follow up analysis of social and academic development at Grades 3, 6 and 9.

DeV. Peters et al, 2010

The researchers foundThe researchers found……

Positive effect in school

Fewer emotional and behavioral problems

Positive neighborhood effects

Government savings of $912 per child!

YetYet……..

ItIt’’s not just s not just whatwhat you learn that you learn that matters, but matters, but howhow you learnyou learn

Comparisons between developmentally appropriate (DA) preschools and kindergartens vs. more traditional

“academic” direct instruction (DI) schools tell the story.

Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, Berk, & Singer. (2009). A mandate for playful learning in preschool:Presenting the evidence. Oxford University Press.

Which school would you want Which school would you want to go to?to go to?

Developmentally appropriate schoolsDevelopmentally appropriate schools

Metaphor: Child as Explorer

Have active learners

More playful learning (guided play)

Whole child approach -- brains and heart

Integrated curricula

Direct instruction schools

Metaphor: Child as empty vessel metaphor

More passive learners

Learning is more compartmentalized, 10AM it’s math!

DA schools offer DA schools offer advantages inadvantages in

Social emotional development

> Emotional regulation

< Child stressBurts, Hart, Charlesworth, Fleege, Mosley & Thomasson, 1992

< Behavior problemsMarcon, 1994, 1999, 2003

> Motivation for schoolHirsh-Pasek, 1991; Stipek et al., 1998

Academically

> Reading and math scoresStipek, Feiler, Byler, Ryan, Milburn, and Salmon (1998); Marcon (1999, 2003)

These advantages lasted into the primary grades

What happens in DI Classrooms What happens in DI Classrooms Compared to Age Mates in DA settings?Compared to Age Mates in DA settings?

Inattention, restlessness, stress behaviors (wiggling and rocking)

Confidence in own abilities

Enjoyment of challenging tasks

End-of-year progress in motor, language, and social skills

Burts et al., 1992; Hart et al., 1998, 2003; Hirsh-Pasek & Golinkoff, 2003; Singer & Singer, 2005.

Lasting effects through elementary school: poorer study habits and achievement; greater distractibility, hyperactivity, and peer aggression

Children were more actively engaged and learned

through play

This is a key point!This is a key point!

The evidence for playful learning

1. Early education is important but . . .- How you learn is as important as what you learn

2. Defining playful learning3. Playful learning in self regulation4. Playful learning in academic outcomes

What do we mean by playful learning? It includes time for free and guided play

Guided play is:• A planned play environment, enriched with objects/toys

that provide experiential learning opportunities, infused with curricular content (Berger, 2008), e.g., Neuman & Roskos.

• Teachers enhance children’s exploration and learning through:

-- co-playing with them-- asking open-ended questions-- suggesting ways to explore materials that

children might not think ofAsh & Wells, 2007; Berk & Winsler, 1995; Callanan & Braswell, 2006; Callanan & Oakes, 1992C l Si l & S d 1979 R ff 2003

The evidence for playful learning

1. Early education is important but . . .- How you learn is as important as what you learn

2. Defining playful learning3. Playful learning in self-regulation4. Playful learning in academic outcomes

Stuart Stuart ShankerShanker has writtenhas written………scientists have begun to acquire a much better understanding of why it has been so difficult to change educational trajectories, and it turns out that the explanation for this phenomenon has little to do with IQ; rather, the reason lies primarily in the child’s ability to self-regulate: to monitor and modify emotions, focus or shift attention, control impulses, tolerate frustration, delay gratification, co-regulate in social interactions (Blair & Diamond, 2008).

A tale of two A tale of two SpocksSpocks

Dr. Benjamin Spock got it all along: social and emotional regulation matters -- a lot

Mr. Spock did not

EmotionalEmotional--regulation regulation includes?includes?

Impulse and emotion control

Self-guidance of thought and behavior (private speech)

Planning

Self-reliance

Socially responsible behavior

(Bronson, 2001; Kopp, 1991; Rothbart & Bates, 2006)

And measures of self-regulation predict?

• Favorable development and adjustment in cultures as different as the Canada and China!

• Beginning in early childhood, positive outcomes include:• persistence• task mastery• academic achievement• social cooperation• moral maturity (concern about wrongdoing and willingness to apologize)• sharing and helpfulness

Eisenberg, 2010; Harris et al., 2007; Kochanska & Asksan, 2006; Posner & Rothbart, 2007; Zhou, Lengua, & Wang, 2009; and many others.

The shocking finding??The shocking finding?? Children with social emotional control do Children with social emotional control do

better in schoolbetter in school……. .

Mischel et.al., (1989) for a review

Guess what happened over time!!!!!Those who waited scored over 200 points better on their SATs?

Eigsti, et al., 2006

Further, we can teach Further, we can teach emotional controlemotional control

Through children’s play

And yet another recent study (Diamond, Barnett, Thomas & Munro, Science, 2007)

Found that playful learning through the Tools of the Mind Program helped children develop executive function skills (EF) like inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility.

These skills are highly correlated with fluid intelligence and outcomes in math and reading.

When teachers promote these skills through playful -- planful learning throughout the day, children’s outcomes on standardized tests increase -- even for poor children..

Can the right kinds of play teach self-control? NYTimes Sept 25, 2009

EQ and emotional control does not EQ and emotional control does not develop on its owndevelop on its own

Children learn it from adults

Children learn it from other children

Children learn it through PLAY: Free and guidedTan-Niam, 1997

The evidence for playful learning

1. Early education is important but . . .- How you learn is as important as what you learn

2. Defining playful learning3. Playful learning in self regulation4. Playful learning in academic outcomes

Focus on readingFocus on reading……

Telling stories

Word play

(what rhymes with “hat”?)

Singing songs

Dialogical reading

Reading product labels

Engaging conversations

Dramatic play (Christie)

One recent example: Vocabulary learning: Han, Vulkelich and Buell (2011)

49, low-performing 4- and 5- year olds from Head Start Classroom

Random assignment study: Half in Explicit Instruction Vocabulary Protocol (EIVP); Half in EIVP + play

30 min, 2 X per week for 4 mo

Teach 64 new words (16 per week w/ 4 target words per week)

Results!

Target words better in EIVP + play

In math and spatial skillsIn math and spatial skills

Finding patterns

Dividing candy and sharing

Squire & Bryant, 2002

Sorting trail mix

“I spy”

Noticing more and less

(“She got more ice cream”)

Playing with blocks & trains

Conversations

Playing board games

Ramani & Siegler, 2008

Spatial Skills and STEM Spatial Skills and STEM DisciplinesDisciplines

Our studyOur study……..

3-5 year olds participated in 2 play conditions with their parent, either:

Free play ( here are some blocks, do what you will) then guided play (can you build a heliport/ garage)?

Guided playa then guided playb ( build a heliport, build a garage)

Preassembled play (here’s a heliport) then guided play

Play Situations

Pre-assembled Play

Free Play

Guided Play

So what condition prompted the most spatial language?

Above, around, over, through….

And did playing with blocks offer any advantage over playing with other toys?

YES!!

First, guided play makes a difference – even more than free play!

In guided play, 10% or 1 in 10 words were spatial

Second, block play in general makes a difference

In non-block play contexts, parents use only 3 to 6% of spatial terms

What does this mean?

Interactive play and conversation with traditional toys like blocks is educational and is related to STEM learning

The block corner is educational!

Focus on geometry: Children learn the defining features of

shape in guided play?

Fisher, K., Ferrara, K., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Newcombe, N., & Golinkoff, R.M. (in preparation). Exploring the mechanisms of guided play: An experimental study.

We have a hint from the block study that guided play with real objects helps children learn but what is this guided play and how

might it work? ?

Which of these are real triangles?3, 4, & 5 year olds…

How shape concepts How shape concepts develop?develop?

The shift from similarity- to rule-based classification systems

The Question…

Whether guided play might be a better way to learn than is direct instruction or free, exploratory play for learning shape concepts (triangles, rectangles, pentagons, hexagons)?

3 ConditionsGuided Play (+ DI, + AE): Children were taught rule-based classification systems for shapes in a playful, exploratory manner (they were “detectives” discovering the secret of the shapes)

Direct Instruction (- DI, - AE): Children were taught rule-based classification systems for shapes in a passive learning manner (children watched the experimenter act as a detective discovering the secret of the shapes):

Exploratory/Free Play (- DI, +AE) : Children played with shape cut-outs (same as training cards) and wax sticks for approximately the same amount of time as the training conditions.

The Shape The Shape Sorting Sorting Test?Test?

Shape Cards: 40 cards, 10 per shape (3 typical, 3 atypical, 4 non-valid)

Procedure:

Children introduced to “Leelu the Picky Ladybug” who only liked REAL shapes.

She needed help sorting some shape cards she found (40 cards; 10 per shape).

‘Real’ shapes were placed in her ladybug box, while ‘fake’ shapes were thrown in a trashcan

WannaWanna guess where they guess where they learned the best?learned the best?

ResultsResults

Acceptance rates of typical, atypical, and non-valid shapes (sorted as ‘real shapes’) by group. NOTE: Adult data was not collected for this study. Data is presented for comparison only. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001

** *

*

* *

** *

In sum,In sum,

Playful learning builds strong skills in self-regulation and in

academic outcomes.

PLAY AND LEARNING ARE NOT

INCOMPATIBLE

The evidence for playful learning

1. Early education is important but . . .- How you learn is as important as what you learn

2. Defining playful learning3. Playful learning in self regulation4. Playful learning in academic outcomes

Drum roll please: The evidence suggests…..

It’s not play OR learning!

It’s play AND learning

We can have rich curricular content and adopt a playful pedagogy!

That is worth repeating!That is worth repeating!We can have rich curricular content

and adopt a playful pedagogy!

A Huge GAPA Huge GAP

What we know in science…

What we do

It is timeIt is time……....

To change the lens on how children learn!