Specialisation Report Influence of Play in Child Development

7/23/2019 Specialisation Report Influence of Play in Child Development

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Report title :

The plays influence in child development

Special iasation r eport

Student: Necula Elena- Roxana

Name of supervisor :Hanne Klmose Muff Andersen

Data: 25.05.2015

Place of study - Pdagoguddannelsen i Holstebro (social education campus in Holstebro)


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The play s influence in chil d development

Introduction

Through play, children discover their world, they possessing a natural curiosity for

exploration. Like a childrens activi ty experience to be considered must include an internal

determination, the ability to invent reality play is included in the activity of the child. The play

doesnt mean lost time, bu t rather spent in building new knowledge and experiences. Play helps

the child learn freely, explore and acquire knowledge to integrate into society. Play opens the

window of learning in a childs life and acquits him or her with movement, observation,

relationships and much more. Learning through play is a term used in education to describe

how children can learn to make sense of the world around them. This research aims to

investigate the role of the play in child development. The premise I started from is that everychild needs different aspirations, feelings and initiatives. Pedagogue tries to listen to their ideas,

to understand and to see things from their perspective that arises during the play. Target group of

this study are children aged 3-5 years and the process of the study will be developed during my 3

months practical training in a kindergarten. In this context I choose to observe the childrens play

and use an interview with the pedagogue regarding his vision about the play in child rens

development.

Methodology:

Effective way to investigate the childrens play was observation, once I arrive d on the field

work. According Steiner Kvale- That become a very important part of how you work: try to put

your notes the things people say, to you the way that say them. (Lave, J What is anthropological

research?) So since I starting the practice in the kindergarten, I began to take notes about how

children play and their daily routines. Having as support Kvale s studies by using observation, I

tried to understand central issues, structures, and meaning in the childrens interests . Thus the

notes helped, I understood the significance given by children for the play, seeing their

experiences gained from the successes which children acquire in learning through play. Of

course this also helped me understand the things from the perspective of the child in order to

understand his needs and aspirations, as active participant in the kindergarten. I can answer at the

many questions that I would not have ever thought. According to Steiner K vale the journal, all


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the interviews, and fields notes are the basis on which you come to make some sense, when you

start to write . (Lave, J What is anthropological research?)

For this research to achieve a deeper understanding of child development through play I used

as guidelines the following tools: by observations grill I followed the development of socialabilities, cultural ways of expression and values, personal development, nature and natural

phenomena ; by interview I understood the pedagogues perspective regarding childrens free

play in the kindergarten. These will be detailed more further in my paper.

The reasons that determined me to use the interview are the next statements:

The purpose of the qualitative research, interview was as the description and understanding of

the meaning of themes in life-world from the interviewees perspective. It describes what he

does, feels and thinks about theme, without any special interpretations of the descriptions from

interviewer. It also discovers new relations, sees new meanings in what he experiences and does.

During the interview, the meaning of what the interviewed person is condensed and described

followed by sending the interpreted meaning back.(The Qualitative Research Interview- Steiner

Kvale, p.179-183). The interview includes three level of interpretation: self- understanding,

common sense and theory. According to Kvale, revealing an interview will focus on the

pedagogues vision that occupies a very important role in the learning process within

kindergarten.

Main section:

Theories about play

Play activity has a number of benefits. Through interaction with peer and adult, the child deals

with sings and symbols in order to represent the culture. Sings and symbols also influence the

development of higher mental functions. ( Leontev, 1978, Vygotsky 1978). When children enter

make role-play (symbol-play, pretend play, make believe play, sociodramatic-play), they make

use of symbols. Vygotsky states that play is characterized by the fact, that in play a child creates

an imaginary situation. The reason for this is motivation. The child strives to do what the adults

are doing. In play, children are able to master and ideas and to take more advanced actions than

is possible for them in non-play situations. The child raises the demand on himself and brings


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himself into the zone of proximal development. (Vygotsky, 1978). According to Vigotsky, not

only will the independent actions in zone of proximal development support new developments,

but also the childs imitations have a similar effect. The child is able to imitate actions that go

beyond his or her possibilities, but not without limits. The role of play in supporting childrens

development of metacognitive and self -regulatory abilities .Metacognitive abilities concern our

developing awareness of our own cognitive and emotional process, and our development of

strategies to control them. (Whitebread,2012). Play is an integrate part of early childhood

education, but the role of the play has been defined in different ways. Play has been described as

an opportunity for to children to go beyond their daily behavior. For example children in play

climb up to positions where they are a head above their height (Vygotsky,1978). This can imply

a means for learning (Lillemyr, 2009) since it involves complex forms of learning processes,

particularly in the cognitive and social domains, but also moral and intellectual aspects(Sutterby& Frost,2006; Wood,2009). Play can in addition serve as an opportunity for children to

learn how to understand their surrounding world, to practice and it can enhance learning about

themselves and other (Saracho & Spodek,2003). The essence of play can also be understood as

an opportunity to deal with reality on a childs own terms ( Johnson, Christie & Wardle, 2004) or

as an activity where young childrens inner word can develop, for example, through the childs

use of imagination and fantasy ( Fleer, 2009). Play is an interpretative cultural activity, where

children express manipulate and try to understand their surrounding community. Even young

toddlers play is dependent on local cultural routines and traditions (Aronsson, 2009). Play can

also be understood as a social phenomenon where the make-believe aspect in pretend play can be

seen as a way for others to look into the communicative world of the child (Sawyer, 1997).

According to this theory children play and learn in many different ways, and teacher task is to

interpret and try to understand the childrens actions and to meet and respon d to the childrens

initiative.

Children search for knowledge and develop it through play, social interaction, exploration and

creativity. It is said that sense of exploration, curiosity and desire to learn which should be based

on the childs experiences, interests, needs and views. The flow of the childs thoughts and ideas

are possible starting points for education. Learning and development should be planned so that


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children have fun, are involved in meaning- making and have the right to influence that relate

directly to them. (Engdahl, 2011)

Data collections through scientifically researches:

Interviews were applied to three pedagogues in the kindergarten, where I spent my practice

period (three months) in order to find out their vision about free play and also the play s

influence of the child development.

Different pedagogues visions about free play to obtain a definition.

Pedagogue 1 Free play is for me when the children play, exactly whats on their minds, theyhave decided what to play, no adults, they play by themselves; Pedagogue 2 Free play is whenchildren play out in their fantasy, not influenced by adult for example, if an adult is involved in

their play then is not a free play anymore, nothings special will happen in their fantasy ;Pedagogue 3 Free play means for me that the children learn to play what they like, but theyknow the rules, they know how to behavior by themselves to other persons. .

As well as the pedagogues statement s say, in free play children decide what to play without

the influence of adults on their behavior. They have the opportunity to express their own

imagination and fantasy through free play, but also they obey the rules, knowing how to behave

towards the others. According to Johnson Christie & Wardle in essence of play can also be

understood as an opportunity to deal with reality on a childs own terms or as an activity where

young childrens inner word can develop, for example, through the childs use of imagination

and fantasy ( Fleer, 2009).

What think the pedagogues about free play

Pedagogue 1: I think free play is a very good for the children because while they free play they get on a flow state of mind. Pedagogue 2: The free play is a way in which they can find out about surrounding by themselves. And also I think it has an important role in relations with anotherkids and adults - I thinks is necessary for the child. Pedagogue 3: I think the free play makes

good opportunities for children, to make their own choices and to be responsible for them.Pedagogues believe that free play is a good opportunity for the child to develop in a

pleasant way in accordance with their aspirations-Thus this represent the basis of their

decisions and their consequences and also a good opportunity to improve peer-to-peer

relationships. Such an approach is supported by Vigotsky- Play is an integrate part of early

childhood education, but the role of the play has been defined in different ways. Play has

been described as an opportunity for to children to go beyond their daily behavior. For


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example children in play climb up to positions where they are a head above their height

(Vygotsky,1978).

Opinions pedagogue s concerning their role in free play

Pedagogue 1: The pedagogue must observe the childrens behavior without participating in their play and also to decide what is good to do if they have troubles . The pedagogue stay out the play and help them when is necessary.

Pedagogue 2: The pedagogue cant interact when kids are playing free play and also he have to give a space and opportunity for the children to do it. The pedagogue is the one that organize thetime management so he will have to give more time for free play rather for the structure game,because in my opinion the free play is more important for the child.Pedagogue 3: I think a pedagogue have to know a lot about the childrens backgrounds/family ,they know what would be better for the child in a certain situation, how the socialization playsan important role for the child. While observing the children if one is playing a game alone andright next to him another one is playing the same type of game, as pedagogue you can interfereand put them together so it will increase their relationship, socialization, self-confidence. I thinksis a good knowledge for the pedagogue, observing the childrens free play

Regarding pedagogues opinion about their role in free play, is to give the children space to

express their initiatives, giving the free play a significance dedicating a long time during the day.

As an observer of the free game, the pedagogue can stimulate the childs opportunities to

develop his/her independence. Equally imp ortant are the pedagogues opinions about the

knowledge that they hold in the field of free play which has a implications for the child

development. For example according to research on Danish education who supports the idea as

pedagogues try to listen to their ideas, to understand their feelings and to see things from their

perspective, grasping opportunities that arise during the day. (Understandings of Danish

pedagogical practice- Ytte Juul Jensen)

About free play in child development the pedagogues says:

Pedagogue 1. Is a very good opportunity for children to think about how can I do this, howcan we make things to work how can we play together .Pedagogue 2: In their three play, they learn to switch between what they want to do and also

about their choices/your options. They learn to take their turn.Pedagogue 3: I think is strong a win, what we as a pedagogue most look at the free play and itdoes work for children. Through free play we can notice the child developments aspect thatneeds to be improved, for example if one child cant behave or cant obey the rules made byother or if the socialization is not very good and so on. So I think that through free play thechilds development can be improved, because we as pedagogues will know how to help them.

As we can see the opinions of the pedagogue, the free play in the kindergarten gives the child

freedom to develop in according to their own choices in which the child feels comfortable. But


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nevertheless, the free play is not used all the time because children needs to be guided by an

organized learning process that offers thereof support to their needs of development. So a

significant contribution in this sense is a pedagogue that gives the child a wide range of

development through structured play. This fact being confirmed by Vygotsky into the zone of

proximal development that says, not only will the independent actions in the zone of proximal

development support new developments, but also t he childs imitation has a similar effect. The

child is able to imitate actions that go beyond his or her possibilities, but not without limits.

(Vygotsky, 1978).

In an attempt to have a clear about vision childrens favorite plays:

Pedagogue 1 :I think it depends by the child s age for example around 3 years they start to playtogether.( like a mother, father, sister, brother, dog). They start to play more elaborated they

learn about rules and use them in their play .I thinks the imitation play is one of their favoriteand also this is how they learn a lot from the realityPedagogue 2 : The role play is a favorite game for many kids (Im a father you are a mother..they their copy familiar situation). Some boys make their roles as adventures because they often

play with the Lego. They imitate they are a dangerous man and a dragon and I am coming after you. Some kids are also very creative because their families are creative as well, with creative paints, draws. So mostly the role play is prefers for the kids.Pedagogue 3 : The favorite play of the children is when they running and scrimping. They like touse their body, for example yesterday in the exercise room, they dance, climb so in this way theyare very happy. I think they like to use a lot of movement in their plays.

As we can comprehend the pedagogues vision regarding the childrens favorite kind of play,

the role play is the most likely to be adopted as it involves all the aspects from the reality ,the

children can bring in the game and it also involves a lot of body movement that satisfies the

children . According to Vygotsky who supports the idea that sings and symbols also influence

the development of higher mental functions, when children enter role-play (symbol-play, pretend

play, make believe play, sociodramatic-p lay), they make use of symbols. Vygotsky states that

play is characterized by the fact, that in play a child creates an imaginary situation. The reason

for this is motivation. (Leontev, 1978, Vygotsky 1978).

Benefits of playing

Play can in addition serve as an opportunity for children to learn how to

understand their surrounding world, to practice and it can enhance learning about themselves

and other (Saracho & Spodek,2003).


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To highlight the benefits of free play I decided as a participant observer in the kindergarten to

emphasize and analyze the childrens main behavior characteristics.

Consequential I had this levels of competences as items to be analyzed : social ability, cultural

ways of expression and values, personal development, nature and natural phenomena.

While watching a 4 years old child, Martin in the play I was able to notice the following:

Social abil iti es: Establish and maintain friendships- he are initiates with other children andencourages others to play: talk and spend time together with your friends, for example he comeswith ideas for new play- spends more time for over an hour , he says hey Martin, lets climb inthe house, tells you something positive about other children and uses the term friend - saysthank you when he is offered something, he apologizes when misplaced, share positive thingswith peers and pedagogue. There we can relate that- the child is practicing social abilities whencooperating, playing and handling the social playing rules, and also he is building andstrengthening its social abilities with other when exploring the community.

Cul tur al ways of expression and values though play-activi ty: Understand its own and othercultures: he plays- the role- play and accepts the proposal of his colleagues lets be Spidermanor Batman! also, he adore to make bike race with the premise who gets first at the finish line,will be winner; Creativity is expressed- While the child colors Easter eggs on the paper, he

signing a song with positive attitude. He combines different colors in a pleasant manner such as:red, yellow, and orange. Explains the interest in participating in cultural activities- he isintegrated in thematic activities such as making various decorations for Easter and also he

participates in cultural activities on different topics: Festelavn, Halloween- being coordinated by pedagogue . So by this way he develops own culture through different types of expression such as

song, drawings and play. He often create his special cultural expressions as part of a communitywith others.

Personal development : He having empathy for others- during the play he show special attentionto the behavior of other, both through de conversation and by his attitude he talks nice with hiscolleagues, and he doing funny things. When his friend cries he tries to make him to laugh, doing

something funny to entertain his friend. Ex: he puts two pieces of the puzzle on the face and pretending hes robot.

He protects its own personal integrity- says what it does and doesnt want to participate. The

child expresses his desire to spend time playing with puzzle pieces, in the sand, or ride the bike.

Such that he feels what he wants to do, what is good for it and protects herself by steam

boundaries.

Nature and natural phenomena: by the experience with the materials of nature. He tests andexpands his boundaries- The boy plants flowers in the garden. Imitating pedagogue/ for examplein he uses shovel and press the ground as does the pedagogue.

He obtains insight about the life conditions of the animals and plants, he investigates and asks


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about the life conditions of animals and plants. while they walk through the forest the child is

fascinated by discovery the homes animals in their environment , for example he is very excited

to see the anthill as well as nests of the birds, who feed their chicks. Through these examples the

boy s exp eriences and explorations in nature are dominated by play both bodily and sensory.

When the child sense the shifting seasons and looks at the animal and plants the boy s experience

how nature works and also uses its sense in nature.

In my opinion all these activities in the kindergarten gives the child a complex development, at

the same time giving the child the freedom and independence from that he needs to have a

healthy development. Thus diversity of play the child is an active participant in the kindergarten

offers him a good start in life .

Strategies and ways of facilitating play to achieve learning- Actions

When children engage in real life imaginary activities, play can be challenge in childrens

thinking. To extend the learning process, sensitive intervention can be provided with adult

support when necessary during play- based learning : (Fisher, Hirsh-Pak, Gloinkoff, Berk &

Singer, 2010).

- Adult can role-model positive attitudes towards play, encourage and provide a balance of

indoor and outdoor play. When adults join in they should guide, shape engage that

dominating the play

- It is very important to offer a variety of materials and experiences at varying levels of

difficulty. The choice of materials provide the motivation for exploration and discovery

and allow the making of choices and play possibilities

- Observation helps to identify ways adults can build on and guide the learning, provide

information about the childs interest, abilities and strength.

- Help children recognize the concepts that emerge as they grapple with the environment,make, recognize similarities and differences and solve problems.

- Provide sufficient time for play; children need time to explore an activity;

- Arrange for variety in play experience; different kinds of play lead to different learning

experiences

- Response to a childs play invitation helps him/ her to d evelop as he/she learns to sing,


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listen to stories, play catch etc.

- Help children have positive play interactions with others; assist children engage with

each other and begin play experience, provide guidance if need be and aid them in

resolving concerns or disagreements if necessary.

Conclusion :

Through this research I wanted to demonstrate the importance of play in early childhood

education from the perspective of both pedagogues and child proving him opportunities to

strengthen its development as future adult.

Based on these data support I can say that the play is a natural experience, who activates the

child , even if it is individual or in a group, an exploration of the environment, a way of

developing social skills, intelligence creativity, offering and favoring social inclusion . In my

opinion, we as pedagogues, must use the zone of proximal development, the child needs adults

around him, adults that will motivate him in his learning process. The play is a fundamental

activity of childhood and underlies the whole program from kindergarten.

Instance means learning the play, the most natural way to teach the child. Constituting a natural

need of the child to explore the world and meet it. I can affirm that plays provides the

foundation for learning in a childs world and opens the door to a world of learning

opportunities.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

- Varied Perspective on play and learning : theory and research on early years education/

Edited by: Ole Fredrik Lillemyr, Queen Maud University College; Sue Dockett, Charles

Sturt University; Bob Perry, Charles Sturt University;

- Early childcare-Head of child & Family Research Departament: Anne- Dorth Hestbaek,

2014 SFI- The Danish National Centre for social research.;

- Acknowledging Learning Through Play in the Primary Grades Riley, Jeanetta GView

Profile; Jones, Rose B. Childhood Education86.3;

- How Children Learn Through Play- Undiyaundeye, Florence A. Journal of Emerging

Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies 4.3 (Jun 2013):

- PLAY AND LEARNING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD SETTINGS: INTERNATIONAL

PERSPECTIVES Katz, Lilian G, PhD . International Journal of Early Childhood

- Promoting narrative competece through adult-child joint pretense: lessons from

Scandinavian education practice of playword- Sonja Baumer, Beth Feholt, Robert

Lecusay

- Your childs well -being, learning and development-Arthus Kommune

- The Qualitative Research interview: A Phwnomenological and Hermenautical Mode of

Understanding Kvale, Steinar, Jurnal of Phenomenological Psychology; Fall 1983;

- International journal of qualitative studies in education; Lave, What is anthropological

research? 1995, 8 3 , 219-228

- Understandings of Danish Pedagogical Practice by YTTE JUUL JENSEN

-

The importance of play - Dr. David Writebread, University Cambridge, with MarisolBasilio, Marina Kuvalja and Mohini Verma, write for Industries of Europe (TIE), April

2012


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Specialisation Report Influence of Play in Child Development

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