WHAT?
This year as part of my TAI, I
will be going down the “Play Based Learning’ rabbit hole. I am going to put
some effort into making this work because this year, I have children who have
been in the the play-based learning programme for all of their school life – 2
years. My class make-up is such that I am keeping 12 of last year’s class, who
are now Year 4s, and have now a whole new set of 14 eager learners.
As with any new learning I tend
to ‘hold off’ initially, not always an early adapter but I glance at a few
“Pinterest’ sites, open up a few shared links and have read a couple of
Professional readings, in order to front load myself. This can be to a
disadvantage sometimes as little information can be dangerous and as this a new
concept for me I need to continue to do some more research.
Some of the readings and internet
sites are directed at younger children, often kindergarten, is this because the
benefits of play-based learning are only for the Juniors? I wonder? My
off-sider was full immersed in ‘play-based learning’ last year. She praises the
benefits for teachers and students alike – it is more engaging, fun, the
children are creating their own learner pathways, very interest driven, good
provocations are essential.
What
is a provocation?
A
site I found written by Heather
Mactivity, she quotes, “A provocation is simply an activity or
stimulus set up to provoke thought, curiosity, exploration and conversation.
Provocations come in many forms depending on the stimulus and required outcome,
but they are all created with these purposes in mind. These invitations to play
are usually set up to help children expand upon an expressed interest, thought
or idea, although may occasionally stem from the necessity to practice skills
or consolidate learning.”
SO WHAT?
I have a number questions as I
investigate ‘play-based’ learning and make it work for my teaching pedagogy and
children’s learning. I’m sure as the year progresses I will be able to answer
them and I’m sure I’ll come up with more.
· How do I
plan for and create meaningful provocations?
· How do I
track the children’s learning, keeping within the NZC objectives?
· What
prompts can I use to keep the learning/activity engaging and meaningful?
· How much
can I say when I am hoping to be more of a “Guide-on-the-Side”?
· Can goal
setting help direct the learning through play?
NOW WHAT?
I
am finding the more I look into play- based learning the more I can see the
benefits but I am currently feeling out of my comfort-zone. There are others in
my team feeling the same way. We need to be collaborative with our approach and
be willing to make mistakes.
I
need to think of ways to incorporate my goal setting/ learner pathways so that
the children can be mindful of their specific next steps in the play-based
learning environment. I am thinking of using play-based learning/provocations
in one circulum area at a time until I get used to the idea. But is that how it
works best?
“Children learn as
they play. Most importantly in play children learn how to learn”
- Fred Donaldson
