Play Pedagogies for Scientific Exploration.

Jane Johnston Reader in Education

Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln

Scientific development

Early scientific development includes development of skills (e.g. observation, hypothesis, interpretation), attitudes (e.g. curiosity, flexibility, perseverance) as well as knowledge and understandings in a complex cyclic interrelationship (Johnston, 2005).

Types of play

• Solitary• Parallel• Cooperative• Collaborative• Epistemic• Ludic (Piaget, 1976)• Symbolic (Piaget, 1976)• Exploratory (Johnston, 2005)

Play pedagogies to support scientific

development

• Problem Solving

• Exploratory

• Discovery (DES, 1967)

• Role Play

structured

Less structured

Theoretical support for play

• Rousseau (1911) – advocated personalized learning, free from adult restrictions and with a balance between individual freedom and happiness and control from society.

• Froebel (1826:53) identified that ‘play is the purest, most spiritual activity of man’ and created ‘kindergartens’ (children’s gardens) with pedagogical approaches that encouraged the natural growth of children through action or play, guided by adults.

• Piaget (1976) identified different forms of play and emphasized the idea of play as a creative activity that promotes cognition.

• Vygotsky’s (1962) emphasized the importance of social interaction during play to connect language and thought.

Research evidence

• Early Years pedagogy (Siraj-Blatchford et al., 2002; BERA, 2003)

• Early Years scientific pedagogies (National Research Council of the National Academies, 2007; Kallery, et al., 2008; Johnston, 2009; Johnston, 2011a; Johnston, 2011b)

Arguments

• The argument for incorporating play pedagogies in the curriculumCurriculum changes should take note of the compelling evidence from theory, research and practice.

• The argument for social play pedagogies. The argument appears therefore that professionals need to be aware of the importance of the complex balance between adult, peer and contextual support and also facilitate oral and social interaction, building on the rich and varied language opportunities found in the home and ensuring that formal settings do not restrict language development (Tizard & Hughes, 1984; Wells; 1987).

• The argument for utilizing different play pedagogiesThere is evidence that different play pedagogies may support different aspects of scientific development.

Implications

• The research findings have implications for curriculum design, planning science experiences, interacting with children during these experiences and teacher training (Yip, 2007).

• There is a need for more research focusing on the scientific process in young children and especially to consider the link between skill and conceptual development.