The article that I chose to review is called Free Play in Early Childhood Education: A Phenomenological Study. It was written in 2015 by Selda Aras, a research assistant at a university. This article focuses on free play and its importance, as well as teacher involvement in free play. There are many components in early childhood education that are considered to be play based. Children learn and grow through these different play opportunities. Play is a versatile concept. It encompasses the ability to make choices, to have fun, and to focus on the activity at hand. Outside motivational factors such as prizes and rewards are ignored. Play is more flexible and many of the choices are driven by the players, hence the name “free play.”
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Two psychologists studied and made significant discoveries about play. One of the psychologists named Piaget focused on the cognitive aspect of play. The other psychologist, Vygotsky, his perspective was based on the social aspect of play. There were two different levels of play that Vygotsky found. The first level consisted of the child being independent and having the ability to make decisions. Whereas the other level required guidance by an adult and very little decisions. Another element of play comes from teachers and their involvement in play. The role that teachers have is just to encourage and to expand upon children’s play. The important thing to remember is that an adult’s role in play can be positive but it can be negative as well. The adults involved in play should be more of an observer. They can help when needed, but they should not go in and interfere with play. When teachers/adults interfere with play, children lose the ability to use their problem-solving skills. The best way to let children play is to let them be and to intervene when …show more content…
A component of play in early childhood education that was studied is the role of teachers during play. Play is affected by teachers/adults and their involvement in play. Studies show that when teachers get more involved the quality of play went down. Teachers can interrupt at appropriate times when it is needed. There was a study developed that involved four different teachers. These teachers were from different backgrounds, worked in different schools, and they each worked with children that were 5-6- year-olds. In the research, they interviewed each teacher and got their input on what free play meant to them. They all agreed that free play help supports the developmental domains (social-emotional, cognitive, and physical). The teachers also noticed that students engaged more in class when they have free play. Students are also more willing to open up during free play. The consensus among the teachers was that they would only get involved when: there was an issue, someone asked a question, and also giving
Two psychologists studied and made significant discoveries about play. One of the psychologists named Piaget focused on the cognitive aspect of play. The other psychologist, Vygotsky, his perspective was based on the social aspect of play. There were two different levels of play that Vygotsky found. The first level consisted of the child being independent and having the ability to make decisions. Whereas the other level required guidance by an adult and very little decisions. Another element of play comes from teachers and their involvement in play. The role that teachers have is just to encourage and to expand upon children’s play. The important thing to remember is that an adult’s role in play can be positive but it can be negative as well. The adults involved in play should be more of an observer. They can help when needed, but they should not go in and interfere with play. When teachers/adults interfere with play, children lose the ability to use their problem-solving skills. The best way to let children play is to let them be and to intervene when …show more content…
A component of play in early childhood education that was studied is the role of teachers during play. Play is affected by teachers/adults and their involvement in play. Studies show that when teachers get more involved the quality of play went down. Teachers can interrupt at appropriate times when it is needed. There was a study developed that involved four different teachers. These teachers were from different backgrounds, worked in different schools, and they each worked with children that were 5-6- year-olds. In the research, they interviewed each teacher and got their input on what free play meant to them. They all agreed that free play help supports the developmental domains (social-emotional, cognitive, and physical). The teachers also noticed that students engaged more in class when they have free play. Students are also more willing to open up during free play. The consensus among the teachers was that they would only get involved when: there was an issue, someone asked a question, and also giving