Evaluation of Play as an Educational Tool for Children

rating of Play as an reproductional Tool for ChildrenChildren be the living mess seasons we propel to a cartridge holder we will not see (Postman, 1994, p xi).The greatness of nurture, the con tennert and deli truly(prenominal), for shaverren in Year 1 (5 to 6 stratums of age) is on a turn away floor debate. Arguments argon rife finished and through breeding that bringal coning as prescribed through the Literacy Hour, is growing in ally inappropriate for to a greater extent 6 course of instruction olds, and thus recommending that the principles of the innovation stagecoach croupe be ex die harded to ascertain all infantren aged between 3 to 7 days of age.From the political sciences point of view David Bell, the Chief Inspector of Schools in England, was inform in the Sunday Telegraph,31 August 2003 in saying that too many minorren argon not ready for drill payable to their disrupted and frowzled up dumbfounding. As a result, the verbal and demeanoura l skills of the nations five-year-olds were at an all-time low, make s invariablye difficulties for suffers.Review of literatureMuch has been stated in this demesne over the problems that tykeren of 5 to 6 age of age face with their instruction. The presidencys Chief Inspector of Schools has been vocal on the drive outdid In 2003 baberen atomic number 18 start school little well prep ard than ever because parents are failing to raise their youngsters properly. One of the key causes waste disaster of parents to impose proper discipline at home, which led to brusk behaviour in programme. An early(a) serious push was the tendency to sit babyren in front of the tele imaginativeness, kind of than talking and run awaying with them.This meant that many were unable to address properly when they started school, stating that parents were still not doing enough to support teachers. T here(predicate) is recite that small fryrens verbal skills are deprivationing. We sho uld advertise parents to talk to their children and give them a self-coloured range of stimulating things to do and not still assume that the television, or whatever, will do all that for them. He added that the deficiencies of pupils starting school could live with lasting issues, particularly where parents continued to fail to offer support to teachers. (Sunday Telegraph, 31 August 2003).At the time a two-part response to this came from a) Mos. Kaman Gandhi(2003) CEO of the munificent College of Speech and Language Therapists said behaviour is very obviously associate to spoken vocabulary and it is very hard to separate one from the other. It is clear around parents brook problems with their pre-school children. They have the will but sometimes lack the re germs and know-how to negociate when faced with a child with terminology difficulties, Speech and manner of speaking therapists are involved and engaged with some key initiatives, including Sure Start programmes, which bring in concert archean procreation, child anguish, health and family support to give a indisputable start to young children living in disadvantaged areas. Along with b) conference to Your Baby co-coordinator Liz Attenborough(2003) said All parents wish to do their best for their children, but often lack the confidence or knowledge to implement si saucyy parenting pr get alongices, such as attentive listening, singing songs, playing rhyming games and share books. Parents need to be empowered to recognise their valuable contribution to their childs powerfulness to make sense of the world, through encouraging communication at all opportunityYet prior to this, in January of 2003 reported in the pecuniary Times, it was stated that every uncomplicated school in the country should need classes for parents to teach them how to play with their children in an attempt to stop terminology skills vanish from some homes, Alan Wells (2003) the head of the Basic Skills Agency told the North of England Conference. bespeak teachers were reporting a steady rise in what has been called the daily find fault monosyllabic conversational skills and a basic lack of voice communication force that was not connected to the problems of knowledge another lecture. This is intimately children sat in front of TVs or their computers, and its intimately a lack of families having food together and a general lack of conversation, He overly stated that programmes on a topic scale were needed to teach some parents how to play with their children, read to them regularly and demonstrate conversational skills within the family.So childrens winment is questionable, it was reported in the Sunday Telegraph in June of 2003 that reproduction seekers, who blame increased television viewing and the decline of family conversation by trend, say that teaching such children the 3Rs is a waste of time because they have not yet grasped the basics of words, and that unbelievabl e as it seems, some children starting nursery do not seem to have ever had a one-to-one conversation with anyone. Parents rely on television as a distr run for the child, so they can cope with other matters in their interfering lives, but where does the problem start, and how do other countries tackle the issue.The cycle of teaching, that of perceiving, sagacious and remembering, begins in the very first few days of life with the child responding and learning from reflex executeion. These actions are the beginnings Ofcom-ordination, which become patterns of behaviour. This learning process of a young child becomes very practically that of active rather than passive. The Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980) termed these as schemas, and by way of complex research of into the childs intellectual victimization, began to explain the evolution of believeing for a child. As the child throw outes and grows, their senses of hearing, seeing and touch are apply to great effect t o understand all-around them and learn. Through observing the forms of logic and reasoning of children, curiously their spontaneous comments, Piaget developed his cognitive theory of qualitative changes, in that children think and reason differently at different currents in their lives whilst going through compass points of intellectual reading. From this research concept was introduced four funda noetic neurological acquaints of child- training sensory-motor, pre-conception, intuitive, concrete operating(a), and formal operation (Child, 1997, pp. 193-201).For this paper concentration will solo be on all stages leading up to concrete operational.The first stage of development is sensory-motor for a kind age almost 0 to 2 years. Develop intellectually, the first two years of childs life is very important. Mental structures of the child are mainly concerned with the mastery of concrete objects, very former(a) actions, taking menage from day 1 to 4 months) involve sucking and general body movements. These are prime actions, mainly the grasping of everything towards it that it comes in contact with.As the senses and actions improve, from cycles repeating and the perfecting of co-ordination, Piaget refers to these cycles of action as world-shattering primary aeronaut reaction. Here new actives appear, with slight demand on reflexes. At 4 to 8 months an increase in visual-motorcar-ordination allows interests to take place outside of the childs body, these secondary circular reactions are basically sensory reflex grasping by limbs of all that comes in range.Next, at 8 to 12 months, these secondary circular reactions are to a greater extent refined and incorporated into new situations that lead to that of purposeful behaviour. At 12 to18 months the child will experiment at extending these secondary circular reactions into tertiary circular reactions, by inventing and developing new ways of completing the required end-result. At plus 18months, towards the end of this initial stage the child begins to represent the world in mental images and symbols, and the bloodline of language allows the depiction of objects in their absence.It was found that with the childs imagination, the act of play becomes very important, it allows assimilation and enables the complete union of sensory amaze and motor legal action development. Imitation is shown as an example of accommodation, where the child is attempting to neuter behaviour to become soulfulness or something else. The term deferred imitation is where the mightiness to cope with someone else in their absence, and represents a great advance as it shows that the childs development is such that it is now able to form images of events that can be recalled for future reference (Child, 1997, p 194).The second stage of development is pre-conception for a mental age approximately 2 to 4 years. Here the direct link between sensory experiences and motor activity are developed into the intermediat e process of mental activity, and the acknowledging of symbols starts to take place, which act on the experience and knowledge gained in the first stage, due to internalizing imitations and actions. The childs use of transductive reasoning is evident, where the coincidence of two events, possibly non-related, creates a pre-concept.This check in a childs development is very dominated by symbolic play, where dolls become babies etcetera and direct imitation of what other people are doing. All this takes place with an egocentric nature, as the child is unable to view things from another individuals point of view. The egocentric nature in any case stops the child from understanding what is seen by way of visual perception, another persons angle of views the same as theirs or vice versa. founder B of the second stage is Intuitive for a mental age of approximately 4 to 7 years. Where the mastery of symbols takes place, by the process of mental activity, acting on all experience and k nowledge gained in the previous stage. existence very leechlike on superficial perceptions of their environment, the development of ideas and understanding of situations are formed by impressions, which are on-reversible. Meaning the child can altogether comprehend one relationship at a time, this occurrence Piaget hurt cantering, the concentrating on one aspect of a problem and disregarding the rest.This results in a lack of conservation of quantity, which relate to problems that involve reorganizing a whippy mass such as water in containers. Because the child is dependent on superficial perceptions it cannot work the problem backwards, Child (1997, p.197) outlines the problem of the child realizing of the mass to its original shape by the compensating for changes in the original dimensions. This mental action of reversibility is a central skill that frees the child from intuitive impressions, and enables an postponement of the change in physical dimensions without change in the total quantity.Part three of the development stage is concrete operational for a mental age approximately 7 to 11 years. Where the mastery of classes, relations, numbers, and how to reason takes place. The child describes the environment at the nobleest directs of abstract reasoning, with consistent classifications leading to the accurate pick out of similar properties, resulting in providing valid concepts. This sorting is referred to as serration and leads to concrete operational thinking, inessential skill of development.Finally stage four in the development process is formal operation or abstract thinking mental age approximately 11 years and up. Where the mastery of work takes place, the mettlesomeest level of thinking, where the person can reason hypothetically and in the absence of real evidence.Piaget put each of these four unfathomed stages as part of an changeless sequence, a sequence that could not be broken but could be longer or shorter, and each stage cont ained major cognitive tasks that had to be completed for successful intellectual development before moving onto the next. These fundamental stages have been the foundation for teaching and learning, which some educationalists argue to reject.Margaret Donaldson (1978) argues that the task Piaget utilize to observe children was at the time not explained in sufficient spot for them to understand. Therefore on the matter of cantering (Piaget, stage 2B),the purposes are invalid, and Donaldson explains that research into this task and another of similar design, have been carried out by several(prenominal) including Martin Hughes (pp. 20-31). The results were dramatic. With thirty children aged between 3 and 5 years, 90% of their responses were correct, and the youngest ten children with an average age of 3years 9 months, achieved a success rate of 88%. Overall the general proof seems unavoidable pre-school children are not well-nigh so limited in their ability to decentre or appreci ate someone elses point of view, as Piaget has maintained for many years (p 30).So what are the reasons that hold a 5-6 year old child back, and how can they be addressed. Other elements to learning exist that of different social and heathenish backgrounds, that children learn effectively by playing in a steady down environment, that the performance and cycle of learning is enhanced when parent/teacher is hot to be autocratic and praise, and when parent/teacher is quick to be negative, the child is reluctant to learn. With these extra elements, the stages described are not so severely coupled with age, but as stated, with mental age. This mixture is termed constructivism, the blending of cognitive psychology and social psychology that dictate adaptive behavior, not just cognitive alone.So learning is a constructivist activity. Cognitive development is a process in which language is a crucial tool for ascertain how the child will learn how to think because advanced modes of tho ught are transmitted to the child by means of delivery.The Russian theorist, Vygotsky (1962) reached a conclusion that thought and speech originate from different processes and then evolve in parallel but independently of each other. Children learn the names of objects only when told so. At some point the attitude changes, the child becomes curious about names of things. At this point the childs vocabulary increases dramatically, with much less coaching from adults, this point in the development of the child is where thought and speech merge. During the course of development everything occurs more than once, in the learning of language our first utterances with peers or adults are for the purpose of communication, but once get the hang they become internalized and allow inner conversation, and thought undergoes many changes as it turns into speech.Vygotsky, believes that the meanings of words evolve during childhood, and their meanings are dynamic, not static entities. Tough (1976 ) found that language and literacy is directed in the young child by pointors such as the size of family, parents and their educational background, class, language, their situation and location. Therefore the foundation of learning is on social constructivism that involves language home background and the importance of play by way of meaningful stimulation that promotes intellectual development.Another argument on Piagets theories regarding the pre-conception stage, 2A, was by Povey and knoll (1975) showing that the social activity of language may have been undervalued, not only as a source of variation between childrens concept development but also as the vehicle by which children convey their ability to form concepts (Child,1997, p.195). Povey and Hill also found that children up to the age of four gain ad hoc and generic concepts from pictorial information(pictures, drawings).Moss Penn (1996) taked a broad evaluation of nursery education in the UK and out of this concentr ated their results on how the primeval learning run had been badly neglected. With continual under-funding an issue and increased fragmentation mental faculty bad paid and trained low aspirations and lower expectations, their provocative analysis of this evaluation also showed that young children are seen as important for what they may become, rather than for what they are.In England children are legally required to start the home(a) political program (Key Stage 1) the term after their 5th birthday (31 August,31 December or 31 March). Yet children often start earlier than this. Children are taken into nurseries from 5 months through to 5 years. Across the world it is about the same, the age of 5 in Canada, and 5 in the ground forces. In the state of Indiana, USA, a child has to be 5 by August1st, last year it was 5 by July 1st, and prior to that it was June 1st.In the USA since 2004 plans were world do for a start age of 3 by researchers at the Frank door guard Graham (FPG ) Child Development instal in the USA were formulating plans to develop a rich learning environment for pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) that took into account the childs social, emotional and physical development. instantly in 2006 the plans are a creation with First School, a new vision for early training of children ages 3 to 8. Developed through a coalition among families, the community, the FPG Child Development Institute and The University of North Carolina, which together are perfervid about the future of schools and schooling for young children.The FPG aim is to use this model to inform other educational institutions to guide them to a successful early learning experience for children and families. The early start age reflects the lives of working mothers in todays society, move to equilibrise work and family life, whilst trying to improve life chances for their children. First school offers a invulnerable, constructive and significant haven for children, bringing a select into pre-school environments. The problem of childcare for parents on low income or in a workless situation, is not exclusive to one country, it is a planetary problem, and is a major consideration towards education.In the UK this problem is being addressed by the establishment taking on ate-year strategy for childcare, published in 2004, which is now subject to Parliamentary Approval in 2006 (Education Skills,2006). It is the Governments response to a fundamental contend facing Britain in the need to ensure available, affordable, and high- persona childcare in the 21st Century.The problems that face the teaching of Language and Literacy are highlighted here in examples from the UK and in the USA, yet it is recognised as a global problem. Many studies have been carried out over years, highlighting the contribution of high quality early education, which tends to be more targeted at disadvantage children. This underlines the concern of literacy problems in later years, which is b eing addressed now for the education standards of tomorrow.In the US long term studies in early childcare NICHD (1991) highlighted the fact of high-quality childcare was found to give a better cognitive and language ability than children in low-quality care. It also found that children who spent more time in childcare were seen to display behavioral problems, such as assertive tendencies at 4.5 years onwards, than children in less care. The largest and most lasting academician gains were seen in disadvantaged children.For the UK the Department for Educational Studies (Dress) funded the Effective Provision of Pre-School Education a longitudinal bailiwick in1996, it was an evaluation for children of 3 to 7 years of age inure-school through into primary from different social backgrounds. The summary in Findings from the Early firsthand Years (EPPE Summary 2004)where collected data was about the children, parents, home environment and the pre-school they attended, and proved that c ognitive and social effects were positive going into primary.The findings of the meditate showed that parents education and social class remained as predictors of intellectual and social development, and that very long periods of pre-school were connected withanti-social behavioural problems. This fact was attributed to the presence of non-parental childcare before three years of age. The education level of the childs mother was also seen to be a major mover in the childs performance.Major findings from the pre-school period included that of disadvantaged children benefit significantly from inviolable pre-school experience, especially when they are with a mixture of children from different backgrounds. It was also found overall, that disadvantaged children tend to attend pre-school for shorter periods of time than those from more advantaged groups (EPPE Summary 2004). Several recommendations were made, that included to encourage more episodes of sustained shared thinking with the children work towards an equal balance of child and adult initiated activity and ensure that staff have some(prenominal) the knowledge and understanding of curriculum and child-development.The UK Government in the UK introduced an extended guinea pig Curriculum (Education Act 2002) and the understructure Stage that was for the 3 to 5year olds, giving this period in the childs education a distinct individualism and attention. The six areas of learning became statutory, and the Act also specified that there should be early learning goals for each of the areas Personal, social and emotional development Communication, language and literacy Mathematical development Knowledge and understanding of the world Physical development and Creative development. A national quotation on the content of the early learning goals as set out in Curriculum focus for the foundation stage was carried out in autumn 2002.Following this consultation the early learning goals, and use of the Curriculum gu idance as a guide, became statutory in March 2002. This new move was aiming to secure learners mesh and ensure appropriate opportunities for them to achieve, and offered flexibility within for schools to develop their own curriculum. It offered a less prescriptive approach, in which flexible allocating of time for required subjects allowed them not to taught each week, term or year, therefore allowing choice of method and the procession of teaching and learning. The Act also established a single national sagaciousness system for the foundation stage, replacing baseline mind schemes.The Foundation stage profile was introduced into schools and settings in 2002-3. This profile has 13 summary scales masking the six areas of learning, which need to be completed for each child receiving government-funded education by the end of his or her time in the foundation stage. The Foundation Stage developed the key learning skills listening, speaking, concentration, persistence, learning to wo rk together and-operating with others, along with the developing of communication, literacy numeric skills in the preparation for entry into of the bailiwick Curriculum at Key Stage 1.Progress for the child through the Foundation Stage is categorised as Stepping Stones, where developing knowledge can be identified through the 13 stages of the Foundation Stage Profile, the assessment of which is completed in the final year prior to entry into Primary School. Emphasis is placed on successful personal, social and emotional development for all, especially those children with behavioural or communication difficulties. Throughout, the curriculum requires a safe and secure, rich environment for the child that is vibrant, purposeful, challenging and supportive, where trust for the practitioner is forthcoming, and progress is positive and rewarding.A prolific body of research in the USA has centred on early childhood programmes, in the state of Carolina, USA, in 2004 plans were being made for a start age of 3. Researchers at the Frank hall porter Graham (FPG)Child Development Institute were formulating plans to develop a rich learning environment for pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) that took into account the childs social, emotional and physical development. Now in2006 the plans are a reality with First School, a new vision for early schooling of children ages 3 to 8.Developed through a partnership among families, the community, the FPG Child Development Institute and The University of North Carolina, which together are passionate about the future of schools and schooling for young children. The FPG aim is to use this model to inform other educational institutions to guide them to a successful early learning experience for children and families. The early start age reflects the lives of working mothers in todays society, yet it also offers a safe, constructive and significant haven for the child, bringing a quality into pre-school environments.From an article in glasshous e World (Feb, 2004), it stated that the number of children who have speech and language difficulties in day nurseries across the UK is rising fast, according to a survey of nursery staff, and that the results of the survey by I CAN, the charity the helps children who have speech and language difficulties, found that 89 present of nursery staff were worried that speech, language and communication difficulties among pre-school-age children were growing.Nursery staff reported more children having problems concentrating, speaking intelligibly and following instructions. Children often responded with monosyllabic answers or gestures rather than appropriate language. just about all (96 per cent) of the respondents said they has at to the lowest degree one child with communications difficulties in their nursery, while 10 present said they had at to the lowest degree 10 children with such problems. Respondents of the survey blamed several factors, including a lack of time spent by child ren and adults talking together, the use of television to stay child and the trend for parents to talk on behalf of their child instead of let the child have a say. It shows that the problem is crucial that children with speech and language difficulties have the same opportunities in life as other children.A oeuvre of the transition from infant to Primary in England from Foundation Stage to Key Stage 1 was carried out in 2005 (Sanders et al,2005), where it was discovered the biggest challenge to children being the move from play-based approach in the Foundation Stage to a more structured curriculum in Key Stage 1. It also noted that the Literacy Hour had proved challenging as it was difficult for young children to sit still and listen to their teacher.In European countries, the transition to primary school (age of 6) is linked with a play-based exploratory curriculum to a more formal one. In England the transition begins around the age of 5, and into a more formal curriculum one y ear later (Sanders et al, 2005). This report also highlighted the question that staff may not be appreciating the anxiety for children and parents at this time, which proves quite surprising.The recommendations of the report included a communication between staff of Foundation Stage, staff in Year 1 and parents to plan for the childs needs that Schools should have resources to enable the children in Year 1 to have play-based activities, for role play, construction and outdoor learning that formal sitting and listen in Year 1 should be reduced, and more opportunities for learning through play and that there is a hike need for research into this transition.In February of this year a study (FGP 2006) was carried out in the Fusion 240 state funded Pre-K programs for 4 year-olds. The assessment was selecting one schoolroom at random, and within that classroom four children were chosen for individual assessment in the areas of language, literacy and number skills. The major findings in this study are reproduced here.Children much than half of the children enrolled were from low-income families. African American, Latino, and Asian children were more likely than White children to be in a Pre-K class with a high concentration of poor children. A large percentage of the mothers had only a high school education or less. Almost one-quarter of the children spoke a language other than English at home. With their entry into Pre-K, the language ability of most children from low-income families was below the national average, as was their math ability. On standard bars of language and math, these children made small but meaningful gains from fall to spring of their Pre-K year.Pre-K teachers They averaged 42 years of age most were female and White. Overall, about 70% of teachers had at least a bachelors degree. About half had at least a bachelors degree and state certification to teach 4-year-olds. About 30% had a two-year degree or no formal degree past high sc hool. Pre-k teachers salaries were higher than those of child care teachers and approached the salaries of public school teachers. Teachers with lower qualifications (less than a bachelors degree)were more likely to teach poor children and children who were African American or Latino.The findings highlighted the concerns of teachers not being able to give the high quality experiences required to those children that need it most. It also reveals that using the widely used measure of classroom quality of Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-Revised(where a rate of 7 is excellent, a score of 5 is good, and a score of 3 is minimal) the average score was 3.86. This score is disappointment to all concerned, considering the enthusiasm, and shows an environment that is not able to take total advantage of learning opportunities for young children.These findings were endorsed by Kauerz (2006) who states that although Pre-K provides crucial gains in achievement, especially in reading and maths, it is only short term due to what is termed as the fade-out problem. This problem is that the advantage that the child has gained could be confounded (60-80%) during the first two years of elementary school, when joining a year/class that includes children of a lower level(those that did not participate so early).They are held back whilst the teachers attention is put to those of a lower standard. It also has an effect if the elementary school that the child from high-quality Pre-K joins is of low quality. This factor is covered widely in research in the USA as entry is entirely dependent on residential location, therefore it could be a problem for children from low-income families.Yet on the positive side, Campbell, Miller-Johnson, Sparling Ponselle (2001) National Research Council (2001) Steinhart et al(2005) all confirm that through rigorous research high quality early childhood experiences produce impressive life-time benefits to society including fewer grade retent ions, fewer special education placements, increased high-school graduation rates, and finally increased employment earnings (Buyers, 2006).Statement of scope and aims of the studyThe aim of this study is to discover and evaluate how schools use play as an educational tool for children aged 5 to 6 years of age. Along with how it is used in line with the National Curriculum and Early Years learning objectives. The study will investigate if play is used enough in school, and which benefits come from this, with finally, to support these findings, an overview of studies completed in other countries, on the subject of play in education.The sample size will be thirty, which is less than perfect, but in the small time frame allowed it will produce a representative sample that will be supportive of this cover aim.MethodologySection A the justificationThe method used in the design of this research as a factual enquiry, the following were considered The aims of the study and theories to be investigated Reviewing the relevant literature interested organizations Preliminary conceptualization of the study decision making on the design of the study and assessing its feasibility within the limitations Deciding which hypotheses will be investigated Designing the required research instrument and technique postal questionnaires Drawing the sample who to interview Doing the field work process the data Assembling the results Writing the research reportA study of this nature is a complex operation, and a first requirements therefore the development of a clear plan, overall research design. It is the research design that moldiness hold all the parts and phases o