Inquiry Project, Part One
Teaching Across Borders: Early Childhood Development in Fort McMurray
Introduction
If you have visited my website, read any of my reviews or assignment responses I hope that you have had the chance to get to know a little bit about my TAB experience in Fort McMurray. I am an early childhood education specialist. When I was seeking a placement for this semester, I searched in Alberta for a program designed for early childhood learners that differed from my experiences within the Calgary Board of Education where both of my previous placements were.
Speaking with a friend that is a grade one teacher in the Fort McMurray Public School District, she mentioned a fairly new initiative taken by the board which starts children in the school system as early as two and a half years old. I had not heard of such a program in Calgary at this point, so I turned to the internet to find out more about what a program like this would offer. I soon realized that it is different from a basic day care program or pre-school that I had been familiar with in Calgary. The main differences between the Early Childhood Development Program, and pre-school are that; it is taught by professional teachers recognized with a Bachelor of Education, there is a defined program statement that is central throughout the division and the students are incorporated into the public school body. Although, I have become familiar with some of the differences in “culture” that exist between Calgary and Fort McMurray, I did not, as many of you did, have to prepare myself by learning a new language, planning travel itineraries or negotiating a place to live.
I will share this inquiry by describing mostly what my placement consists of and incorporating some information about the lifestyle differences in Fort McMurray that affect both my experiences as a teacher as well as the differences for students and their families.
This picture was taken outside on the Early Childhood playground on a cold winter day in Fort McMurray. It was -46 with the windchill and I still saw one child playing with their mom on the park...
This is the ECDP classroom that I am enjoying my TAB experience in Fort McMurray at Timberlea Public School.
ECDP- What is it?
The Early Childhood Development Program teaches children at a pre-Kindergarten level within the public school system. Children are permitted to start class in September providing that they have turned 3 years old as of the previous March, and that they are washroom trained. However, there are many cases where children are entering earlier than this age. One of my classrooms has a child that is currently 2.5 years old, and was wearing a diaper until December. Each child is selected on a case-by-case basis and are often selected to join due to under-development in some area.
The main areas of focus for most children enrolled in ECDP are fine/gross motor development and speech training. My partner teacher said that about 80% of the students in the class have Individual Program Plans in those two areas. The goals range from understanding of proper finger grip on a pencil, to ability to balance with their eyes closed, to the ability to pronounce an “s” sound at the beginning of words. For example, a goal for one child in my classroom is to initiate conversation with a peer 3 out of 4 days a week during snack time.
This centre activity is designed to help children that have the S sound as a goal area in their IPP. They say the s words on the card: snake, sandwich and sand. Making the letter S in the sand also helps them to become accustomed to forming the S in the proper direction. Children often have trouble with S reversals. They are not required to know how to print by the end of ECDP but many children are already practiced in this and are ready for this challenge.
Although the students have individual goals, the activities and tasks in the classroom are designed to strengthen the children's skills at all levels of development. Both of the classrooms that I am involved in are very play based and incorporate centre-time every day. Everything that the children do in the 2.5 hours that they are in the classroom per day is an important learning task. For example, the children have between 20 and 30 minutes a day for snack time. My first thought was that this is such a long time to be missing out on instructional time! However, my partner teacher explained that there is a great deal of language development that occurs during this time. She often has them count the amount of snacks they have, or compare with a partner the differences or similarities between snacks.
The children eating their healthy snacks! After talking about the food groups the children are encouraged to make good choices and eat food from one of the groups before cookies or treats.
The 2 hours of the day in the classroom is mostly play. When we first enter the class, the children have approximately one hour to play with their peers in centres such as house, grocery store, kitchen, glitter crafts, sand-table, water-table, doll house, toy cars, play-dough, building blocks, lego, puzzles, etc. During this time, the teacher is circulating each group of children and prompting them on language skills such as being able to describe what they are doing by engaging herself in the imaginative play of the children.
| This is a picture of me painting a child's hand to make flower stamps at a craft making station. ECDP teachers do not sit in their desk at any point during their day. Every moment is spent engaging with the children and working on various skills, especially language. We often ask the children questions such as “why did you do it that way?” “where have you seen this before?” and “how did you know” to encourage deeper thought and the ability to articulate what they are doing. |
This centre replaces the sand table several times a year. The children can use the pinchers (a great fine motor activity) and pluck various objects that they have been studying out of the crunchy paper.
In creating centres, the teachers create some structured activities in which they can directly teach specific skills. In the picture below, the activity as far as the children knew was to create an apple craft because they had been learning about the letter “a” all week. While the children worked on their apple, the teacher was checking for basic fine motor skills such as the ability to rip the construction paper (a surprisingly difficult task for more than half of the students), scissor skills and colour identification. This time often presents the teacher with a chance to provide direct, individualized teaching around a specific task.
A young girl attempting to master the skill of using a finger-thumb grip to rip paper. All a part of the process of preparing an apple craft designed to increase fine motor activity.
The common calendar time when daily all children are familiarized with the date, patterns and describing the weather. All improving language and mathematical abilities.
Only about 15 to 20 minutes per day is spent on direct group instruction by the teacher. This time is usually spent at the carpet where the children work on tasks such as recognizing patterns, understanding the weather and becoming familiar with the calendar. During calendar time, the children will count as a group from 1-31 with some prompting from the teacher. They will gain practice in saying the date in the correct order (day of the week, month, date, year). The children are encouraged to explore at their own rate through play. I have been introduced to seven patterns of play that are encouraged within ECD program's in Fort McMurray, as identified by Stuart Brown (2009). They include: Attunement play, body and movement play, object play, imaginative play, social play, storytelling and narrative play and transformative play. The second or third part of my Inquiry project will include a full explanation of these patterns and how I see them in my classroom.
ECDP- The Need for the Community
Part of my preparation for coming up here was becoming aware of the working culture that Fort McMurray has a reputation for. Most of this was through word of mouth with family and friends that have lived up here for anywhere between 1 and 30 years. It is true, life up here revolves around work, and the shift schedule. But on the contrary of that, the time that is not spent at work seems to be used up in various outdoor activities such as camping, fishing, snowmobiling, etc . Thousands and thousands of the cities population works just north of town on the various oil sands “sites” in operation for production, confinement and shipping of oil. Most people work in shifts, it could be 14 days working, 7 days off; 24 days working, 4 days off; 10 days working, 4 days off, or anything of that sort. Most people you meet will ask “what shift are you on?” and then lead into a conversation about the abundance of work in the coming months.
With all of this work, means a large amount of young families as well as a great deal of immigrants in the area. In order to earn the money for the family to survive and live in a healthy way there is a need for the types of programming that ECDP within the public school system offers. Working families require a place to have their children taken care of and encouraged to grow during working hours. Considering that ECDP houses a very large amount of under-developed children, this could be considered a reflection of the availability of parents to be present and active in their child's development. Immigrant families have the advantage of placing their child in school at such a young age which provides them quality instruction to learn the English language and prevents putting that strain on working parents at home.
The town has a need for a program such as this to help working families support their children. The children also had a need for extra support in comparison with many other cities in the province. In a professional development session that I attended last week, the presenter said that the percentage of under-developed children in Fort McMurray is about 11% higher when compared with the rest of Canada. I could not find the research to back up this statement, so take it as you will. However, in my experience of working with families in the area as well as an understanding of the business of parents in the community, I can see the need for increased support.
Conclusion
In conclusion, although I initially struggled about whether children should be sent to school at such a young age, I now see that the ECDP program provides children with meaningful skills that prepare them for school without overwhelming them with what we might initially assume would be happening when it comes to school. The children are provided with a chance to engage in rich socialization with children of their own age which initiates them into understanding what it means to be a student within a diverse group of students.
Programs such as ECDP are becoming increasingly popular as there is wait-lists at every school in the district right now, with schools adding extra classrooms each year. With an understanding of children, their families and the working community in Fort McMurray I am encouraged to learn more about the program and become more familiar with its intent for children. I hope that continued work in the school will allow me to ask important questions that help to defend what I feel is a need for ECDP, in this town as well as others throughout Alberta.
These pictures all demonstrate some of the centre activities available for children during their “free play time.” The first child is working on tracing curved lines, tracing straight lines and printing the letter A. The second picture is a climbing centre. This is the children's favorite as it allows for them to have a little bit more rough and tumble time. We have to be closely supervising to ensure there are no injuries! The last picture is apple stamps (again in the A week). The stamps help to get children familiar with paints, and other important language skills as the children talk about the feeling of the paints on their fingers.
Part Two:
Inquiry Two: The cultural and educational context of TAB experience
Changing as a Learner and as a Teacher
Introduction
Although I have found subtle differences in the culture with regards to the working/shift town that Fort McMurray is, and the effect this has on students in school, I don't feel that the culture is what has had the biggest impact on me as a teacher. The educational context that I am immersed in is what the second part of my inquiry project will be based on. Part of the educational context that has affected me is of course the differences in curriculum and the influence of Play in ECDP, however I will save the focus of this for the third part of my inquiry project. I will discuss my relationship with the children and how this has changed my teaching praxis and widened my perspective on learners, schools and teachers.
Transformation as a Learner
As I experienced practicums in Kindergarten, grade one and grade two prior to TAB, I thought that I had a good understanding of how I would approach a class and prepare myself as a teacher. I have learned through this semester that this “teacher-type” I thought I would be would not be successful in an Early Childhood Development Program such as the one I am in right now. I have learned that it is necessary to adapt to suit to each age group as well as each individual class (as they are all very different).
I have found it easiest to learn through students by trying to understand things in the way that the information might be coming to them. In ECDP, so much of our time as teachers is spent on the floor playing with the children. This has helped me form close relationships with the children which allowed for me to constantly be picking their brains about their thinking as they played. All semester I have been trying to understand the development of young minds as they prepare for the school system. I would ask questions such as, why did you paint your sky green? Or why do you think that the baby doesn't have to sit at the table for supper with her mom and dad? The children were often very articulate in their answers which usually revolved around something they had seen at home, or on TV or in a book. After our play time, I spent time journalling some of my questions and their responses. This often led me to further discussions with my partner teacher or reminded me of reading I had done in previous semesters that may have not held significance to me until I saw it happening in “my” classroom. I discovered that the most successful way for me to learn was to experience things first and then through reflection and analysis relate it to what is known in the literature or within the profession.
This was a poster in our classroom. When the children were experiencing some sort of emotion (usually used most when someone was upset or hurt) we would take them to the poster and have them describe how they were feeling and talk about why they felt that way. This was helpful when trying to understand what different things affect the children in the class at any given time.
When I reflect on my biggest learning moments through my practicum experiences, I see that some of the most profound learning has happened when I have made mistakes, or tried a lesson that hasn't been successful. In conjunction with help from an experienced teacher, when lessons do not go well I have always taken the time to go through my methods and ask questions. I have found that as a learner, I can see the areas that need to be corrected and use this as ways to create more engaging and effective teaching methods. This type of learning has made me a successful learner because I have not been fearful of the mistake-but seen each of them as an opportunity for growth. I believe that if all, or most, of my trails were taken well by the students in the classroom, I would not of pushed myself for greater understanding of students and learners which is what formed more creative and thoughtful classroom practice.
When I think of how I have transformed as a learner through this program and especially through my TAB experiences I find it important to reflect back on my first semester in the program where we focused greatly on who we are as learners. In my first inquiry project I defined myself as being inspired to learn by nature and experiencing things that I see around me. I said that as a learner I was curious but somewhat definitive. I felt that as a learner, I worked until I found an answer that seemed to work for me and that is what formed my beliefs and values about a particular subject.
Now, I would describe myself as being more relaxed about trial and error in learning as well as a more open to the idea that my belief system about things such as how children should be acting needs to be open to change. I now know that once I see something work one way that this cannot make up my mind about how children (or whatever it may be in the subject I am learning about) will not always behave in that way that I have defined in my head. I am more accepting of the loss of order that my learning once had and open to leaving room for growth and change. This tells me that I am more prepared as a learner for what it means to work within the ever-changing teaching profession.
This book taught me many things about the main concepts that need to be taught in early learning. The book describes how teachers (and parents) can influence children to grow in pro-social and ways that help them to be open to change and meet all situations in the classroom with a sense of confidence and awareness. The seven habits are ones that I have found in my own learning, such as being proactive. I could not just forget about a bad lesson, I had to dissect it and learn from it!
Transformation as a Teacher
Patience! I have found a great deal of patience and a caring, nurturing persona is required to teach in an Early Childhood Development Program. I have transformed to a much more patient and understanding teacher who is more accommodating of the very diverse needs children have. Teaching three and four year olds has made me hyper aware of the need to remember that what I say as the teacher is going to be interpreted and understood at very different levels. I have focused on breaking things down into smaller more defined steps to help the children understand. For example, I have learned that I cannot give the instruction to “was your hands, grab your bags for snack, pick a seat and eat your snack.” Developmentally the children are often not capable of following through with what might seem like a logical four step instruction without becoming distracted. At the beginning of the semester, I had a habit of wishing to rush through things so that we could move on to the next important activity. I have learned now to slow down and recognize the importance in each small step that the children are taking.
This picture is an example of a centre. I found that during centres time, it was very important to break down the instructions into small pieces so that the students would understand what needs to be done. For example, if I gave an explanation of the four types of puzzles you see on the table, they would only catch the instructions for the last one. It worked better to let the students explore and then join them to play and introduce rules slowly.
This is a picture of our visual schedule. Having the order of daily activities available for the children is another way of helping them to understand that everything has an order.
I have found that as a teacher, I have very high expectations for behaviour from the children I am teaching. This has proven to be a challenge for me when it comes to teaching in an early childhood program. I have learned from my very experienced partner teacher the importance of recognizing what is age appropriate behaviour for three and four year olds. Now, I have taken on more responsibility during my days in the classroom, I have to constantly remind myself that holding the children to the expectation of sitting on the carpet without moving or engaging with a peer for a story longer than three minutes is not going to happen, so I must adjust my plan to meet what they are capable of doing (while of course still pushing them slightly past what they are comfortable with). If I am patient with my teaching and understand that topics need a great deal of repetition before the students will grasp the idea I am still able to hold them to the high expectation that they need to be listening during this time.
These pictures show a small activity break that can be quite affective when trying to keep the children engaged in stories or activities at the carpet. I had them stand up and stretch or dance to a song on the board.
I have needed to be reminded often that there is a very specific balance that needs to be maintained when educating this age level of children. The noise, the chatter and the movement that is constantly happening in the classroom is the single most enriching experience that this group will receive during this pre-Kindergarten year. The children, through play and through socialization are learning how to interact with peers who are often very different from them, and sometimes too much the same. They are finding ways to manage their reactions to peers and simply reciprocate in a relationship. On the other side of the balance, as teachers we are to remember that many parents and school officials have the expectation that ECDP will introduce children to the idea of school and help them understand how they are required to behave and participate in a classroom. So, when a student is required to sit in one spot and listen to a story but instead interrupts by standing up and walking to the sand table we have to override the opportunity the child is creating for a peer interaction and remind them that their job at this time is to sit at carpet and be a good listener. Finding the balance between allowing for free exploration with peers and materials and yet be able teach what it means to be a learner in a classroom setting has had a great influence on my transformation as a professional teacher.
Before coming to Fort McMurray to learn about what an ECDP involves, I struggled to understand why parents would want their three and four year old babies to start school so early. I thought that it was too young to have them enter the school system and the structure that it holds. I entered the classroom with the mindset that I need to be the teacher of these children and prepare them for what it means to be in school. I have transformed to know that my role is much more of a facilitator and encourager for the interactions that are happening naturally in the classroom.
Activities like these are examples of finding balance between playing and learning skills needed for school. The children are learning valuable things such as cutting and letter formation at the writing centre that are important skills for Kindergarten. But these things are usually not taught as "lessons" per say. The materials are available and accessible so that when a child becomes interested in it they can try it. Often the teacher becoming involved herself in an activity like this encourages children to try it out.
Here, the children created gloves. The desired skill was to decorate the mittens so that their pair matched. We did not give an example, but as you can see most children understood that that meant if one mitten had a star, the other needed one too. Some of them used matching colours and some did not understand the concept at all. This allowed us to gauge who understood the concept of the same and different (a Kindergarten objective).
Conclusion
The experiences that I have gained as a specialist in Early Childhood Education have been tremendous through my involvement with the Early Childhood Development Program in the Fort McMurray Public School District. I have had the opportunity to study myself as a learner and as a teacher. Through this exploration, I have formed a more rounded understanding of the needs that children in early stages of development have and how this needs to be integrated into my overall teaching philosophy and praxis.
It was important to me in this log to reflect on myself as a learner because I think that as I find out more about my style of learning, I will be able to use this knowledge as a way to improve my practice and be self-aware of difficulties I might face in my teaching. Being involved as a student teacher in ECDP has transformed who I am as a teacher by increasing my understanding of the developing young mind. I have become aware of different strategies and classroom management techniques that are both age appropriate and effective in the classroom.
References
Brown, S., & Vaughn, C. (2009). Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination and invigorates the soul. New York: Penguin Group Inc.
Hawley, T. (2000). How early experiences affect brain development. From Ounce of Prevention Fund; Chicago, Illinois.
Part Three:
Inquiry Three: Teaching in an International Setting
Understanding the Importance of Play in Early Childhood
Introduction
During the semester, aside from working in an Early Childhood Development Program (ECDP) classroom, I have been given the opportunity to join teachers from my school in many of their professional development sessions. One very important one that was influential in forming my understanding of play and how that looks and works in an early childhood classroom was put on by the Galileo Educational Network.
During the workshop, the lady brought forward seven key patterns of play that spoke to me as a preparing teacher. These seven types were outlined by Stuart Brown at The National Institute of Play in 2009 and describe ways that young children learn through imagination, modelling, interaction and experimentation. I have seen these types of play in all three of the age levels that I have had practicum experience in, but will highlight how the seven were seen daily in my ECDP classroom. The seven types of play are; Attunement play, Body and Movement play, Object play, Imaginative play, Social play, Storytelling and narrative play and Transformative-integrative and creative play. I will discuss each separately and describe examples of how this existed in ECDP and what I have learned to bring forward with me into my own classroom.
Although this is one institutes description of how we see play in the classroom, I feel that they closely fit to the intent of ECDP and the availability of exemplars of each has made an impression on me this semester as I form a better understanding of teaching. Although there are many areas that have sparked my interest and provided questions for Inquiry, I feel that these types of play have provided a deep look into the learning needs of children in early education.
The Seven Types of Play and How It Helps Early Learners
Attunement play
“Attunement is first seen in a baby and parent relationship as they make eye contact and initiate a harmonic meeting of the minds” (Galileo Educational Network, 2011). In this interaction, the child learns by being engaged in a reciprocal relationship that he is part of. The child will learn that the actions that he takes will create a response from the other which will have a positive or negative effect on him. This type of play is something that creates a learning experience for students of ECDP countless times during the two and a half hours that they are with us. As the child engages in a conversation or type of play with a peer we teach them (some of them this comes automatically) that they need to gauge their friends responses to what they say or how they play.
One example I can think of for this is a young girl in my class who struggles with concepts very important as part of the objectives of ECDP, which is sharing of objects and roles within the classroom. One day, we had a veterinary office set up as a centre for the children to bring their animals to and they could be treated. This was a highlight in the classroom and most of the children followed the norms of a doctors office. They would bring their stuffed animal to the vet, wait in line, tell the vet what was wrong with him and then the vet would use the tools available to fix the animal. The one girl in the class however did not understand this process that the other children were adhering to and chose to interrupt the play by entering the veterinary office and take the stethoscope off of the vet's neck and carry it to the block centre. All of her peers yelled at her to bring it back and none of them could understand this behaviour. Their cries did not have an effect on this girl as she just used the stethoscope as a link in her bridge and fought back when the children tried to take it back. She has not yet learned to regulate her behaviour by understanding how it has effected others. If she had mastered the necessary skills in attunement play, she would have been alerted by the fact that she was upsetting her peers and brought back the toy and possibly joined them in their game.
Another place that I will use attunement in the classroom is the teacher-student relationship that provides feedback to the children's work and behaviours. During this huge learning time for the children, I have found this semester that the teacher needs to be very aware of the praise and prompts that they provide to the students as this often shapes how they handle future situations that they see as similar. When a child shows a piece of artwork that they have worked hard on and the detail and effort is noticeable, I have learned to come to the child's level, look them in the eyes and describe why the work is so well done. This goes the same for a behaviour modification that may need to happen. The teacher must pull the early learner aside and address the issue in a very personal way that will help the child understand how his actions have affected his peers, his teacher and himself.
| In these pictures, the teachers (me on the right) are engaging in attunment play with the students. This individualized time allows a lot of teachable moments where we encourage language and behaviour traits that the children are showing. |
Body and Movement Play
“Movement is primal and accompanies all elements of play. A child learns through movement through experimentation which creates knowledge of the world, space, time and their relationship to others” (Galileo Educational Network, 2011). All play in the classroom involves the body and movement. Movement is seen as the children play house and move about the kitchen in ways they have seen their parents do at home. Movement is seen as they build a tower that could soon be taller than they are. Movement is seen in puzzle making as they have to learn about moving pieces around to make a match. All play requires the body and movement.
I have learned this semester about the very huge topic of sensory needs that children (and adults) have. Being able to recognize and provide relief to these needs will help a child be able to regulate their body in a way that makes moving in interactions possible and enjoyable for themselves and their peers. When a child has a sensory processing issue this means that the brain is not properly handling all of the different sensory information it is receiving (Smith, 2009). So, most of us can stand to work in a room that others are working in, the lights are on and there might be movement in the distance. For people who struggle with this the buzzing of the light is too much for them to handle to be able to stand doing any work. Because we need to be understanding and inclusive of these needs for our students, I have learned many strategies (through PD and trial in the classroom) that I will use.
Different things that I have learned about are things such as heavy work or gum chewing that a child can do: lift 2L bottles of pop, wear a weighted vest, or do five pushups. Strategies like this are used to calm the alertness of the child so that he is no longer hyper-aware of a particular sense that is bothering him. In ECDP, I have seen how making subtle changes to help the child regulate his body can have a huge impact on his preparedness to learn and interact with his peers.
| These pictures are taken in the sensory room in the school. The children have the choice to play with different bouncy objects, trampolines, mats, ladders, weights and other tools that help relieve some of the pressures they are experiencing in the classroom. A quick break in here is often enough to keep a child from having a tantrum and to remain focused for the rest of the day. |
Object Play
Object play is the innate desire to manipulate objects with our hands that creates more effective brain circuits that help us understand and solve problems. From the time we are infants until adulthood we use objects, teething rings to remote controls, to increase activity and create play (Galileo Educational Network, 2011). Object play is used in early childhood classrooms daily through puzzles, writing tools, sized balls, dolls, boardgames, computers, trucks, blocks etc. The children interact with each other by using their imagination to bring the props to life. Through this type of play students are taught the various roles and purposes of different objects in their surroundings.
I will keep in mind the high demand for object play by early learners when I set up my classroom. Play is often used to reenact things that the children see in the outside world but need to recreate in order to form their own opinion on (Paley, 2005). Objects for play that I have seen used in a classroom and believe would be beneficial to have in my own early childhood classroom would be things such as; a house centre, a hospital centre, a block centre, trains, cars, dolls/barbies, puzzles, games, connecting blocks/lego, a store/ shopping centre, dress up centre, post office centre, sand table, water table, animal centre, library, writing area and many others. I have learned to always put thought into what objects you bring to the classroom and ensure that they have an educational value. By having these objects available for play the students will practice through play the different roles that they see in their society.
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Imaginative Play
Imaginative play is seen everyday in the ECDP classroom as it comes naturally to humans beginning at age 2 (Galileo Educational Network, 2011). Imagining the inner life of others and comparing it to their own life is a key trait to developing empathy, understanding, trusting and creating personal problem solving skills (Galileo Educational Network, 2011). Because the imagination comes so naturally to children, they often create their own curriculum through their play.
One day, as my partner teacher and I had been discussing the idea of emergent curriculum and how this can be used in early childhood education, we brought in plain bed sheets and left them in a container beside the house section. Some children were curious as to why these sheets were mixed in amongst their toys, and others saw it as a new toy. One girl placed the sheet on her head and stated that she was the beautiful princess. The children created their own game by imagining that they were someone else. Putting themselves in the shoes of another helps them to understand how others feel in the position that they take on. This girl with the sheet on her head might act like a princess and place expectations on the other children of how she should be treated. The other children too, through this imaginative play are learning about their role as an admirer of the princess.
| This was a water table that we brought into the class for a short time. The children imagined that they were fisherman and participated in all different types of imaginative play, whether alone or with their peers. The games that they children created with this table were amazingly technical and complex! |
Social Play
Social play is divided by the Galileo Network into two categories: friendship and belonging and rough-and-tumble play.
Friendship and belonging: This type of play as two children learn to play not beside each other, but with each other is what develops important skills such as sharing and empathy for others. When a child forms a friendship they learn to make others feel wanted and connected, while in turn they feel these same things. In ECDP, I have noticed that the friendships and belonging change as new ideas and new types of play pop up for the different children. The students seem to gravitate to the type of play that they wish to engage in, rather than sticking to the friend they wish to play with. I think that this is a good thing that fosters the ability to create lots of diverse friendships. When the children create friends with very different people they tend to learn from their peers some positive qualities that they take with them. They also learn important problem solving skills when they deal with children that are not agreeable or that have different ideas for play then they do.
| The children at this table are all engaged in play with each other. They are building airplanes with connecting blocks. The children added pieces to each others work and working towards one goal. |
Rough-and-tumble play: This was an interesting area of discussion in the PD. As teachers we have many pressures upon us to prevent injury of our students and provide a safe and nurturing space for them. However, rough-and-tumble play is an important part of play that happens between friends with a smile, but is often incorrectly perceived as violent. To allow for this type of play to exist in the classroom, many teachers suggested that mats and strict guidelines with supervision be in place. I have seen a great deal of rough-and-tumble play be more tolerated when we are outside, playing in the snow. I think that this is a good chance to allow for it as the snow offers some protection against bumps and bruises. However, I still realize the fact that this could encourage this type of play when there are no parents around or for it to be extended to outdoors on the playground when the danger for injury is greatly increased.
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Storytelling and Narrative Play
Storytelling should occupy a large part of early childhood development as it gives children a sense of how things are and how they should be. We learn a great deal about our history, culture and the world beyond ourself through stories. From an early age, students get pleasure out of reading and looking at books. When I am teaching, and if I am in an early childhood position, I have learned through my TAB experience that books need to be openly displayed and children encouraged to explore them. I would like to have a library space set up that provides the children with a quiet place to read or look through books.
From the books that children read or look at, often the pictures or the content spark interest and lead into dramatic play afterwards. They might hear a story about fish in the sea and then begin to play out that story afterwards. They will learn different roles that characters have in stories, such as the antagonist, protagonist etc. They determine a setting and they create and solve a problem, without even knowing that they are hitting all of the important parts of storytelling. Children learn the parts to a story and how to tell one. For example, at the beginning of my TAB placement, I noticed that children have trouble telling stories of their own. They are eager to share stories about their home life, but often struggle with sharing the details or portraying a sense of completion to their story. As they are read to and they practice telling stories to their friends they become more versed in this skill.
  The first picture shows a young boy reading a book. During centres/free play time, he chose to read a book. Because the books were readily available at his level and the reading centre in the room is attractive, he is spending quality time becoming interested in reading. In the second picture, the boys are acting out a game of leprachaun, mimicing the story we had just read about St. Patrick's day. |
Transformative-integrative and Creative Play
This type of play just explains how children are constantly changing because of the play that they engage in. As they try out new roles and practice different experiences within their play and interactions with other children they learn about who they are and take on different aspects that suit them as a person. They integrate aspects of humanity that are important to them and seem to drop the ones that are not relevant to their world.
In ECDP, I have noticed one child who was apparently very reserved and not interested in interacting with peers during the first months of school. When I had come in January however, my teacher described the transformation that he has had. He brought in a box of Mr. Potato head toys and introduced the idea to the students. This, of course was a big hit and children had a greater interest in engaging with this young boy. From what I know of him now, he is a leader for the children. He often initiates play with peers and has a voice during circle time. My teacher described his changes as hugely successful and the reason was due to the play he was having with children.
| This picture shows the children engaging with each other with the Mr. Potato Head kit that promoted the transformation of the child who introduced this to his friends. |
Conclusion
I have described seven important aspects of play, how they are experienced by children and how I will take these ideas and utilize it my own classroom in the future. This semester, I have learned a lot about play and how it encourages the healthy development of children in early childhood. Play is so successful in classrooms because it comes naturally to all children and is interest captivating. In early childhood classrooms, such as the one I was immersed in for my TAB experience I have seen a vast variety of play that helps children understand their peers and other social interactions that they are going to become a part of as they enter the school system.
I had struggled to understand the need for ECDP and entering children into the school system at age 3 until I was taught first hand that the benefits are increasingly important for our culture. Children learn many important skills during their 2.5 hours a day in the classroom and most of this is learned through play with peers that many would not have the chance to do outside of public school. As long as the teacher is prepared to encourage play at the same time as providing teaching pro-social behaviour towards peers ECDP seems to be a positive experience for most young learners.
Integrated into this inquiry were many techniques and ideas that will influence who I am as a teacher. These include various management techniques, classroom space requirements and objects available and accessible to promote learning and positive interactions in schools. My first years in teaching early childhood will owe a great deal of thanks to the influences I have had during my TAB placement and all of the young learners that have taught me about themselves and consistently reminded me that their perspectives are very different than my own.
References
Galileo Educational Network. (2011). Engaging Learning for Early Childhood Professionals. As presented by
Paley, V. (2005). A child's work: The importance of fantasy play. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press.
Smith, N. (2009). “Sensory.” Powerpoint presentation presented February, 9, 2012.
