The way play-based approaches to teaching and learning impact in the quality education - Research Proposal Example

Are play-based teaching and learning approaches valued enough when aiming to deliver high quality education in UK's year one rooms Brief description of issue being investigated The research area will be, in overall, the way play-based approaches to teaching and learning impact in the quality education delivered to children in the early years (0 to 8 years). The importance of the teacher's role in the educational process was recently emphasised in a report, which concluded that teacher's knowledge and skills are the most influential factors in children's learning (Darling Hammond, 1998). To be an effective pedagogue, the teacher needs to be able to select appropriate teaching techniques in order to facilitate learning. These choices will be determined by a range of factors such as his or her previous experience and training, as well as the particular contexts in which they work (Siraj-Blatchford, 1999). There is a general belief in the UK that once children as young as five are introduced to the statuory demands of the primary school National Curriculum framework (1995 version ) they are asked to complete specific tasks, rather than being encouraged to 'do' and 'explore'through play, as a means of learning. Rationale Play-based approaches to teaching and learning have demonstrated to be the best way for children in the early years (namely, 0 to 8 years) to learn about the world and themselves (Broadhead, 2003). What these educational methodologies appear to have in common is the emphasis put on the 'holistic nature of ch's learning of children's learning and development, as distinct from learning separated out into subjects' (Whitebread, 1996, p.1). Even though the UK's primary school National Curriculum (1995) requests the coverage of subjects such as science , literacy and numeracy among others, it offers a framework which allows teachers to choose the most appropriate learning and teaching methods. (Ashcroft and Palacio, 1995). Hence, practitioners are allowed to choose 'when' and 'how' these subjects should be taught, taking into consideration children's interests and needs. Yet, the majority of early years teachers, including those in reception and Key stage 1, claim that for example, literacy and numeracy strategies are areas presented in the National Curriculum's framework as highly structured, which in turn allows them very little space for creativity. Therefore, young children in year one are asked to sit down, listen, and follow directions most of the time. Unfortunately, in this way they are being offered little encouragement and suppport to develop their learning dispositions (Broadhead, 2003). This appears to be the key to the problem. Judging by the circumstances, it seems very difficult for early years practitioners in the UK, particularly those working in reception and year one classes, to create a positive environment to facilitate children's learning through play, as the majority of theorists state. Anyway, it is well known that begining primary school entails a transition into a more formal curriculum. Therefore, we believe that finding a balance between play-based activities and more specific tasks would be a good way of considering children's needs and interests. Hopefully, this less structured and moer informal way of proceding, will facilitate teachers' job when they have to plan what they aim children to learn in relation to the National Curriculum requirements (Palmer and Pettitt, 1993). Aims Research in the early years education is considered essential and can generate data that can be applicable for further research, policy modification, as well as for the improvement of practice (Pascal, 1993) . The aim of the present study is to discover UK's primary teachers in year one understandings of play, and how this impacts on their practice, as they have to contemplate the National Curriculum's statuory demands. Answers to the following questions were sought: 1) To explore the understandings of play currently held byUK's primary teachers in year one. 2) Discover how the statuory demands of the National Curriculum influence on year one teachers' believes on practice. 3) To look into the way year one teachers'current understandings about play as well as the way statuory demands of the National Curriculum impact on practice. 4) To find out if year one children consider they get to play in the classroom. Objectives A small-scale survey will take place in 10 primary schools (namely, year one) across the UK to meet the aims of the project. This study will be carried out by combining qualitative research methods such as self-completed questionnaires, interviews and observations. At least one month is the time estimated to collect the data before starting with its analysis. Literature review 'We now know that play-in the sense of 'messing about' either with material objects or with other children, and of creating fantasies-is vital to children's learning and therefore vital in school. Adults who criticize teachers for allowing children to play are unaware that play is the principal means of learning in early childhood'. (Plowden Report, 1967) It is frequently said that 'how' we learn is as important as 'what' we learn. Therefore, if schools'main aim is to foster the development of children's full potential, play needs to be part of the early years curriculum programme, as it is regarded as beneficial for the child's personal, social and cognitive growth (Delwyn & Tattum, 1992). As educators we know that primary schools have to create adequate environments to facilitate young children's learning through play, as theorists such as Piaget (1962) recommend. The High/Scope (USA) approach to early childhood education believes that active learning is crucial to the full development of the human potential and that this process occurs most effectively in settings that provide developmentally appropriate learning opportunities. In doing so, Hohmann and Weikart (1995) make the following assumptions about human growth and development: Human beings develop capacities in predictable sequences throughout their lives. As people mature, new capabilities emerge. Despite the general predictability of human development, each person displays unique characteristics from birth, which through everyday interactions progressively differentiate into a unique personality. Learning always occurs in the context of each person's unique characteristics, abilities and opportunities. There are times during the life cycle when certain kinds of things are learned best or most efficiently, and there are teaching methods that are more appropriate at certain times in the development sequence than others. (Hohmann and Weikart, 1995, p.15) In spite of the consensus about its benefits, Bruce (1987) explains the way many teachers both in early years settings and primary schools first stages in the Uk (namely, year one ) are struggling to implement active-learning principles ( such as the encouragement of child-initiated activities and offering adult's support to extend children's learning) in their classrooms .Variables such as the number of children in the class, schools'priorities, and other external constraints affect decisions when planning to deliver high quality education. As a result, schools are nowadays urged to balance children's needs with the statuory demands from outside. In Siraj-Blatchford's (1998) book, A Curriculum development handbook for early childhood educators, it has been observed that children's disposition to go on learning depend mostly on the following set of factors: Effective teaching and learning of knowledge and skills. Opportunities to focus on desired learning dispositions. The significance of the type of relationships established with peers and adults. An adequate environment has to be provided, including materials to support children's developmental stages,. Apparently, the statuory requirements imposed by the National Curriculum are the ones that mostly impactsin classroom practices, as these do not fit with less structured, play-based curriculums which allow opportunities to focus on children's desired learning dispositions (Blenkin and Kelly, 1994, Cox and Sanders, 1994). 'At the end of this long chain of target setting sat the recption children, los from sight for a long time as a growing belief took hold that the sooner we got them started on 'formal teaching' the better they would perform in their end of Key Stages tests (Miller, 2001 cited in Whitebread, 1996, p. 110). Anyway, the struggle of trying to meet the National Curriculum's statuory demands should not be an excuse to desist in the implementation of more developmental ly appropriate programs. (Palmer and Pettitt, 1993). Research methods The study will consist in a small-scale survey to investigate year one teachers understandings of play and believes about the primary National Curriculum, and how these impact on practice. In addition, will investigate if year one children consider they get to play in the classroom. Robson (1993) explains that small-scale surveys are one of the traditional qualitative research strategies, as they are suitable for studies that seek to describe and analyse some aspect or situation. He also states that a disadvantage in the use of questionnaires and/or interviews is that respondents will not necessarily report their understandings and believes, for a number of reasons. Therefore, a type of external validity is necessary if the purpose of the study is to seek if their is a line between what people say and do. In this way, as the behaviour of teachers' is an essential aspect in the study as well, observation techniques will be also included to learn about teachers practice in the classroom, and then to describe, analyse and interpret what was observed. The research will be conducted in 10 primary schools (namely, year one classrooms) chosen at random accross the UK. Regarding the sample population, the non-probability samples are used where there is a need to represent groups with certain characteristics (Siraj-Blatchford & Siraj-Blatchford, 2001). From such types of samples the one I find to be the most appropiate for the purposes of my study is the 'quota sampling', where their representatives are chosen according to the characteristics needed to carry on the research (UK primary teachers working in year one). Research design Robson (1993) mentions the existance of self-completion questionnaires, based ona sequence of closed questions. Siraj- Blatchford &Siraj-Blatchford (2001), when making reference to surveys and questionnaires, explain that the disadvantage of closed questions is that they set the extent of alternative responses to a simple 'yes'or'no'answer.Therefore, following their suggestion, I decided to use scale items for the study, where a question or statement is followed by a range of possible options sucha as 'strongly agree', 'agree', 'neutral' and 'strongly disagree' for the respondent to choose from. This type of scale will namely, Likert scale, will help megain a deeper insight into people's understandings and believes about something, as they bring together a combination of items important to the specific issues (Robson, 1993). The Questionnaire The questionnaire devised will provide factual information about the participant's gender, age group, and level of educational attainment. It will consist on a Likert scale, which will include 12 statements and 9 open-ended questions. These statements and questions have been designed and selected for their application and their relevance to the areas of research. It is hoped that they will assist in exploring year one teachers current understandings about play, as well as their believes about the primary National Curriculum. Respondents will be asked to rate the statements on a five point Likert scale with five fixed alternative expressions, which are: 1=strongly agree, 2=agree, 3=neutral, 4=disagree, and 5=strongly disagree. Participants are expected to tick in the box that indicates their opinion more closely. Specifically: 1) Statements 1, 2, 3 and 4 are aimed to reveal year one teachers' personal attitudes towards their role and working environment. The following are: Teachers should plan to develop children's dispositions to learn. Techers who work in an appropriate environment are able to attend children's needs. Teachers should be convinced by what they do, to deliver high quality education. Teachers should work as a team and be reflective about their practice. 2) Statements 5, 6, 7 and 8 are aimed to reveal year one teachers' current understandings about play. The following are: Teachers assert that learning through play is dependent on content being meaningful for the children. Teachers should consider play-based approaches to teaching and learning as the most appropriate way of delivering quality education to year one children. Teachers knowledge and skills do not influence on children's learning. Teachers believe that play changes when an adult gets involved to extend children's learning. 3) Statements 9, 10, 11 and 12 are aimed to reveal year one teachers' believes about the primary school National Curriculum. The following are: Teachers understand that the curriculum framework needs to consider the context where it is implemented. Teachers assert that highly structured activities ( were children are asked to only listen and follow directions) are not developmentally appropriate for children in year one. Teachers assert that the statuory demands of the National Curriculum should find a balance between subject-based activities and broad-based activities to deliver quality education to children in year one. Teachers find themselves forced to leave their knowledge and skills aside, in order to attain the national standards. Regarding the open-ended questions, participants will be asked to answer 9 questions. Specifically: 1) Questions 1, 2, 3 and 4 are aimed to reveal year one teachers' personal attitudes towards their role and working environment. The following are: What do you enjoy most about your job What are the frustrations How do you evaluate your work What personal attributes do you bring to work 2) Questions 5,6,and 7 areaimed to reveal year one teachers' current understandings about play. Do you think play contributes to year one children's learning Is there a possible connection between structures activities and play-based ones Which are the best teaching and learning approaches to deliver high quality education in year one classrooms 3) Questions 8 and 9 are aimed to reveal year one teachers' believes about the primary school National Curriculum. The following are: How do the statuory demands of the National Curriculum impact on year one classroom management and organisation Can the National Curriculum's framework on the whole, be considered as developmentally appropriate for children in year one The interview 5 children will be chosen at random from each one of the classroom which serve for the purposes of the study. They will be asked to respond the following questions: 1) Can you tell me, this is a hard question, why do children go to school 2) Can you tell me what do you do at school 3) What are you specially good at 4) So what do you like doing best at school 5) And do you know what you would like to be when you grow up (Interview questionnaire adapted from Mac Naughton et al, 2001, p. 171) The observations Croll (1986) highlights the general agreement there is about the value of direct observations in classrooms in educational research, to check the cosistency between what is being 'said'and what happens in practice. The approach used will be that of an 'observer-as-participant'. This means that the observer will not establish relationships with members of the groups like a participant observer would do, but the participants will know about his role as a researcher (Gold, 1958). Especifically, this will consist in the use of a checklist, which will provide a long series of items that can be recorded as present or absent (Robson, 1993). The items used will be designed to allow the researcher find out the way in which year one teachers current understanding about play and their believes about the National Curriculum impact on their practice. As a way to summarize and validate the results, whenever the features listed are observed at least once a day, this will be considered standard behaviour, and, thus, valid. Out of the 10 year one classrooms that will serve for the purpose of the study, 2 will be selected to be observed. The duration of the observations will be the same for the two classrooms selected: children will be observed for 3 hours, for the period of 5 days (Monday to Friday). Ethical issues The Ethical Principles for Conducting Research with Human Pariticipants published by the British Psychological Society (1996) advises researchers to give informed consent to the participants. Therefore, a letter has to be sent to the primary teachers working in each of the 30 year one classrooms, along with the questionnaire, informing them briefly about the aim of the study, confidentiality and anonymity issues, and their right to participate in the study if they wanted to. Proposed Timescale The first step will consist in the delivery of the questionnaires to the targeted primary teachers' working in year one (of course, after they have accepted to participate in the study). The researcher will wait no more than 3 weeks for their responses (those who do not show up or exceed the period of time will be considered in the analysis). The next step will be to start with the observations in the two selected classrooms. It might take the researcher one or two weeks to collect the data. Subsequently, results both from the questionnaire and the observations should be analysed separatedly. After that, a joint analysis of the questionnaires and the observations need to be done, to finally come up with a conclusion. Bibliography Balke,E. (1997) Play and the Arts: The importance of the "unimportant", Childhood Education, 73 (6), pp. 355-60 Beetlestone,F (1998) Creative Children, Imaginative Teaching, Buckingham, Open University Press. Bredekamp,S (ed.) (1987) Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8. , Washington, DC, National Association for the Education of Young Children/ Fryer, M. (1996) Creative Teaching and Learning, London, Paul Chapman. Mac, Naughton, G. et al (2001) Doing Early Childhood Research: International Perspectives on Theory and Practice, USA: Open University Press Pre-school Learning Alliance(PLA) (2001) Pre school Learning Alliance htpp//www.atalink.co.uk References Broadhead,P. (2003) Early years Play and Learning: Developing Social Skills and Cooperation, London: Routledge Falmer Croll,P. (1996) Systematic classroom observation, Great Britain: Blackwell Publishers Inc. Palmer,J. and Pettitt,D (1993) Topic Work in the Early Years: Organising the Curriculum for 4 to 8 year-olds', London: Routledge Whitebread,D. (1996) Teaching and Learning in the Early Years, London: Routledge Craft,A. (2000) Creativity across the Primary Curriculum: Frawing and Developing Practice London: Routledge. Ashcroft,K. And Palacio,D. (1995) The Primary teacher Guide to the National Curriculum, London: Falmer Press Robson,C. (1993) Real Research World, Great Britain: Blackwell Publishers Inc. Flanders, N. (1970) Analyzing teacher behaviour USA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. British Psychological Society. Consulted on November 21, 2005 from htpp://www.bps.org.uk Darling Hammond (1995) cited in Maslovaty N. (2000) Teachers choice of Teaching strategies for Dealing with Socio-Moral Dilemmas in the Elementary School, Journal of Moral Education, Vol.29, No.4 (2000) Siraj-Blatchford (1999) A Curriculum development handbook for early childhood education, Great Britain: The Cromwell Press. Pascal,C. (1993) Capturating the quality of education provision for young children: a story of developing professionals and developing methodology, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal,1(1), 69-80 Gold,R.L. (1958) Roles in Sociological Field Observations, Social Foras (Vol.36, pp.217-223) Delwyn and Tattum, E. (1992) Social education and personal development: studies in primary education, London: David Fulton Publishers. Plowden Report (1967) Children and their primary schools, London:HMSO David et al (1993) cited in Broadhead,P. (2003) Early years Play and Learning: Developing Social Skills and Cooperation, London: Routledge Falmer. Miller (2001) cited in Broadhead,P. (2003) Early years Play and Learning: Developing Social Skills and Cooperation, London: Routledge Falmer Bruce,T. (1987) Early Childhood Education, London: Hodder and Stoughton. Bleukin and Kelly (1994), Cox and Sanders (1994) cited in Whitebread,D. (1996) Teaching and Learning in the Early Years, London: Routledge Hohmann,M. and Weikart,D (1995) Educating Young Children Active Learning Practices for Preschool and Child Care Programs, Michigan: High/Scope Press Read More