Workshop Proposal – Playing is Learning

For Piaget, children play in four diverse ways: fantasy, functional, games with rules, and constructive play. This kind of play happens in four stages of development. According to Piaget, children’s play shows their cognitive development level. The first type of play is functional play. This kind of pay is more physical and involves jumping, sliding, running, and experimenting with the world using the senses. This type of play happens in a sensorimotor stage between ages 0-2 years. At two years, children begin engaging in constructive play because, at this stage, children desire to play with toys and other objects to achieve a goal. As such, children will want to play with blocks and try to build towers or toss things. When children reach age three, they start fantasy play. Notably, symbolic/fantasy play enables children to engage in role-playing and make-believe games. (McLeod, 2018). Jean’s four stages of development in children fully support play because playing is learning. Naturally, children start learning things through play; thus, it is vital to development.

Specific to the Objective

Specific to the Objective

Explain how it supports the solution to Roadblock #1

The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning and encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in education, and self-motivation. The third standard supports a solution to Roadblock #1 because it will help the teacher ensure that the learning environment is conducive and supports collaborative and individual learning, promoting active engagement in education and social interaction (NAEYC, n.d.). Therefore, creating various play areas or learning centers within a class enhances play. I will ensure the learning environment is favorable for young learners as they can exploit various opportunities and develop their abilities through play in a conducive and welcoming environment.

Explain how it supports the solution to Roadblock #2

The teacher uses an understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards and support a solution to Roadblock #2 (NAEYC, n.d.). This is because the standard will allow the teacher to ensure that there are necessary accommodations, materials, and resources for all learners from diverse cultures and those with special needs. As a result, all the learners will feel supported and part of the class. The standard supports the solution to roadblock 2 because it will act as a guide and point of reference to the teachers to ensure everything or activity they engage learners in is inclusive and caters to learners across all cultures.

Specific to the Environment or Needs/Supplies

Specific to the Environment or Needs/Supplies

Specific to the Environment or Needs/Supplies

The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning and encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation (NAEYC, n.d.). This supports the solution to Roadblock #1 because the primary objective is to show parents and teachers that playing means learning. Therefore, this standard will ensure that the workshop coordinator or teacher chooses a venue or learning environment that is safe and conducive and can also not be affected by weather changes. The third standard is the most viable because it will ensure teachers select supplies, resources, or environments that allow learners to play freely and have minimal chances of harming themselves.

Specific to the Environment or Needs/Supplies

The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning and encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation (NAEYC, n.d.). This standard supports the solution to Roadblock #2 because the workshop’s primary objective is for parents and teachers to see that children learn as they play. Teachers must ensure that they provide an environment conducive to learning and accommodate all learners’ special or non-special needs. The workshop area or venue must accommodate the needs of all children; it must be a safe area with a floor area favorable for children’s play so that there are minimal chances of harm, like cases of children sliding and falling due to slippery floors. This standard supports the workshop’s objective because it will help teachers select a playing environment that will be welcome, safe, and secure for children to play while also learning. The standard will guide teachers and administrators in choosing a favorable environment or venue accessible for all learners, both with special needs and without. This way, all parents, teachers, guardians, and administrators will have experienced and learned that while playing is learning, the environment set or selected for the play must be conducive, safe, and accessible for all learners. As a result, all learners’ needs will be met equally, without discrimination or complaints.

·         BA Cognitive Studies (BACS)

·         BA Early Childhood Education (BAECE)

·         BA Early Childhood Administration (BAECEA)

·         BA Education Studies (BAES)

The four groups, BACS, BAECE, BAECEA, and BAES, will all benefit from this workshop because these programs educate young or adult learners. In addition, as already mentioned, Piaget noted that even adult learning occurs through play. As such, conducting a play workshop will educate educators from these programs on the essence of play to learners and enable them to learn and understand that play is more of learning and not just jumping and running around. Play helps children to develop socially, physically, emotionally, and cognitively. It also helps children gain vital skills and develop self-expression, confidence, and problem-solving skills. Thus, through this workshop, the four programs will learn a lot about play and how they can make it part of learning by using or creating learning centers and playing zones within their classrooms or outside to help students learn better. Besides, Stadler-Altmann (2021) asserts that early playing improves a child’s intelligence. As such, children should be allowed to play so they can learn.

In addition, the four programs will benefit from this workshop because it will enlighten teachers on the impacts of playing on learners. Most importantly, play will enhance cognitive development among learners. Stadler-Altmann (2021) says that whenever children play with their peers or individually, their cognitive skills, such as learning, paying attention, and remembering things, are all developing. Through play, children can develop creativity, the power of imagination, and problem-solving skills. With such vital information, the educators from these four programs will ensure they adopt and implement a play-based learning curriculum to support learning. Learning about children’s play will help educators from these four programs realize that it is the teacher’s role to support a child’s learning by providing a motivating and engaging environment that holds an abundance of rich resources of planned activities, large blocks, puzzles, and enough time to explore and a balance of learner-initiated and teacher-initiated learning. Generally, the workshop will give teachers insightful ideas on how to implement play-based learning to help make teaching environments more motivating and engaging, eventually making learning more enjoyable for students.

Once all the children have freely engaged in various play activities, there will be a timed competition at different playing centers’ activities. A group of five learners will be required to engage in a play challenge, and the winning team or group will be awarded. For example, there will be a puzzle or racing competition on the PlayStation, and the winning group will be awarded various toys they can use at home to advance their skills and abilities. Apart from the learning centers being used for competition, they can be used by students later to build or improve their skills in specific play events. They will be allowed to spend as much time as possible in every play area or learning center. Subsequently, this will enable them to practice the skills they acquire in school or those that they have been taught previously.

Islamov (2021) affirms that children competing in playing centers will ensure that teachers are active observers, guides, and intentional organizers. Children competing in playing centers will help them maintain the joy and fun of free play while allowing them to connect authentically with the content they are expected to acquire. Additionally, competition among peers in playing centers is vital as it motivates every learner to put in extra effort on whatever they are doing so they can emerge victorious or win prizes. This way, every group will struggle to win and strive to learn something new while competing. Islamov (2021), whether in games or school, learners must always have a fire kindled from within that motivates them to want to be achievers. Thus, competition in learning centers is the best strategy.

The teacher should group the children or learners with high abilities and those with low skills so that they can interact and play freely. The special needs learners can be grouped with other special needs students or with gifted learners to help them engage in play while learning.

The students will be grouped into six or eight depending on the total number of children.

Grouping of learners is one of the most effective approaches to inspire learners, promote active learning and establish key decision-making, critical thinking, and communication skills. Having flexible groups or groupings where children can play while learning is significant. This is because as students work towards the same learning objective, the activities address the varying learning needs of the learners. Tran et al. (2019), while working in groups, the task given is vital and engaging for all learners, but the task or how they demonstrate whatever they have learned might appear different for every group. Thus, grouping is an effective and powerful practice for improving learning. It enables students to acquire the right help at the correct time and in the right way. Grouping will also enhance inclusivity in class and ensure the struggling learner never feels embarrassed or singled out.