C74: Play in the Early Years

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​Play is central to early years.  We know this.  If you are an early years teacher, this is what you do all day long.  This episode focuses on the role of play in the early years within the PYP.  There are many facets that we think about naturally with this age, but there are some teachers that are confined by their school systems to make it happen.  This episode will refer heavily to the PYP documentation, so you can advocate for yourself and your learners.  For the rest of us, it's a gentle reminder that we are on the right track.  We all need that, especially during these times. 

There are many words to describe an early years PYP teacher:

• facilitator
• researcher
• participant
• provocateur
• navigator
• observer
• documenter
• reflective practitioner

When I look at this extensive list, I see educators who are setting the stage for play.  They are facilitating rich discussions through purposeful and varied questions.  They are researching the latest best practice to reach all of their learners.  They are in the thick of the learning with their learners as an active participant.  They are shaking up thinking through intentional provocations that stir the heart, head, and hands.  They are navigating the learning from a macro level to meet content objectives while carefully observing and documenting learner progress.  They are open-minded and reflective practitioners who are focused on continuously improving

These roles are many, but they all lead towards a single purpose of developing independent young learners who take ownership of their learning experiences. 

Designing a Play Filled Day

How do we fulfill all of these targets effectively while managing our time to meet our objectives?  The IB has given an outline of how this may look within a lesson cycle or unit plan development. 
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• planning uninterrupted time for play
• building strong relationships with students and their families
• creating and maintaining responsive spaces for play
• offering many opportunities for symbolic exploration and expression.

If you notice, the conditions above reference time, relationships, learning space design, and exploration.  These are key tenets of play.  

How is our time dedicated towards play?  Do we allow time for our learners to explore ideas on their own to make their own interpretations and connections?  I believe early years teachers on the whole do an amazing job of this through small group work stations, use of varied materials, and interactive learning experiences around the room.  The number one challenge is to get out of the way.  We need to release the control of the learning experience to allow our learners to create their own.  

Another thing that stood out is noticing students’ emerging thinking processes, interests and theories, and responding in ways that extend learning.  How are we doing this effectively on a daily basis?  How is it different from monitoring and documenting students’ learning and development during play, and offering appropriate scaffolded learning experiences for individual students and small groups?  I know most early years teachers are continuously documenting throughout the day, because they understand that everything is assessment.  They are keeping a variety of records, but how are we using the data collected to extend the learning?  Something to consider. 

We know that relationships are the heart of everything we do in school.  By building relationships first, are we able to get the best out of our learners?  What are some strategies you are currently using to make this happen?  Capture it somewhere. 

We’ve recently discussed the importance of learning space design and how it brings about play.  Go back to prior episodes to discover some ideas. 

​Creating Playful Interactions

Finally, how are we offering opportunities for our learners to explore symbolic exploration and expression?  This is so critical to our development as a human on this planet.  We encounter symbols throughout our day, so how are we getting learners to understand and apply these symbols regularly?  How are we making this process come to life using: 

• games
• rhymes, poems, stories
• play
• conversations
• mark-making, drawing
• problem-solving, reasoning
• counting, patterning and sequencing

It’s through play that we make meaning of the world around us.  I know as early years teachers, we want to make play happen more within our practice.  If we are in a more controlled learning environment, how can we add more play into our day?  It’s about careful planning.  Even when I was in the most standards driven environments, I had to find creative ways to merge the local government requirements through an inquiry and play-based way.  It’s possible.  Remember, you can’t do these things alone.  It takes a village, which includes your grade level team and your PYP coordinator.  If you are the only teacher on the grade level, you have your coordinator and access to other early years teachers worldwide through Facebook groups and other social media connections like #pypchat on Twitter.  You can do this. 

For those who are seeking ways to incorporate more inquiry into your practice, I’m currently co-leading a book club on Trevor MacKenzie’s book Diving into Inquiry.  Although we have already started, you can join the club. For more information, go onto Twitter and search for my handle @thinkchat2020.  I have the latest book club flier pinned to my page.