Year: 2020
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Many studies have examined children's understanding of playing and learning as separate concepts, but the ways that children relate playing and learning to one another remain relatively unexplored.The current study asked 5-to 8-year-olds (N = 92) to define playing and learning, and examined whether children defined them as abstract processes or merely as labels for particular types of activities.We also asked children to state whether playing and learning can occur simultaneously, and examined whether they could give examples of playing and learning with attributes either congruent or incongruent with those activities.Older children were more likely to define both playing and learning in terms of abstract processes, rather than by describing particular topics or activities.Children who defined both playing and learning in this way were able to generate more examples of situations where they were simultaneously playing and learning, and were better able to generate examples of learning with characteristics of play, and examples of playing with characteristics of learning.These data suggest that children develop an understanding that learning and playing can coincide.These results are critical to researchers and educators who seek to integrate play and learning, as children's beliefs about these concepts can influence how they reflect on playful learning opportunities. Children's developing understanding of the relation between playing and learningEarly childhood education has increasingly focused on play as a foundation for learning, drawing on decades of research linking children's play with their social and cognitive development [1][2][3][4][5][6].This work has shown that play provides opportunities for children to practice social and emotional skills, to use increasingly complex cognitive processes, and to strengthen bonds with their caregivers and peers [7][8][9].Play can also support more formal learning outcomes, particularly with adult guidance [10][11][12][13].In sum, play is an avenue for many kinds of learning in early childhood.Despite this evidence, studies have also found that children often describe playing and learning as mutually exclusive.From a young age, children describe play as a freely-chosen and social activity that involves positive affect, while learning is mandatory, serious, and overseen by adults [14][15][16][17][18][19][20].The methods used in many of these studies, however, might encourage
Source: PLoS ONE
Authors: Susan M. Letourneau, David M. Sobel
Institutions: New York Hall of Science, Brown University
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,695
OpenAlex ID: W3015684290