Play Makes Program Unique: Partners in Early Learning Conference (Professional Services)
Ontario’s Early Learning Program and its play-based curriculum will set a new standard for early childhood education, according to renowned psychologist Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek. “What you are doing here is historic for the world,” Dr. Hirsh-Pasek told 200 early learning educators attending ETFO’s Partners in Early Learning conference in August. The integration of play into the curriculum is not happening anywhere else in the world. The conference took place as 600 Ontario schools were preparing for the beginning of the new Early Learning Program. The program offers four- and five-year-olds full-day kindergarten staffed by a teacher and an early childhood educator working in partnership.
“It is up to all of you to ensure that play is incorporated into every aspect of learning,” Dr. Hirsh-Pasek said. “To groom intelligent, socially skilled, creative thinkers for the global workplace of tomorrow, we must return play to its rightful position in children’s lives today. Playful learning engages and motivates children in ways that support better developmental outcomes and strategies for lifelong learning.” Dr. Hirsh-Pasek is the Stanley and Debra Lefkowitz Professor in the Department of Psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia, where she is the director of the Infant Language Laboratory. She is the author of more than 100 articles and 11 books, including A Mandate for Playful Learning in Preschool, Play = Learning, Einstein Never Used Flash Cards.
“What are the skills we need to nurture in young children?” she asked conference participants. “Information is doubling every two and a half years. If all we teach is information, our students will never be able to keep up.” Instead, she posited, there are six competencies we should be developing in children – collaboration, communication, content, critical thinking, creative innovation, and confidence. Play is the best way to develop these, she said.
Dr. Hirsh-Pasek noted that children need two types of play: free play in which they let their imagination define the rules, and play-based learning. Both types have been cut back in recent years.
“Children are not getting enough time to play,” she told her audience. “In 1981, 40 percent of a preschool child’s time was spent in play. By 1997, the figure had dropped to 25 percent. In the United States, 30,000 schools have dropped morning recess. A study of teachers in Los Angeles and New York found that 25 percent of teachers in LA had no time for free play; 61 percent of teachers in New York and 81 percent of those in LA had less than 30 minutes a day. “But,” she noted, “79 percent of teachers in New York and 82 percent of those in LA spend 20 minutes a day on test preparation.”
Dr. Hirsh-Pasek reviewed the extensive body of research that supports play-based learning. Guided play advances cognitive skills like language and reading, and social skills like emotional regulation and peer cooperation. ”The evidence is overwhelming: to fully prepare children to learn, academically and socially, they must engage in playful learning,” she stated. Implementing a curriculum based on play will not be easy. There is increasing pressure on children to “do well” at school, to do more “work,” to have higher test scores. Dr. Hirsh-Pasek urged educators not to give in to this pressure for the sake of their young students and for the sake of the society to which they will eventually be contributing. “It is time to change the lens on how children learn. You are doing that in Ontario.” To view the whole presentation, visit youreceunion.ca/conference and click on Kathy Hirsh-Pasek.
Early Learning is a Sound Investment
Jill Worthy, an education officer with the Early Learning Division at the Ministry of Education, underlined the unique nature of the new program. “You are pioneers,” she told her audience. Worthy outlined the rationale for the new Early Learning Program and its implementation. She emphasized the research that shows that investing in the early years of a child’s life is one of the best investments a government can make: “Every dollar we spend before a child is six years old saves up to $17 in the[future] reduced use of social services. It pays off economically for society and in the advantages it may give children who are enrolled in programs.”
The ultimate goal is a seamless day that integrates child care and kindergarten programs, and a school site that becomes a central hub for families to access a variety of programs and services. Parental frustration should be reduced as a result. “This initiative will support family life; and improved family life can only improve life for young learners,” she said.