Learning through Play in Early Childhood: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Playing is the leading activity in kindergarten education, a unique form of activity that conforms to the age characteristics of preschool children, and an important way to promote the overall and healthy development of children's bodies and minds. This research's purpose was to carry out a literature systematic review on the learning through play in early childhood. This review was estimated on the steps pointed in the PRISMA criteria, as well as new research that merged different research designs. The publications for this study were adopted using two prestige databases: Scopus and Web of Science. This review's four major themes were derived from a thematic analysis, which includes (1) research area, (2) language, and (3) timeline. Thus, the result of this study made several significant additions to the corpus of knowledge for practical reasons. The following findings display the significance of learning through the play method in early childhood: 1) Learning outcomes, 2) Pedagogical, 3) Professional development and 4) Parents' beliefs. The learning outcomes of learning through the play method seem to be a key research topic, while parents' belief is the lacking research topic among scholars. Finally, this paper is concluded with suggestions for future research directions and a call for more diverse research paradigms.

Exploring Preschool Parents’ Understanding of Play-based Learning and its Importance in Early Childhood Education

“…In addition, corresponding to Vogt et al (2018) findings on parents preferring the traditional methods of teaching, this study also reported that very little was made known to them about play as a method of teaching in comparison to the amount of information given either in weekly comments or during Report Card sessions about the schools' efforts to enhance their children's success through the traditional ways of teaching and learning that included reading, writing and arithmetic. However, interestingly, some of the findings reported by this study on parents' preferences of the traditional teaching methods shows contradicting viewpoints from the findings of a systematic review conducted by (Yee et al, 2022). The review which discusses how parents viewed PBL, points out that the roles and functions of parents and teachers were found to be significant in supporting the implementation of play-based learning in preschool settings.…”

“…Nonetheless, although parents do finally understand that play-based learning is important for the child's development, a major concern in the context of Malaysia among parents has and will always be about play-based learning and its impact on children's academic success. Despite the systematic review by Yee et al (2022) and various other international statements including that from NAEYC, UNESCO and UNICEF that posits the benefits of play based learning (PBL) on a child's growth and development, this study fund a deep gap in the implementation of PBL in the ECE context in Malaysia. The result of this study is parallel to that of Tee and Mariani (2018) indicating PBL implementation in the Malaysian preschool education scenario to be far behind as majority child-centred learning where children participate actively in their own process of learning is not being practised in most Malaysian preschool settings.…”