The Playing Learning Child: Towards a pedagogy of early childhood

Abstract

From children's own perspective, play and learning are not always separate in practices during early years. The purpose of this article is, first, to scrutinise the background and character of early years education in terms of play and learning. Second, to elaborate the findings of several years of research about children's learning in preschool related to the curriculum of early years education and, finally, to propose a sustainable pedagogy for the future, which does not separate play from learning but draws upon the similarities in character in order to promote creativity in future generations. Introducing the notions of act and object of learning and play (by act we mean how children play and learn and with the object we mean what children play and learn) we will chisel out an alternative early childhood education approach, here called developmental pedagogy, based on recent research in the field of play and learning, but also related to earlier approaches to early education.

African Early Childhood Development Curriculum and Pedagogy for Turkana Nomadic Pastoralist Communities of Kenya

“…Furthermore, although countries appear to respond to international demands to implement the educational rights of children through a robust ECE curriculum, a major criticism is that programs are based too closely on Western ideologies, with policies driven and funded by the World Bank and related multinational agencies, disregarding the uniqueness of each individual country' s contexts (Biersteker, Ngaruiya, Sebatane, & Gudyanga, 2008;Garcia et al, 2008;Pence et al, 2004;Swadener, Wachira, Kabiru, & Njenga, 2008). The emphasis placed on the use of play in learning in ECE interventions in Africa has been questioned as reflecting a model directed by a Euro-American popular cultural narrative of "developmentally appropriate" practices (Samuelsson & Carlsson, 2008). As a result, a Western style of schooling continues to be the foundation of African children' s education, while African cultures including local indigenous knowledge are largely disregarded (Dyer, 2006;Krätli, 2000Krätli, , 2001Marfo & Biersteker, 2011;Nsamenang, 2008Nsamenang, , 2011aNsamenang, , 2011b.…”

Multimedia and cultural heritage: a discussion for the community involved in children's heritage edutainment and serious games in the 21st century

“…From the children's own perspective, during their early years, play and learning are not always separate in practice (Einarsdottir et al, 2009;Samuelsson and Carlsson, 2008). This is one of their major forms of recreation because it is available in their mobiles, and can be done indoors or outdoors.…”

Experiences of Learning from a Person-Centred Web-Based Support Programme for Children with Urogenital and Bowel Malformation

“…The studies of Marton and Pramling (Marton & Pong, 2005;Pramling Samuelsson & Asplund Carlsson, 2008;Pramling Samuelsson et al, 2013;Pramling Samuelsson, 2009) tell us how knowledge is built in childhood and the preschool years. We learn, understand, reflect and ultimately are able to transfer what we have learned to another concept.…”