The Role of Play at Home and in Kindergarten and Grade One: Parents’ Perceptions

Abstract

Christine Portier is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning at OISE/University of Toronto. She is a former elementary teacher who now teaches graduate courses in elementary education and conducts research on young children's oral language and writing in play contexts in northern rural and Indigenous communities.Adam Murray worked as a teacher in the city centre for Edmonton Public School Board for ten years. He is currently the principal of Kennedy Elementary School and Grimshaw Jr/Sr High School for the Peace River School Division and an advisory committee member for the Northern Oral Language and Writing through Play (NOW Play) project. As a public school educator, he is passionate about teaching children to read, and he continues to research and implement strategies that close the literacy gap of early learners.

What are Singapore parents’ perception of play in the early years?

“…Incidentally, parents' perception of play seems to be in line with the literature on free play which states that play should be fun and enjoyable, and that children should be given the choice to select their play activity or materials (Bergen & Fromberg, 2010;Bullard, 2017;Fisher, 2008;Howard, 2010). However, parents did not mention other possible types of play and their importance in the early years, and their role in children's play (Howard, 2010;Peterson et al, 2017;Pyle et al, 2018). For example, these parents could either be unaware of guided play, or misconstrued guided play to be drill-and-practice or rote-learning (Bubikova-Moan et al, 2019).…”

“…These studies found that teachers with higher professional training in early childhood care and education (ECCE) were able to perceive play and learning occurring simultaneously. Hence, it is possible that parents without professional training in ECCE could lack an understanding or possess a misconception about play and learning in the early years (Howard, 2010;IPA, 2010;Peterson et al, 2017, Pyle et al, 2020. Hence, as mentioned previously, it is vital to organise a variety of appropriate programmes for parents to help them understand the relationship between play and learning in the early years.…”

“…During guided play, teachers and parents can be co-players or take a participative role during children's play activities (Howard, 2010). They can also play an active role in preparing the environment, materials and activities as well as responding sensitively, asking open-ended questions and providing suggestions in order for children to reach precise or intended targets (Peterson et al, 2017;Pyle et al, 2018;Pyle et al, 2020;Toub et al, 2016). Such guided play is also known as purposeful play in the NEL Framework (MOE, 2012).…”

“…If play and holistic development are crucial for children in the early years then, it is important for Singapore parents to understand, appreciate and support play and holistic development (Peterson et al, 2017;Pyle et al, 2018) as well as the play-based learning presented in the NEL Framework (MOE, 2012). In order to provide the necessary information, programs and support to help Singapore parents, it is first important to stop and listen to them.…”

‘We call this “play”, however…’: Navigating ‘play anxiety’ in early childhood education and care markets

“…One primary parental concern about play is that it is idle, unstructured and unconstructive. While competing studies have found differing results in terms of categories of parents who tend to embrace this idea, it remains a view that recurs in studies of parents’ perceptions of play (Brooker, 2010; Peterson et al, 2017; Kane, 2016; Little et al, 2011). Some scholars have found that vulnerable groups such as ethnic minority communities more consistently report concern over the idleness of play (Brooker, 2010; Chowdhury and Rivalland, 2012).…”