Critique Play-Based Pedagogy
Introduction
A play-based program adopts play as a situation for kids to acquire information. Using this framework, youngsters can survey, explore, spot and resolve bad situations in creative and funny ways. A play-based way includes both youngster initiated and tutor backed schooling. The tutor stimulates kid’s knowledge and learning through communication that intends to expand their reasoning to more advanced levels. Play-based learning improves children’s intellectual and formative performance, as well as set them up for success by equipping them with suitable skills (Robertson et al., 2018). This essay will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of play-based learning in early childhood education.
For instance, when youngsters are having fun with bricks, a tutor can ask for answers to questions that stimulate problem-solving, making accurate predictions and making assumptions. The tutor can also increase the kid’s attention towards literacy approaches, science, and mathematics, enabling them to connect with such approaches through active participation learning (Robertson et al., 2018).
Strengths
In play-based learning, children arrange and understand their civil society, as they interact with others, items, and gadgets. Youngsters can play using different materials that symbolize other objects. This form of play is referred to as symbolic play and holds a lot of importance in growing their creative, cognitive and social skills (Aktova, 2017).
Eases the development of language skills
According to Aktova (2017), participating in intense play from early childhood spurs the growth of language skills. In kindergarten, a youngster’s language grows and expands as they play with kids their age and communicate with adults. Grown-ups assist in their language advancement through play by asking them questions, stimulating conversations and introducing them to words that they are not accustomed to. By playing with them, their language skills are encouraged in a normal way and education is increased because it is fun and suitable for their interests.
Encourages kindergarten skills
Engaging in play that has rhyme and music incorporated in it enhances the growth of crucial skills such as hearing skills and recognizing sounds. Actions such as singing and reciting hymns play an integral role in securing the basis for literacy in general and reading in particular. Repetition, rhythm and rhyme help youngsters to grow their capacity to distinguish sounds and memorization abilities (Aktova, 2017).
Promoting friendly skills and feelings
Participation in playing has a relationship with the improvement of emotional and people skills. Taking part in joint games and circle competitions makes the kids happy because they share their joy with their friends. It also fosters a sense of belonging to a society in them. Youngsters must have a sense of belonging to become active learners.
Recent studies have shown that play-based learning enhances the ability to create positive relationships with the people around us. When kids are playing, they become compatible and convey their needs through words. Emotional know-how and understanding are enhanced through playing since they discover the emotions, feelings and inspirations of their peers. It is important to afford these young ones a chance to participate in playacts for them to show each other empathy and care. Examples of these include fondling their teddy bear when it is “hurt” and giving their dolly food when it is hungry. Playing also helps kids to release stress (Aktova, 2017).
Promotes creativity and originality
Children think that they are playing but owing to the fact that the lessons include academic segments, they are still gaining knowledge. By becoming curious, they learn to create problem-solving from an early age. Applications and related technology-based games have also been developed where children “play” while learning (Aktova, 2017).
Weaknesses
Welham (2015) suggests that fun is not mandatory in the classroom. He argues that learning should neither be entertaining nor boring. It should be in between the two. Welham believes that fun is trivial and has no place in the classroom. He opines that too much fun can make learning distracting to the extent of making some of these youngsters forget what they are learning. He also holds that people wrongly associate fun with amusement. When youngsters repeatedly participate in the same play activity, it won’t add any value to their development. Instead, they should face different challenges daily. Children can be taken to unfamiliar places to play so that they face newer challenges. New playmates can also add value to their learning environment.
In the same vein, he notes, it is malpractice to make classes so boring and uninteresting that children are not able to remember what they are learning. Similarly, it is malpractice to make classes so confusing that the children lose focus. Welham (2015) believes that classes should be made enjoyable, the circumstances should be made thought-provoking and draw the children’s attention and to give them a chance to share their views. Kids learn a lot when they engage in activities that test their knowledge. When participating in an activity, the difficulty level of that kid can be seen and only then can the teacher intervene to help the child to learn. As a result, it speeds up their growth, saving them plenty of time (Ali et al., 2018).
Welham also gives an example of joining children in learning through play. Children can be shown how to behave in the event of an accident through play-based learning. A few minutes after commencing, the kids, acting as a crisis rescue team, can begin asking among themselves where they will get certain first aid equipment and so forth. In some situations, risk-taking can be beneficial for youngsters. Some parents and teachers think that play-based learning is unsafe or not ideal due to the limited role adults have in the approach.
Conclusion
This critical essay analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of play-based pedagogy as an approach for instilling knowledge, exchanging information, vocabulary and the ability to read in youngsters. Play-based education enhances a kid’s intellect and is a foundation for their success because it empowers them with adequate and relevant skills. It also provides a conducive environment for kids to horn their language skills, increases a kid’s ability to distinguish between different sounds and equips them with social skills. Critics of the play-based learning method argue that having too much fun can distract children from focusing on learning, and even though a little fun can be included in the class, children should also be active participants in a class by constantly engaging with the teacher.
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