The Role of Play in Early Childhood Education and Pedagogical Challenges in Australian Settings ECE4032

1. Introduction

Acquiring the position of an early childhood educator within an Australian Educational Setting, my key job role is to support childrens learning and growth by making them get engaged in play-oriented activities. Educators in early childhood play a major role in supporting the development of children and make them develop social skills, confidence and motor skills. Their language development is also encouraged by educators in the form of role play, storytelling and songs. Play oriented learning can result in concrete issues and arguments between children during the time when they are engaged together and make a decision on the play's direction (ACECQA, 2022). Play-oriented learning is usually led by child that can make the process difficult for tracking progress as well as preparing children to go ahead with their future education.

2. Role of play

Piaget finds when children are in their pre-operational stage and entails imaginative play can be utilized for highlighting objects. Childrens conceptual knowledge can also be established through dramatic and pretending play. The author also believes children make adaptations to changes within their thoughts or conceptions through pretend play that enables their cognitive development. The limitation includes overestimating adolescents capability as well as underestimating capacity of the infant (Barrouillet, 2015). The theorists neglect social and cultural interactions influence on thinking ability and cognition of children. The Sociocultural Theory of Vygotsky takes into consideration imaginative play activity as an essential one that delivers experience to children by staying within the proximal development zone. Mental symbols can be separated from originality and childrens internal capacity can be augmented by them to control their measures. While getting involved within rule-oriented play, they provide response to certain external pressures along with taking actions in a socially desirable manner (Smolucha & Smolucha, 2021). This framework can ignore individual differences of children in the development and learning process and not give consideration to other factors like biology and genetics which can affected childrens development.

Active play assists overall health and well-being sense and conditions along with bringing physical development among children. Through this activity, children can receive appreciation for active lifestyles, benefits and skills to attain independency within self help techniques like feeding or dressing. Children get physical developed as they have to physically engage within co-curricular activities like jumping, dancing, running and ball games. In addition, through emotional and social development, children develop self confidence among themselves by tackling challenges and experiencing success (Garaigordobil et al., 2022). They also learn to regulate their thoughts and emotions, minimise stress and minimise impulsive attitude when they acts out their events and feedings in which they are concerned or worried.

3. Role of play

When children play individually as well as with other people their cognitive skills and competencies like thinking, learning, remembering and paying attention can be easily developed. These cognitive skills can be developed by children in the form of play. Also, to develop their numeracy and literacy skills, play-oriented learning necessitates thinking interactions knowing science numerals, symbols, words and letters which contain a purpose and share a strong message to people (Jaggy et al., 2023). For instance, the activity of building blocks brings along cognitive and literacy growth among children as children need to apply their skills of problem-solving, spatial awareness and creativity. The theory of Albert Bandura can also be identified as Social Cognitive frameworks where the author places the notion that learning of children takes place by noticing the individuals surrounding them, by carrying out the process of modeling and further imitating the same (Veraksa et al., 2022). The vital limitation that can be observed here include as this theory emphasizes on observable attitudes, it can overlook procedures of internal cognitivism thereby influencing learning. Habermas places a global developmental logic that has the objective to direct maturation and individual learning within moral practical and technical-instrumental knowledge development of children. The disadvantage of this particular theory is there are fewer explanations to attain intercultural understanding in the form of making communication (Veraksa et al., 2022). The language power is neglected along with focusing additionally on clarity and transparency.

4. Personal philosophy

Early childhood educators use the EYLF framework to operate in collaboration with children's family who are the most influential and foremost educators. Responsiveness is showcased by educators to introduce play and ideas for children that constituted vital foundation for decision making following the Australian curriculum (Aussiechildcarenetwork, 2023). To provide proper response to emerging interest and ideas of children, educators determine, extend and anticipate learning of children through questioning which takes place on open-ended basis, challenging their thought process and determining their learning.

5. Personal philosophy

Educators of early childhood to support playful learning of children get involved within sustained and shared conversations and broaden their thinking. Their key purpose remains providing a proper balance between educator, child initiated and child led supported learning. A unique learning environment can be provided that motivate children to find out and resolve their issues (Boysen et al., 2022). Children learn to their maximum potential when they stay in a child-initiated and nurturing play-oriented environment that facilitates trust, self-confidence, autonomy, creativity and individual differences acceptance. The Quality Area 6s objective following the NQS Standard will be applicable in this scenario as it will identify that collaborative connections with family members are pivotal so that standard development and educational outcomes can be attained and community connections dependent on collaboration, consultationand active communication (ACECQA, 2018).

6. Successful play-oriented learning environment

Educators of early childhood can provide meaningful and diverse experiences for all children by changing and adapting to the learning atmosphere successfully. When there is planned movement in childrens progress of learning like they are able to get a huge and free space, they experiences of play get significantly improved. The NQS Quality Area 3 explores that children learn appropriately when they make physical, social and temporal interaction with other individuals comprising objects within their environment (Blewitt et al., 2021). Play spaces which remain free from any barriers assists toddlers and infants to move around as well as explore their atmosphere without showing any type of hesitation.

7. Successful play-oriented learning environment

As per the EYLF, social and temporal elements can be considered a vital part in relation to the learning atmosphere. For instance, allocating space and time for quiet and active plays can assist in the establishment of a routine (ACECQA, 2022). Social development can be noticeable among children when object play takes place. Objects properties are exploited by children to their application within a playful fashion. A successful temporal environment is also created for children where the layout and buildings are not given importance yet focus is on the way in which effective utilization of the space is done (Butcher et al., 2023). The early childhood flow in relation to the learning atmosphere is found to be specifically essential as one kind of temporal space component.

8. Challenges and solutions

Less continuity between school pedagogy and preschool pedagogies suggest standard quality early learning approaches and principles must be looked after to a greater level into school, thereby acknowledging the fact that the procedure of transition is multi-directional in characteristics (Henriksson et al., 2023). There is also lack of consensus regarding the actual meaning of learning in the form of play and it is not understood well by the education community. To the way of adopting play-oriented learning surrounding the school context, it is found that maximum learning has taken place focusing on research and play policy based on pre-school instead of settings of the primary school (Apostolou, 2022). The Quality LTP framework contains the capability to empowered educators by acting as change agents and building a basic understanding level around playful facilitation, impact and pedagogies.

9. Challenges and solutions

By the amalgamation of the EYLF framework and the Quality LTP theory, play will be utilized within the classroom as one kind of opportunity and reward for educators for undertaking administration. Evidence-oriented practice prevalence in the current days obstructs the power to access evidence. The learning theory will deliver a consistent and clear language surrounding learning and play that connects with school communities expectations around learning evidence and the role of educators as facilitators. A constant language is also provided by it for making effective communication to various school communities (Darling-Hammond et al., 2020). Teachers will be able to utilize evaluative and assessment tools for getting directed with particular pedagogical initiatives like project-oriented learning.

10. Summary and farewell

When educators opt for employing playful pedagogies within the classroom, their learning journey constitutes application of facilitation with a particular instructional approach without considering individual learner context and needs. The Quality LTP framework delivers a meaningful and consistent language for communicating to various communities of schools and considering playful pedagogies, benefits and role as legitimate tools for learning. The hardwork continuously placed by educators of early childhood within their settings have inspired me to establish my career within this field really well and be a competent teacher.

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