CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The play has not always been welcome in classroom settings, but in recent years as more studies have come out, people are starting to realize the importance of play (sarach and spodeck, 1995).

And it is also discussed by the government as more legislation order has been passed to increase the support of early childhood education so it is becoming increasingly popular in our world today (Pellegrino and smith, 1998)

For many people, they might be wondering what exactly is early childhood education and what it consists of and what are the goals. Early childhood education helps the young child and aspects of their life. It influences society and the future of our nation. It makes the child’s productivity better as they grow (Evans, n.d).

Society has also shown interest in learning more about play (saracho and spodek, 1995). Play is a child’s way of expressing their feelings and their interest. Play has played a lot of parts in the history of the education of children.

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, play is when a person is acting out or act like a person or charter or play is part of a game or something for fun that someone does.(Merriam Webster, n.d)

Background to the Study

Historically, since the 19 century, education has observed the transition from play to learning as children smuggle to leave the world of play at home and enter the world of learning at school.

The idea that play could be used as a tool of teaching and curricular was first put into practice by Pestalozzi (1827), who believed that young children could be educated to developed an inquiring approach to things and words.

He developed a pedagogy that encourages the development of children’s activities that was built on their potential for morals. It was Froebel’s modification of Pestalozzi’s theory, however, that became a medium of learning within the context of schooling.

Froebel proposed that “play is the purest, most spiritual activity, and at the same time, typical of human life as a whole of inner hidden natural life (human beings)” (Froebel, 1885 pp 86-87).He suggested that children continue to maintain continuity in their life by bringing playful activities to their formalized learning experience.

He says play allows children to master many aspects of themselves and their environment through the exploration of feelings and interaction with others (Garvey, 1977).

Froebel observed that the way children play often reveal their inner struggles (Adelman, 1990) and that play often reveal the primary means for children to learn social expectations, attempt to understand culturally appropriate behaviours, learn to manage emotions and gain access to techniques and skills of the world in which they live (Michelet, 1986).

Maria Montessori (1965) also base her teaching methods on the natural play activities of children. She developed her method by bringing to the classroom materials she was designing. She watched the children play with them freely. She discouraged free to play.

Conceptually, Sandra (1993) defines play as a fertile field where a broad range of learning can thrive and flourish. In early childhood classes, play is considered to be the most efficient pedagogic strategy carried out through music role play, games, singing, drama and stimulation.

According to Plato, the teacher’s roll in this was to try to direct the children’s inclinations and pleasures through play towards their final aim in life. One of the earliest significant contributions to the modern conception of the place of play in education was provided by the English philosopher John Locke.

According to Locke (1989), the chief aim of education ought to be a virtue. He believed that children learn best not by being forced if learning was made a recreation. Research shows a strong relationship between play and cognitive development.

Vygostky (1926) sees play as having a direct role in cognitive development with symbolic play having a crucial part in development. In a study by Lieberman (1977), playfulness in kindergartners was found to correlate with higher scores in divergent thinking.

Through play, children use divergent thinking to research solutions to the problem. The play has been recognized as the highest form of research Caplan and Caplan, (974). Play provides many opportunities for children to create, invent, and design as they build, draw, and dramatize.

Play is a natural avenue for the expression of creativity. Dansky and Silvennan (1973 & 1975) conducted experimental studies and found a causal relationship between play and creativity. Creativity is considered the highest form of problem-solving.

Play encourages problem-solving through discovery. Bruner (1972) found that play enhanced children’s ability to solve problems by increasing their behavioural options. In fact, several studies have found that play encourages children’s problem-solving abilities, (Simon & Simon, l953).

Vygostsky, (1976). Piaget maintains that as a child engages in sensory-motor play, he or she is laying a foundation for reasoning,(Piaget, 1962)Children test out concepts and revise them as they play- Processes of categorization, generalization, class inclusion and concept development. Children generalize concepts to new situations as they play.

Kamii and Ewing(1996) found that children make a great variation of generalization as they play. During the play process, children observe events and begin to make fairly accurate predictions as to their probable occurrences. Children learn probabilities through these repeated observations

.Perspective-taking, (Burner& Brainerd, 1979) is a cognitive process that occurs during socio-dramatic play. Other researchers have found even more cognitive benefits of play. Playalsoenhances language development Levy, Schaefer, and Phelps, (1986). Smilansky (1968) found that play improves planning skills.

Academic skills and attitudes were also found to be improved through play (Sylva, Bruner and Genova, 1982).

 Finally, correlation studies done by Johnson, Christie, and Yawkey (1987) showed a positive relationship between Intelligence Quotientscores (IQ) and socio-dramatic and constructive play. Children who were taught how to engage in socio-dramatic play gained in both play and IQscores Saltz, Dixon and Johnson, (1977).

Early childhood education has been known to provide many services to children and their families. Early childhood education is important for young children to experience and learn from. It consists of the age range from birth to 8years (Bruce, 2015).

This means that every childhood can have a big impact on children since the span is for 8years. The toddler and infants program has been one of the fastest-growing programs in recent years (Bruce, 2015).

In early childhood, it should be recognized that the things that we are teaching children are developmentally appropriate for the child’s age. To be successful in teaching children in early childhood, you must understand how the learned and what they can do depending on their age (Bruce, 2015).

One of the important components of early childhood education is play. It has been found that play has many benefits to young children. Many theorists and researchers have different thought and definitions of the play.

Many researchers and theorists have had many reasons why play in good for young children (Saracho and Spodex, 1995). One of the biggest reasons is to help young children development. The play has been studied and research, there is always new research coming out about what play is and its benefits.

The four theories of play are surplus energy, recreation, recapitulation and instinct (Saracho and Spodex, 1995). These theories are about what play is and how play has come about. The surplus energy theory advocates that children build up lots of energy and play is how they release that energy.

The recreation theory thinks of play as a time to relax or free time. The recapitulation theory refers to pay as an act that everyone does. The instinct theory is the thought that play was an inherited act that everyone does. These theories help to bring light to the subject of play and create how we see play in childhood programs today.  

Theoretically, Jean Piaget was one of the proponents who played a vital role in early childhood education. He said children went through four stages of cognitive development. The four stages are; the sensorimotor, the preoperational, concrete operational and the formal operational stage (Saracho and Spodex, 1995).

Sensorimotor start from birth to 2 years, preoperational 2-7years, concrete operational 7-11years and the formal operational from adolescence and last through adulthood (Saracho and Spodex, 1995).

Vygosky was another psychologist or theorist who played an important role in early childhood education. Both Vygosky and Pieget had similar thought on some issues but did not agree on others.

Erik Erikson was another theorist who played a vital role in early childhood education. According to his theory, at the Initiative Vs Guilt stage (3-5years).children assert themselves more frequently and begin to plan activities, make up games and initiate activities with others.

Children develop a sense of initiative, and feel secure in their ability to lead others and make decision. These are the theorists that will be use in chapter two.

Contextually, today’s world is uncertain and constantly changing from shifting career and political landscapes to increasingly digital economies and social life.

New technologies have come that children need to live in and adapt and try to create opportunities to themselves and their communities (Golinkoff and Hirsh-Pasek 2008)Looking at our Cameroonian context, children are seen playing through creative and uncreative play.

Children create their own knowledge. They used papers to build things like aeroplanes, cars, ships and use small bricks to build houses and also used tins of tomatoes to cook inside while the girls assume the role of the mother and daughter respectively the boys take the role of the father and son as well.

Play gives children the opportunity to unlock their creativity and imagination and develop reading, mathematical skills and cognitive abilities, and also develop their fine and gross motor skills. The united nation high commissioner for the human right (UNHCHR, 2016) recognized play as the right for every child and its importance in his/her development.

Statement of the problem

According to Nicolopoulou (2010) and Almon (2003), there has been much discussion about the amount of play that takes place in the classroom.

Warner (2008) stated that “many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them” (P.1) with the push for academics, it seems as though the emphasis on the play has faded from the curriculum and replaced by the major focus on academics in the early childhood.

Both Nicolopoulou (2010) and Englebright (1996) agree that young children learn to understand their world through play exploration and imagination. So the big question I asked is that, is the parent and teachers or educators forgotten the role play plays in early childhood education?

Objectives of the Study

The main aim of the study was to investigate the role of play in childhood education. Specifically, the study is out;

• To find out the impact of manipulation play on the development of early childhood.
• To investigate the impact of symbolic play on the development of early childhood.
• To investigate the impact of solitary early childhood.
• To find out the role of socio-dramatic play on the development of early childhood.

Research Question

The following research questions were formulated to guide this study.

General Research Question

What is the impact of play on early childhood education?

Specific research question

To what extent does manipulative play help in the development of early childhood?

How does symbolic play help in the development of early childhood?’

To what extent does solitary play help in the development of early childhood?

To what extent does socio-dramatic play help in the development of early childhood?