Play in early years: Educators’ views and practices

Pages: 336-341
Kulsum Kidwai (Centre for Early Childhood Development & Research Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi)

Play is children’s natural tendency and widely regarded a rich context for their learning and development. The importance of play as the basis for learning and education has been well highlighted in different policy documents and curriculum frameworks in India and worldwide. However, in the actual educational setup, emphasis is given on rote learning and subject based information, and play has been neglected and often discarded. This paper presents the preschool educators’ views about the concept of play and its use as a learning tool in Early Childhood Education programmes. A total of 27 educators from seven private preschools and seven ICDS Anganwadi centres were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule and their classes were observed. Interview findings revealed that educators understood play as a source of enjoyment, physical activeness, and a free choice activity. They regarded play as an important childhood activity, but underestimated its contribution in promoting child development and learning. Educators from both settings lack understanding of play based learning. They indicated that they viewed play activities organized by their own selves as leading to learning. Findings suggested that although the educators understood the importance of play, formal structured activities were preferred as well as considered more important. The observation data supported the interview findings and reflected minimal and no use of play based learning. And children’s free choice activities were only allotted for relaxation between formal activities. The concept of playful learning was found missing. This paper will be helpful in assisting education officers in planning and implementing training programmes for preschool educators that are child appropriate and playful. The basic implication of the paper is to give play its central role in children’s learning programmmes and granting young children their right to playful learning and be free from academic pressure.