Learning And Teaching Through Play:a Case Study About The Practice Of Play In A Kindergarten

The relationship among play,teaching and curriculum has been the important issue for study in the field of early childhood education. The idea of the play should be the basic activity for preschoolers in the kindergarten promotes the researchers to explore the ways to let paly and teaching integrate into each other.This research is based on the practice of play in a kindergarten,which chosen as a case.The research spent almost two months on making an investigation on the practice of play by means of observation,interview and physical collection,which is to find how the preschoolers learn through play and how the teacher teach through play and make a summary.The investigation results shows that the kindergarten make efforts from three dimensions. They are changing teachers’concepts about play;changing the place of learning exploring the ways of playful learning and teaching.The aims of this research is not only to find how the kindergarten do learning and teaching through play. What is more important is to analyze the difficulties and challenges of the kindergarten to make sure the practice of play.The investigation results shows that there are four main difficulties.Firstly,the activities for the practice of play sometimes are lack of connections and development.Secondly,the playtime sometimes is short and not effective.Thirdly,the practice of play shows high demand of paly materials and resources.Then,the professional development of teacher should be stressed.Finally,teachers would be puzzle about their roles in practice of play because of the "teacher-centered"teaching mode.These difficulties bring challenges for learning and teaching through play: how to breakthrough traditional ways;how to let the manage system ensure the playtime;how to develop and use the play resources;how to let the professional development fit the practice of play;how to solve the contradiction between paly and teaching.The concerns about the safety of preschoolers and study readiness also affect playful learning and teaching. Based on all above,the research supposes to reflect that how to promote the kindergartens to carry out learning and teaching through play,which makes the play and teaching integrated.Firstly,learning and teaching through play shows a kind of concept of what the preschool education should be,which emphasizes the real life of children and their spirit of play. Secondly,the experience of flow in play is the key of carrying out learning and teaching through play.Thirdly,the professional development of teachers should be based on play practice.Finally,the spirit of play should run through the whole preschool education.