Developing Sociocultural Approaches and Reconceptualising The Play-Pedagogy Relationship : Malaysian Experiences
This paper examines contemporary developments in play and pedagogy in early childhood education settings, drawing on Malaysian policies and international play scholarship. Play is also located within contemporary discourses about quality and effectiveness, with a specific focus on “Educational” p...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/610/1/FH03-FSSG-18-12554.pdf http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/610/ |
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| Institution: | Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | This paper examines contemporary developments in play and pedagogy in early childhood
education settings, drawing on Malaysian policies and international play scholarship. Play is also
located within contemporary discourses about quality and effectiveness, with a specific focus on
“Educational” play (Wood, 2010). Although policy texts and policy-oriented research have
provided positive validations for play as integral to ‘effective practice’, there remain significant
challenges in conceptualizing the play-pedagogy relationship. The study reported here, explored
and analysed some of the challenges inherent to incorporating play into preschool classroom. The
research sought to identify any factors that constrain or influence teachers’ implementation of the
play approach in four different settings. This paper draws on structured observations, as well as
interview data on the perceptions and understandings of teachers, school administrators and
parents.
A sociocultural theoretical lens was used to interpret observations and to analyze the
interview data. Research findings reveal that teachers give more weight to the instrumental value
rather than intrinsic value of play. Play serves multiple functions which including recreation
function, learning function, developmental function, revelatory function, and class management
function in the kindergarten practice. Three main forms of play were found in kindergarten daily
routines including play as independent activities, play as components in curriculum, and play as
time-fillers. Priority is given to teacher-initiated play rather than children-initiated play. |
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