Play and Learning in Early Childhood Education
A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2015) | Viewed by 14126
Special Issue Editor
Interests: early childhood education, mathematics in the early years; playgroups and transition to formal schooling; play and early learning; time and being; poverty and its impact on families and children; sustainability
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Historically, play has been viewed as the foundation of early childhood education. However, in recent years, play has diminished with more emphasis placed on academic skills. The pressures of accountability from policy makers and an increase in standardized testing has resulted in more formal approaches to learning to meet the demands of literacy and numeracy outcomes (Fleer, 2011; Laevers, 2007). Time for imaginative play and rich, open-ended learning experiences have been replaced with structured programs and children sitting at desks completing worksheets. Vygotsky (1966) considered play as the leading activity of development in the preschool years and research has confirmed the vital role of play in all areas of children’s learning and development (as cited in Bodrova & Leong, 2007). Additionally, the role of the teacher is fundamental to high-quality learning during play experiences, where shared and sustained thinking occurs (Siraj-Blatchford, 2009).
This guest-edited Special Issue aims to address how academic outcomes are achievable through play-based programs. For this Special Issue, authors and researchers are invited to submit research articles, comprehensive reviews, policy studies, and other scholarly formats that will add to our knowledge of integrated play and learning.
Dr Marianne Knaus
Guest Editor
References:
Bodrova, E. & Leong, D. (2007). Tools of the mind: The Vygotskian approach to early childhood education. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.
Fleer, M. (2011). ‘Conceptual play’: Foregrounding imagination and cognition during concept formation in early years education. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 12(3), 224-240.
Laevers, F. (2007). The curriculum as means to raise the quality of early childhood education: Implications for policy. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 13(1) 17-29.
Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2009). Quality teaching in early years. In A. Anning, J. Cullen & M. Fleer (Eds.), Early childhood education: Society and Culture (pp. 147-157). London: Sage.
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- early childhood education
- play and learning
- academic outcomes
- early childhood pedagogy
- early childhood curriculum
- role of the teacher in facilitating play
- shared sustained thinking
- intentional teaching
- learning environments
