Purpose
This literature review examines play-based learning in a primary school environment in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia, including Maori students. The overarching question guiding this review is: how does play-based learning affect cognitive development? This literature review will first look into the different types of pedagogical play in a 21st-century learning environment. It will then review both the benefits and challenges for students at the primary school level. Finally, this literature review will look at ways in which play-based learning is able to benefit Maori students and their cognitive development.
Introduction
Much has been written and researched over the last one hundred years about play-based learning in 21st century classrooms. Educators and psychologists throughout the world are beginning to realise the social, cognitive and mental health benefits that students reap through play-based learning. It is recognised that children within the preoperational stage of cognitive development rely primarily on their senses, suggesting that students employ a variety of methods when learning new concepts through play.
There is much controversy around play-based learning in an educational environment. Research indicates that the least successful learning environments are those where children are left to engage in undirected play (Broadhead, 2004; McLachlan, Fleer & Edwards, 2010). Added research supports this theory arguing that play-based learning in most effective when it is interactive and involves people, objects and skilled educators (Leggett & Newman, 2017).
Controversial research argues, however, that children benefit the most from free play, especially in the earlier years of life. Ginsburg (2007) argues that play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social and emotional well-being of the child.
Play
At this current stage, specific research of play-based learning at the Primary school level in New Zealand is somewhat limited. However, what research there is discusses the effects the different types of play have on students social and mental cognition.
Cutter-Mackenzie & Edwards (2013) suggest that play cannot be easily identified as it is always context dependent. There are many types of play, including role play, imaginative play, sociodramatic play, heuristic play, constructive play, fantasy play, free-flow play, structured play, and rough and tumble play; all of which involve a wide range of activities and behaviours that result in a variety of learning outcomes.
Research shows that there are three types of play aligned with pedagogical practices. Open-ended play is important because it provides children with opportunities for exploration and discovery, both necessary for supporting learning. These experiences occur when the teacher provides children with materials that allow for environmental learning with minimal teacher engagement. Play that is modelled play is similar, except the teacher demonstrates and explains the use of materials prior to child engagement. Thirdly, and most importantly, purposely framed play or structured play, play-based learning with a directed learning outcome in mind. These experiences occur when the teacher provides materials in a suggestive environment and is actively engaged alongside the child.
Benefits of play-based learning
Educators in the western world have long been committed to the notion of ‘free play’ or ‘free choice’ as a core pedagogical approach, based on the premise that play provides opportunities for children to expand their thinking (Leggett & Newman, 2017). Research suggests that the benefits play-based learning has on children include the development of a healthy brain, building social and problem-solving skills, enhanced resilience, learning readiness and learning behaviours, and importantly, the happiness and joy that play brings to young children.
This literature review includes three sub-questions that organise the evidence into categories that best describes the benefits that play has on young children.
How does play contribute to the development of a healthy brain?
Scientists have established evidence that play has powerful and positive effects on the human brain. So powerful, in fact, that the amount of play a child does has an effect on their ability to learn. It is estimated that children, from newborn through to seventeen years, only spend between 3% and 20% of the day playing; and with the exception of children who are severely deprived, malnourished, or severely disabled, it is also noted that all children play (Punkoney, 2015).
Ginsburg (2007) argues that play allows children to use their creativity and contributes to the development of their imaginations, as well as their physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Children who practise child-led play, are able to explore and discover the world around them, mastering their world and developing new competencies that lead to enhanced confidence and resilience. Ginsburg (2007) also suggests that child-driven play develops creativity, leadership, and group skills, and builds active and healthy bodies.
In 1964, Dr Diamond and her colleagues at the University of California, Berkley, published a paper about the brain growth in rats. The summary of the paper concludes that rats who played, grew bigger brains, were smarter, and learned new concepts faster, than those who didn’t play. The paper suggests that when rats are young, “play literally changes the brain by initiating lasting changes in the prefrontal cortex” (Punkoney, 2015).
According to research, play- based learning is similar across species. For example, rats, monkey and children all abide by similar rules of play (Punkoney, 2015).
Dr Diamond’s paper argues that play causes the prefrontal cortex in the brain to become bigger and faster. Pellis (2010) adds that play changes the connections of the neurons at the front end of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, and without play experiences, those neurons aren’t changed. This is important because the prefrontal cortex is essentially the brain’s control centre. It is the part of the brain that regulates emotions and solves problems, which leads scientists to believe that play is crucial to healthy brain development. The Scientific research adds that, although there are many kinds of play, in order to make the most of early brain development, children need to be engaging in ‘free play’ without adult interference. Pellis (?) says that by engaging in free play, a child’s brain builds new circuits in the prefrontal cortex that helps it to navigate complex social interactions.
How does play affect a child’s social skills?
Panksepp (2007) says that the function of play is to build pro-social brains that know how to interact with others in positive ways. Ginsburg (2007) argues that undirected play, or free play, allows children to learn how to collaborate with their peers, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills. Research suggests that when play based learning is child-driven, children practise decision-making and problem-solving. Children are able to move at their own pace, discover their own interests and ultimately, engage in passions they wish to pursue.
It is important to note here that there are varying stages of child play. The ‘free play’ activities that children engage in differ based on a child’s maturity level. Younger children, such as infants and young toddlers, start by observing others play and then engage in play on their own. Usually, by two years of age, children start playing alongside each other but are still engaged in their own independent activity. From here, children progress to playing with the same toys yet remain focused on their own goal(s). Research suggests it is around this time, that children begin to work with their peers and their interactions move towards being collaborative in their play activities. This can be known as cooperative play and predominantly occurs between children aged from four to six years. This research implies that children are only just learning to be socially interactive with their peers well into their first primary school years (Morgan, 2017).
Research suggests that play is a crucial part of early primary as children are still in the developmental stages of their prefrontal cortex. Children at this age are learning how to interact with their peers as they are moving from playing next to one another to playing with one another. The importance of play is crucial to these children, as they develop prosocial behaviours and interactive skills, learning to share, cooperate, compromise, negotiate, and develop self-regulation. According to Dr Brotherson, playing with others gives children the opportunity to build important social skills. Children at this age are often exposed to peers from differing cultural backgrounds and they begin to learn to consider the feelings or views of their peers, more about their own emotions and how their actions affect others. These are all important for developing prosocial interactive skills.
How does play affect a child’s ability to learn?
There are two sides to the human brain, the left side and the right side. The left brain is responsible for language, numeracy, literacy, analysis and time. This is the part of the brain where logic, calculation, and planning forms. The right brain, on the other hand, is responsible for imagination, creativity, intuition and empathy. It is through the right brain that humans wonder, dream, and connect. It is the right side of the brain that connects human beings to their sense of self.
Research shows that is it the right brain that develops first, and as a result, children in their early years of primary school are still in the process of figuring out who they are, who they’re becoming and what they feel in their explorations. This research argues that play is especially crucial to children at this age, and that by pushing left-brain activities such as academics on to children, can actually be harmful to their developing brains. Studies suggest that without the capacity to use their academic brains, children who are not able to practise ‘free play’ are at risk of losing qualitative aspects of their imagination, empathy and intuition.
The same research encourages educators and parents to allow children to practise free play, which is unstructured, because it believes that children who have a healthy right brain are more capable in using their left brain tools in positive ways in the future (Gowmon, 2007).
Several studies show that primary aged children are able to concentrate and are more attentive after they’ve engaged in free play, this is play without direction from an adult (Pellegrini & Holmes, 2006).
There is circumstantial evidence that supports such studies, involving the children in China and Japan who attend schools that provide short ‘free play’ breaks every fifty minutes, are among the best academic achievers in the world, according to Stevenson & Lee (1990).
Fisher (1992) analysed forty-six published studies of the cognitive benefits of play and found that ‘sociodramatic play’, which is when children play pretend together, results in improved cognitive-linguistic and social-affective domains.
A study of children aged from one to six years in Britain measured children’s capacity for symbolic play (Lewis et al., 2000). Researchers found that children who scored higher on a test of symbolic play had better language skills, including receptive language and expressive language. This suggests that children who actively participate in play, have further developed neurological pathways in their prefrontal cortex’ which allows for faster and smarter communication.
More circumstantial evidence suggests that children who participate in play are more capable of solving problems. Psychologists distinguish two kinds of problems, convergent problems which have a single correct answer, and divergent problems which have a number of possible solutions. Pepler & Ross (1981) did a study that showed children who were given play materials performed better and showed more creativity when solving divergent problems. Wyver & Spence (1999) did a further study that suggested children who participated in pretend play were more able when solving divergent problems.
There is much evidence that surrounds the notion of free play and it’s benefits of cognitive, social and emotional development in young children. One undeniable feature of play-based learning that fun and enjoyment are the main reasons for playing. Positive emotions experienced by children who play, contribute significantly to an overall sense of well-being and health and improve the quality of life for children and adults.
Challenges of play-based learning
As with all research, there are some challenges that come with the implementation of play-based learning within the classroom. This literature review identifies a number of challenges surrounding play-based learning, including meeting academic expectations, differentiating learning based on children's readiness, and the acceptance of the school-wide community’s pedagogical approach to play-based learning.
- Play-based learning does not meet the curriculum level expectations, particularly within the literacy learning progressions
There are five key competencies in the New Zealand Curriculum:
- thinking,
- relating to others,
- using language, symbols and texts,
- managing self, and
- participating and contributing.
“Key competencies are the capabilities people have, and need to develop, to live and learn today and in the future” (Ministry of Education, 2006).
Although children progress at different levels, the Literacy Learning Progressions states that “all [children] need to be at or near Yellow level after six months of instruction in order to reach the goal of reading at Green level by the end of the first year of school.” Key competencies within the New Zealand Curriculum requires teachers to consider the readiness and willingness of their students, as well as their abilities to learn (Ministry of Education, 2010). Effective teachers adapt the learning to suit the needs of their students, and differentiating the learning is a vital part of effective pedagogy. Some argue that teachers must explicitly teach children the strategies and behaviours if they are to meet the demands of a structured learning environment and that if play-based learning is implemented in the classroom, children are missing the opportunities for acceleration and progression.
Others argue, however, that play is a crucial part of a child’s development. Nathan Mikaere Wallis from the Neuroscience Brainwave Trust argues that research shows being creative makes for more intelligent people and that teachers are doing a disservice to their students if they are making them skip that stage of creativity by focusing purely on meeting academic targets (Kaimai School, n.d.). In addition, Pennie Brownlee argues that play helps develop the limbic system, which in turn develops the frontal cortex, thus making play a vital part for brain development (Kaimai School, n.d.).
While implementing play-based learning in the classroom can be challenging, the major challenge here is the assumption that teachers are not able to meet the needs of the five- year-olds through differentiated learning and explicit teaching opportunities.
- Acceptance of play-based learning research by the school-wide community can make the implementation challenging for teachers
Implementing any inquiry in a school environment needs ongoing support and acceptance in order for it to be successful. As discussed, there is much debate that surrounds the definition of play and its benefits on young children. Problems related to the definition of play and play-based learning can make it challenging for teachers to implement such pedagogy in their classroom settings.
Some people argue that play is frivolous and unimportant and therefore has no place in the classroom. Such theorists contend that it is not the teachers’ role to entertain their students, but to educate them, meaning students should be acquiring more knowledge and skills that they had prior to the lesson. These theorists argue that fun can be a distraction to a children’s ability to acquire new information and while some teaching and learning can be boring, theorists argue that in order for new learning to be meaningful, it needs to be practised and repeated, making it unnecessary for teachers to be spending their time thinking of ways to entertain their students. Said theorists believe that teachers are doing their students a disservice if they are focusing on the enjoyment of their students before the intended learning (Taylor, 2013).
Because of the different beliefs and perceptions surrounding play-based learning, regarding both the definition and its relevance in a school setting, it becomes very challenging for teachers to inquire into the concept of play-based learning within their environment. Although there is research that supports play-based learning in a primary setting, acceptance from the school-wide community is a crucial part of the implementation process.
While there are a number of larger schools in New Zealand that have foundation or transition classrooms, not all rural and smaller schools can accommodate this strategy. This means that these teachers must be able to differentiate their learning and apply play-based learning opportunities to their students within one learning environment.
How can play-based learning benefit Maori students and their cognitive development?
Durie (1994) developed the concept in Maori Health of Te Whare Tapa Wha. He explains that the four cornerstones of the whare (house) represent the four dimensions of hauora (health), and each influences and supports the other. The four dimensions are: te taha hinengaro (mental and emotional well-being), te taha wairua (spiritual well-being), te taha tinana (physical well-being) and te taha whanau (social well-being).
This holistic approach to well-being and health suggests that all four cornerstones of a person's well being need to meet in order for any learning to take place. Wallis’ theory surrounding brain development supports this theory, that a child needs to feel safe (brainstem) before they can access thought and action (cerebrum). This means that a students’ mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, and social needs must be met in order for their brains focus to shift from the brainstem (survival mode), through to the limbic system (emotions), cerebellum (motion and movement), and therefore reach the cerebrum (thought, action and reasoning).
Durie (2004) researched the themes for success among Maori learners across a number of generations and emerged with two major conclusions:
- Maori learners are articulate, thoughtful, concerned about the learning process, and mindful of the importance of education to Maori futures; and
- Maori learners want the best for themselves and for others.
Of the several themes explored, five were given particular emphasis:
- Relationships for learning,
- Enthusiasm for learning,
- Balanced outcomes for learning,
- Preparing for the future, and
- Being Maori.
There is a common theme here, that also aligns with that of other educational documents including Ka Hikitia, Ta Tai Ako, The New Zealand (Maori) Curriculum, and that is positive relationships for learning. Durie (2004) concluded that learning is more likely to take place if there is a positive relationship established between the learner and teacher; where aspirations overlap and where teachers can engage with learners on a personal level. Durie (2004) refers to the definition of a learner-teacher relationship, and suggests that it goes beyond the narrow task of exchanging information, and encompasses personal interest and respect. Play-based learning that is purposeful and structured is one-way teachers are able to begin to establish a positive relationship. Structured play allows for children and teachers to play alongside each other, engaging in the discussion that may or may not be goal-oriented.
Durie (2004) contends that enthusiasm for learning is also a common theme expressed by others, and that learning should be enjoyable for students. Teaching opportunities that are task-oriented and focused on compliance rather than discovery, quickly turn potential excitement and engagement into behaviours that must be managed. Durie (2004) suggests that students and teacher alike need to feel passionate and enthusiastic about the learning for any progress and knowledge acquisition to happen. Durie (2004) also highlights that some Maori students learn better in relaxed settings that align with their cultural values. By offering play-based learning in a classroom setting, teachers are providing opportunities for enthusiasm and excitement among children, as well as creating a safe environment where students feel relaxed and comfortable to explore and discover new things.
Finally, Durie (2004) contends the importance of Maori being Maori. “The curriculum acknowledges the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, and the bicultural foundations of Aotearoa New Zealand. All students have the opportunity to acquire knowledge of te reo Maori me ona tikanga” (Ministry of Education, 2006). The New Zealand Curriculum (2006) identifies what being Maori looks like in schools and in classrooms:
- There are high expectations for the achievement, attendance and behaviour of Maori students,
- Programmes incorporate aspects of te ao Maori,
- Tikanga Maori is valued and promoted, and
- There are opportunities for all students to hear and use te reo Maori, as well as opportunities to participate in kapa haka and powhiri.
The Ministry of Education (2006) adds that:
- School targets are set for Maori student achievement and are reported to the board and the Maori community,
- The Maori community is consulted by the school and is called upon for their expertise to provide advice and guidance surrounding Maori learners,
- A strategic plan outlines strategies for raising Maori learners achievement, and
- Trustees make available sufficient funding to provide for a Maori dimension across the school.
Through play-based learning, Maori students are provided opportunities to explore cultural activities and experiences that contribute to their growth and development as Maori. Traditional games can be taught and learned as part of te ao Maori, and gives Maori learners a sense of belonging.
Conclusion
While there was little evidence to suggest play-based learning should be avoided, in the literature research it was founded upon opinions and assumptions; however, extensive evidence surrounding play was found during this literature review and it was noted that such findings, in support of play-based learning programmes, were able to justify with evidence and research-based theories of practice.
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