EAS-409 Play in Early Childhood Education

Before this field visit, concepts like “intrinsically motivated” and “process-oriented play” felt like abstract definitions from my lecture slides . Seeing these principles come alive at Rinpung ECCD completely transformed my understanding . By evaluating their Learning Areas Setup , I observed how true child choice is directly facilitated by physical design . When children can move freely between clearly defined spaces like the literacy, block, art, and dramatic play corners, their play remains entirely their own . I watched a child spend fifteen minutes independently selecting open-ended, loose parts to build an imaginative structure . There was no adult evaluating the end product or directing the next step . This was a vivid demonstration of Maria Montessori’s philosophy that “play is child’s work” —the child was fully concentrated, deeply engaged, and learning holistically through self-directed exploration.  One of the most profound realizations during the visit occurred whil...

On 24 March, it was finally time for game show which I have been waiting eager as we have given our best to come up with the role play.  Vivian Gussin Paley (1929–2019) focused on the internal world of the child. A pioneering early childhood educator, researcher, and author, she dedicated her life to observing how young children naturally use fantasy play, storytelling, and story acting to develop language, express their culture, and make sense of the world around them. Vivian Gussin Paley’s "Storytelling and Story Acting" curriculum approach bridges the gap between spoken and written language by transforming a child's individual imagination into a shared literacy experience. In this method, children dictate their original stories word-for-word to an adult, allowing them to see a direct connection between their oral voice, print, and punctuation, which naturally builds essential narrative skills like sequencing, plot structure, and character development.   When the clas...

Reflecting on the evolution of play theories has fundamentally transformed my understanding of the classroom, shifting my view of play from a simple recreational break to a vital developmental necessity. I have learned that play is as Friedrich Froebel famously stated, the "highest expression of human development" because it allows a child’s inner soul to find free expression. This insight alone has reshaped my perspective, I no longer see a "wiggly" child in a classroom as a distraction, but rather as a living organism responding to the Surplus-Energy Theory, needing to expend leftover energy to function effectively. I have also learned that children’s physical needs are the foundation upon which more complex learning is built.                                                                           ...

Our first sessions on understanding play  completely shifted my perspective on what happens inside a primary classroom . Defining "play" has always felt abstract but learning Maria Montessori’s concept that "Play is child’s work" and Jean Piaget's view that "Play is the work of children" grounded it perfectly for me . It made me realize that play isn't just a reward or "free time" given after real learning is done, it is the learning.  During our think pair share  activity, I shared a childhood memory with my partner about climbing trees and building makeshift houses with blankets . That play was entirely intrinsically motivated and process oriented and we didn't care about an end-product, but we just loved the doing .                         However, looking at our current Bhutanese educational landscape, I felt a deep sense of retrospective worry during our slide discussion on modern classrooms . In Bhu...