Understanding a District’s Vision for Play

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 4:20 pm
  In Roundtable Session: State and District Policies for Equitable Support of Young Children (Table 3)

Abstract

In an ideal world, all children would have access to an education that involves worthwhile opportunities to learn, that are ripe with joy and aim towards fostering depth of knowledges - play can be a way to enact such a goal. This paper examines a district’s newly created play-based PreK program that looked to children’s museums for inspiration. The findings show how administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, parents, and children understood the new program, including what they valued about play-based teaching and learning. Some of the key findings involve discussions about cohesiveness of curriculum across grade levels, readiness, and the roles joy and excitement can play in schooling.

Author

• Kristin L. Whyte, DePaul University