Play-based learning

The early years of care and learning are recognised as crucial for ongoing educational success and future participation in society. Early childhood professionals need specialist preparation to understand and effectively support early years learners.

Teaching Early Years offers a systematic, research-based introduction to educating children from birth to eight years. Leading educators identify the key priorities in early years education and cover developmental issues, curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. Each chapter concludes with questions that guide reflection of the concepts developed in the chapter.

This chapter provides insights into play-based learning and what it means to practitioners working in a range of contexts with early learners in the age range from birth to eight years. The definition of curriculum in the chapter presents a context for young learners, demonstrating how play-based learning is fundamental to the well-being of young learners-be they infants, babies, toddlers, preschoolers or school-aged children. The chapter considers how a socio-constructivist theoretical orientation in the curriculum can be created, with children and adults co-constructing knowledge with play-based learning as the framework. Working with children in an early childhood setting involves much more than keeping them safe, although a safe environment is the first prerequisite for play-based learning. The chapter focuses on the importance of play-based learning and examined this in relation to the development of children in broad groupings of birth to two, the preschool years and entry to formal school from five to eight years.

Copyright © in the collection Donna Pendergast and Susanne Garvis, 2013.
Copyright in this chapters Marjory Ebbeck, Hoi Yin Yim, and Lai Wan Maria Lee, 2013.