Playful Learning about Light and Shadow: A Learning Study Project in Early Childhood Education

Anna Eriksson Lindstrand,Lina Hansson,Rebecka Olsson,Agneta Ljung-Djärf

doi:10.4236/ce.2016.72034

Abstract

The purpose of the project was to explore how a learning study (LS) based on variation theory could support the development of playful physics learning in early childhood education. The study explored what patterns of variation used during a three-cycle LS challenged and developed children’s ways of discerning why a shadow occurred. The empirical material comprised a screening (n = 7), three video-documented interventions, and 78 individual pre- and post-test interviews (n = 39) at 4 - 5 years old. Three somewhat different patterns of variation were implemented within a playful frame in the three groups. The results indicate low and non/significant improvements in cycle A, somewhat higher and significant improvements in cycle B, and substantially higher and significant improvements in cycle C. The study indicates a promising ability to combine a playful approach with the variation theory perspective to stimulate children’s understanding of a quite advanced scientific phenomenon. The careful process of identifying potential critical aspects, the awareness of the relationship between the whole and its parts, and the concretization of simultaneity are discussed as key aspects of these findings.

Highlights

This article reports on a learning study (LS) project on physics teaching performed in Swedish early childhood education (ECE) with the aim of exploring how an LS based on variation theory could support the development of playful physics learning in ECE
Aim and Research Questions The overall aim was, as mentioned above, to explore how an LS based on variation theory could support the development of playful physics learning in early childhood education
Qualitative changes from pre- to post-test related to the light source appeared in all cycles

Summary

Introduction

This article reports on a learning study (LS) project on physics teaching performed in Swedish early childhood education (ECE) with the aim of exploring how an LS based on variation theory could support the development of playful physics learning in ECE. Children’s play and teachers’ use of it for learning purposes have recently been criticized as manifesting an ECE “doing” culture emphasizing what to do instead of what to learn (Pramling Samuelsson & Pramling, 2008) In such a context, physics learning, for example, can be about letting interested children do experiments, such as exploring the notions of “sinking” and “floating” using a bucket of water and various items, sometimes without a discussion related to what is happening, why it occurs or how it could be explained. According to the revised curriculum, ECE teachers are supposed to combine play and learning with a focus on content in a more structured way (Swedish National Agency for Education, 2010) This mandate has been found to be a challenge in ECE practice (Swedish Schools Inspectorate, 2012). Forms of theoretically based playful learning are sought, not as a substitute, but as a complement to imagination and role-play, especially in the area of science and technology (Swedish Schools Inspectorate, 2012)

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