The importance of play in pedagogy in curriculum delivery and play provision for young children’s learning and development

Abstract

In this study, play, play pedagogy, play provision and teachers’ roles in play in early childhood in accordance with England’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) will be discussed critically and commented with reference to evidence from the literature. Before examining these points in detail, it will be briefly explained what high-quality experience is and what the EYFS document includes about children’s learning and development. Following this, firstly, it will be discussed and explained how play can contribute to children’s development and learning. Secondly, the consideration will take attention on how play pedagogy and play provision might be used effectively. Thirdly, it will be examined role of teachers in play pedagogy and provision in order to provide the children with high quality experience. In conclusion, by examining how play, play pedagogy, play provision and roles of practitioners in the early years should be valued and implemented for children’s learning and development with a high-quality experience in EYFS. However, there is a surprisingly little research about critical review of playful pedagogy from other countries’ early years education system in Turkish related literature. Therefore, this study will contribute to the growing Turkish early childhood education literature about a sample of implementation of early years’ period in English education system especially from the playful pedagogy.