Play and pedagogy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Play and pedagogy - Essay Example Research has indicated that through play, they are able to develop mentally, physically and emotionally. In terms of social development, children are able to develop their language skills and interaction with others. Children who appear shy are said to become more confident when they are allowed to play. This is owing to the fact that through playing, they are able to open up and interact with the rest of the pupils. Intelligence in children has also been attributed to the same social phenomena. It assists children to develop mentally and reason when they are faced with different challenges. For instance, some games played by children require that major decision-making. In the process, such children are able to develop mentally and deal with different challenges in life. Play has also been imperative when a teacher want to know the talents of such children. One can tell whether a child has leadership skills through this. This is by observing how the children behave when they are inte racting with the environment through play. For understanding important play and pedagogy, the following observation was done in a kindergarten setting. I visited a certain kindergarten with a view to observe how play and pedagogy assist in child development. After receiving permission from the administration, I was allowed to walk into the classroom as well as the field of play to make observation and note down. The following are some of the observations that I was able to make Day 1 Class setting The setting of the classroom in itself indicates that children are supposed to learn through physical illustrations. On the walls, there were different charts, which had different kinds of drawings, some of which had been made by the children. The charts had alphabets, and drawings that represented every word. For instance, in a letter ‘C’ there was a large cat that was drawn to make it easy for the children to understand. The class had large tables with chairs where the child ren were supposed to sit. However, there was a large space in the classroom, which had been left for a purpose. At one corner of the classroom, there was a television set which is use sometimes by the teachers to pass important information to the children. Windows are higher to ensure that children are not distracted. The design of the classroom indicates that safety measures have been taken to protect the children against any form of harm. The pupils In this particular study, I sampled out two pupils that I would use in making observations. They were Jane and James. The pupils observed were between 3-4 years of age. They were jovial as they went on with their activities in school. One of the most striking features is that the pupils came from different sociocultural backgrounds. The class had full representation of different cultures. On the other hand, the class was designed in a way that it would allow children with special needs to be included. The class had two children who wer e physically challenged. They were however able to appreciate learning just like any other normal children. The teacher would ensure that such children got special attention to facilitate learning. Teaching procedures Immediately the children enter the classroom, they are required to get into a circle. Jane and James and the rest of the chilren hold hands as they begin singing songs that