by Jeannie Hargreaves (Sophia Institute student, Waldorf Program)
Abstract
In our modern education system the debate among educators and parents continues to focus on the differences between unstructured play vs focused structured activities in preschool and in Kindergarten classrooms. It has become a hot topic in many schools whom claim one learning program is ideal over the other and without academics children will fall behind in elementary grades. Many public and private early education programs have turned towards more structured academic learning activities with less time for free and creative play than ever before. Based on current findings, many child physiologists, educators and pediatricians are raising concerns about the increase in academic focused activities and the lack of free play or recess periods in school today. They are saying children with access to play-based programs have higher executive functioning and will be healthier, wealthier, and more socially stable throughout their lives as a result. Although children whom learn a specific skills such as reading, math or how to play an instrument may be ahead of the non-academics in those areas, the lack of free choice activities overall hinders the child’s brain functions and can have a negative effect on their ability to learn basic life skills.
In our modern education system the debate among educators and parents continues to focus on the differences between unstructured play vs focused structured activities in preschool and in Kindergarten classrooms. It has become a hot topic in many schools whom claim one learning program is ideal over the other and without academics children will fall behind in elementary grades. Many public and private early education programs have turned towards more structured academic learning activities with less time for free and creative play than ever before. Based on current findings, many child physiologists, educators and pediatricians are raising concerns about the increase in academic focused activities and the lack of free play or recess periods in school today. They are saying children with access to play-based programs have higher executive functioning and will be healthier, wealthier, and more socially stable throughout their lives as a result. Although children whom learn a specific skills such as reading, math or how to play an instrument may be ahead of the non-academics in those areas, the lack of free choice activities overall hinders the child’s brain functions and can have a negative effect on their ability to learn basic life skills.
Early learning activities are significant for children’s brain development but many studies suggest the importance of play is essential in helping children to work towards larger goals of their choosing using executive and cognitive brain functioning to work on their desired intentions. Play is suggested to aid in children’s decisions making abilities when they are able to move through activities of their choosing without interference from adults. Play fosters social interaction with peers in an unhindered setting with the benefits of helping children learn to regulate their behavior, work collaboratively while also using communication skills to navigate differences appropriately. Play allows children to test, practice, and problem solve to make conclusions about the natural world and humanity. It nurtures the creative impulses in thinking by constructing ideas from the imagination to act out and formulate concepts beyond prescribed lessons. These are some of the many benefits researchers are concluding in studies about play-based learning to provide optimal growth and development in early childhood education.
Introduction
The main question is, what findings have researchers conducted through evidence based studies to conclude time for free play in the classroom has a purpose in children’s overall successes in school and their development?
Introduction
The main question is, what findings have researchers conducted through evidence based studies to conclude time for free play in the classroom has a purpose in children’s overall successes in school and their development?
Psychologists at the University of Colorado and the University of Denver have studied the schedules of 70 six-year olds and from their findings kids who are exposed to less structured activities with options for longer periods of unstructured play time showed stronger executive functioning skills compared with children who primarily were provided structured activities by the adults such as academics, music lessons, sports, with instructor lead lessons using a controlled set of plans. These children were shown to have lessor executive functioning capabilities which can overall effect their future school performance and everyday life.
Researcher specifically looked at the ability for children to move from one activity to the next on their own without instruction. Self-direction and executive function develops mostly during childhood, the researchers cite it is a mental set of processes that inevitably helps children throughout their lives learn to work towards achieving goals and step to completing tasks—like planning, decision making, manipulating information, switching between activities, and moving past inhibiting thoughts and feelings. It is one factor educators and psychologists use to indicate early school readiness and academic performance, according to previous research cited in this study, and it can even predict success into a person’s adulthood. Children with higher executive functioning have the ability to process, organize, navigate and achieve desired goals with confidence because they have practiced these basic skills at an early age through unstructured play.
Researcher specifically looked at the ability for children to move from one activity to the next on their own without instruction. Self-direction and executive function develops mostly during childhood, the researchers cite it is a mental set of processes that inevitably helps children throughout their lives learn to work towards achieving goals and step to completing tasks—like planning, decision making, manipulating information, switching between activities, and moving past inhibiting thoughts and feelings. It is one factor educators and psychologists use to indicate early school readiness and academic performance, according to previous research cited in this study, and it can even predict success into a person’s adulthood. Children with higher executive functioning have the ability to process, organize, navigate and achieve desired goals with confidence because they have practiced these basic skills at an early age through unstructured play.
Material and Methods
In this study, researchers asked parents and teachers of 70 kindergarten students to record detailed activities their child conducted over a week period with the amount of time spent doing an unstructured activity such as reading a book of the child’s choosing compared to time spent doing a structured task such as a pre-planned lesson. Structured activities were defined as anything instructed and organized by an adult. The unstructured activities where described as any action where the children was in charge of deciding what to do and how to act out their chosen idea. Anything related to free play was considered to be an unstructured activity without the involvement of adults.
At the end of the week, researchers gave the children in the study an executive function performance test which measured by observation how each child chose to complete a given task such as sorting objects into two boxes - food vs school objects. One aspect of the test included observations of how the children played with open-ended materials on their own for an extended period of time.
The goal of the test was to score the child’s level of interest when initiating and starting a given task as it was presented to them. The next observation measured how the child organized and set up the materials to execute the task or their own idea. The third looked for patterns of sequencing and completing steps to accomplish what was asked of them and on their own. Other determining factors included the child’s judgment or problem solving skills and their understanding of when the task was completed were factored in.
Researchers used a rating scale to score the level of assistance the child required in each of the 5 components of executive function measured through a hierarchy of cueing: 0. No cues. 1. Indirect cues 2. Gestures or pointing. 3. Direct cues. 4. Physical Assistance 5. Do for the child after many failed attempts. They also took into account the child’s use of vocabulary and verbal communication during the process.
In this study, researchers asked parents and teachers of 70 kindergarten students to record detailed activities their child conducted over a week period with the amount of time spent doing an unstructured activity such as reading a book of the child’s choosing compared to time spent doing a structured task such as a pre-planned lesson. Structured activities were defined as anything instructed and organized by an adult. The unstructured activities where described as any action where the children was in charge of deciding what to do and how to act out their chosen idea. Anything related to free play was considered to be an unstructured activity without the involvement of adults.
At the end of the week, researchers gave the children in the study an executive function performance test which measured by observation how each child chose to complete a given task such as sorting objects into two boxes - food vs school objects. One aspect of the test included observations of how the children played with open-ended materials on their own for an extended period of time.
The goal of the test was to score the child’s level of interest when initiating and starting a given task as it was presented to them. The next observation measured how the child organized and set up the materials to execute the task or their own idea. The third looked for patterns of sequencing and completing steps to accomplish what was asked of them and on their own. Other determining factors included the child’s judgment or problem solving skills and their understanding of when the task was completed were factored in.
Researchers used a rating scale to score the level of assistance the child required in each of the 5 components of executive function measured through a hierarchy of cueing: 0. No cues. 1. Indirect cues 2. Gestures or pointing. 3. Direct cues. 4. Physical Assistance 5. Do for the child after many failed attempts. They also took into account the child’s use of vocabulary and verbal communication during the process.
Results
The researcher’s study combined parent/teacher ratings with physiological observations and evaluations to score children’s level of executive functioning according to the amount of time they spent in adult directed activities compared with children who were given primarily play-based environments to learn in. The study reveals strong data indicating children who scored higher in executive functioning were primarily exposed to less structured activities overall.
These findings are crucial to understanding how to produce better students staring in preschool. Higher executive brain function can mean the difference between an independent student who is self-directed and motivated to achieve a task despite interruptions and distractions compared to the dependent student, who aimlessly relies on the support of the teacher for guidance and to stay in track.
Although the study exposes evidence proving their findings, researchers admit their tests only prove there may be a correlation between unstructured education and higher executive functioning but there are little known facts about the causation. Do the findings paint a clear picture and is it possible that children with better executive functioning may prefer to participate in less-structured activities more often, while children with worse executive functioning may need to seek out more activities already structured for them?
The researcher’s study combined parent/teacher ratings with physiological observations and evaluations to score children’s level of executive functioning according to the amount of time they spent in adult directed activities compared with children who were given primarily play-based environments to learn in. The study reveals strong data indicating children who scored higher in executive functioning were primarily exposed to less structured activities overall.
These findings are crucial to understanding how to produce better students staring in preschool. Higher executive brain function can mean the difference between an independent student who is self-directed and motivated to achieve a task despite interruptions and distractions compared to the dependent student, who aimlessly relies on the support of the teacher for guidance and to stay in track.
Although the study exposes evidence proving their findings, researchers admit their tests only prove there may be a correlation between unstructured education and higher executive functioning but there are little known facts about the causation. Do the findings paint a clear picture and is it possible that children with better executive functioning may prefer to participate in less-structured activities more often, while children with worse executive functioning may need to seek out more activities already structured for them?
Conclusion
Conclusion: Performance tests alone, however, are insufficient to develop a complete picture of a child’s level of executive functioning when other factors such as temperament, home experiences and inherited traits may play into results. One cannot say if an academic program is better in preschool and kindergarten than an overall play-based education but psychologists involved in the study think this is the first step to better understanding key brain developing strategies to best educate children in environments that provide brain building experiences where students have the possibility of becoming leader of their education with a willingness to learn throughout their lives. Advocates for early childhood education propose a balance of free play with instructed activities at school have their own benefits. Unstructured opportunities for play fosters imagination, creativity, social/emotional awareness and higher brain function while instructed or practices using a structured model teaches children a particular skill, how to follow directions, and builds attention and focus when necessary. Given our goals for children and what we know about human development, a more sensible school day might be roughly 1/3rd teacher-initiated activities, 1/3rd activities jointly planned by teachers and students, and 1/3rd child-initiated activities. There are many ways educators can use this knowledge in their classrooms by providing ample time for both play and recess with opportunities to create using provided materials in conjunction with periods for work related projects taught under the direction of the teacher lessons for higher learning.
Resources
Bonawitz, E., Shafto, P., Gweon, H., Goodman, N. D., Spelke, E., & Shultz, L. (2011). The doubleedged sword of pedagody: Instruction limits spontaneous exploration and discovery. Cognition, 120, 322-330. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2010.10.001
Buchsbaum, D., Gopnik, A., Giffiths, T. L., & Shafto, P. (2011). Children's imitation of causal action sequences is influenced by statistical and pedagogical evidence. Cognition, 120, 331-340. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2010.12.001
Peter K. Isquith, Jennifer S. Crawford, Kimberly Andrews Espy, Gerard A. Gioia. Assessment of Executive Function in Preschool-Aged Children. Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev. 2005; 11(3): 209–215. doi: 10.1002/mrdd.20075. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3648805/
Sparks, Sarah, D. Education Week- Schools Seek to Strike a Balance on Rigor in Early YearsResearch shows young children have a great capacity for deep learning; the challenge comes in crafting nuanced programs. January 2, 2015. https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/01/08/milestone-early-educationstudies-resonate-decades-later.html
Wexler, Ellen. Education Week Teacher – “Study: Too Many Structured Activities May Hinder Children's Executive Functioning”. July 2, 2014. http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2014/07/study_too_many_structured_activities_hinder_childrens_executive _functioning.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-FB&fbclid=IwAR2MTqjdzqzH5jWhnl8Wx45Wf_BMAcPHYefUmCdhcVfghcyyqHf5tKcaI8g
Bonawitz, E., Shafto, P., Gweon, H., Goodman, N. D., Spelke, E., & Shultz, L. (2011). The doubleedged sword of pedagody: Instruction limits spontaneous exploration and discovery. Cognition, 120, 322-330. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2010.10.001
Buchsbaum, D., Gopnik, A., Giffiths, T. L., & Shafto, P. (2011). Children's imitation of causal action sequences is influenced by statistical and pedagogical evidence. Cognition, 120, 331-340. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2010.12.001
Peter K. Isquith, Jennifer S. Crawford, Kimberly Andrews Espy, Gerard A. Gioia. Assessment of Executive Function in Preschool-Aged Children. Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev. 2005; 11(3): 209–215. doi: 10.1002/mrdd.20075. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3648805/
Sparks, Sarah, D. Education Week- Schools Seek to Strike a Balance on Rigor in Early YearsResearch shows young children have a great capacity for deep learning; the challenge comes in crafting nuanced programs. January 2, 2015. https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/01/08/milestone-early-educationstudies-resonate-decades-later.html
Wexler, Ellen. Education Week Teacher – “Study: Too Many Structured Activities May Hinder Children's Executive Functioning”. July 2, 2014. http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2014/07/study_too_many_structured_activities_hinder_childrens_executive _functioning.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-FB&fbclid=IwAR2MTqjdzqzH5jWhnl8Wx45Wf_BMAcPHYefUmCdhcVfghcyyqHf5tKcaI8g
