Play-responsive Principles
a pedagogical twist on the playwork principles
As you will all probably know by now playwork deeply inspires my work with children, play and adults. But I also realise its limitations when it comes to pedagogical and educational settings - because supporting/scaffolding opportunities for play is not the only responsibility of the adults working there - teaching and scaffolding learning are too (and of course safety, well-being etc are responsibilities held by both).
This has led me to adapting the playwork principles from an Original Learning point of view - where there are three roles - teacher, facilitator and playworker… I have also added a ninth principle here, that has been created through discussion of a possible ninth playwork principle (with Sîon Edwards and Penny Wilson) - I have again adapted it for Original Learning, because while it has not made playwork circles beyond some of us who join Playwork in Progress meetings, it is a vital aspect of the Original Learning Approach where sustainability is a consideration throughout my book and my reflective practice.
Play-responsive Principles
All children and young people need to play. The impulse to play is innate. Play is a biological, psychological and social need, and is fundamental to the healthy development and well-being of individuals and communities.
Play is a process that is freely chosen, personally and collectively directed, and intrinsically motivated. That is, children and young people should not be compelled to constantly follow adult agendas. Play is the brain adapting to a complex world - it is learning, evolving, healing, discovering, exploring and more.
The prime focus of play-responsive educators is to support and facilitate the autonomous play process through pedagogical activities and play opportunities, and this should inform the development of play and pedagogical policy, strategy, training and education.
For play-responsive educators, the play process informs the teaching; and they act as advocates for play and learning autonomy when adult-led agendas dominate.
The role of the play-responsive educators is to support all children and young people in the creation of a space in which they can achieve play and learning flow.
The play-responsive educator’s response to children’s and young people’s playing/learning is based on a sound up to date knowledge of play/learning processes, and reflective practice.
Play-responsive educators recognise their own impact on the play/learning space and children as well as the impact of children’s and young people’s play/learning on them.
Play-responsive educators choose an intervention style that enables children and young people to extend their play and learning. All play-responsive intervention must balance risk (cognitive, physical, social, emotional) with the developmental benefit and well-being of all children, individually and as a group/class.
Play-responsive educators support the development of a relationship between children/young people and the environment. Play, learning and teaching exist within a balanced and sustainable play-ecosystem, rooted in social justice and inclusion. Play-responsive educators acknowledge the origins and fate of materials used, and consider how this may impact play and learning equity and the wellbeing of future generations.
To see the original Playwork principles please click the link.
We cannot assume, as adults, to definitely know the reason behind the play we observe - so play can, at times, appear nonsensical to us… and it is this very nonsensical nature that we must protect even when we know the research says play is good for physical and mental well-being, for learning, for social development etc etc - because once we see play has a purpose there is a tendency to be blinkered in how we view and provide for play - because we are seeking a goal of play rather than play itself; and the moment we strive to make sense of play is when we risk play being play and instead it transitions into playful activities.
As play-responsive educators playful activities can be a part of our teaching and facilitating tool-kit but never as part of our playworker role. When we place on our magical cloak of visible invisibility of playwork (we are only seen by the children when we are needed) we do not interfere in the children’s play with notions of “spontaneous teaching”, instead we park that idea for later - to use in one of our teaching activities/lessons with the understanding that the brain is already primed for this learning. Because if our teaching is aligned with children’s self-motivation then the learning is going to be deeper and more impactful - and the chance of learning flow increased.
If we decide to “spontaneously teach” because the children’s play is ripe with pedagogy then we risk disturbing, changing or destroying the play flow - because we seek to make sense of their “non-sense” and that decision might actually be nonsensical to them in that moment in time.
This is why it is important to be aware of what role we, as adults, are taking. It allows us to be more fully aware of how much time the children are actually being given to engage in autonomous play, and how long they are able to achieve flow. Children will often be at play when we are in facilitator mode - but here we can go in to support learning, to support development and to scaffold self-regulation etc. Personally I think the teaching role should be, time-wise (especially for young children) the shortest role we take. But I have also noticed, that if the play flows for all the children and my teaching is aligned with their play, both individually and collectively, then teaching is incredibly effective and does not require much time, and I can spend most of my time facilitating learning, scaffolding play and stepping back as a playworker.
So what do you think?
Do you think these principles can be applied to schools and not just early years?
