The place of play: from playground to policy to classroom well-being

Abstract

In 2010 the Provincial Government of Ontario, Canada introduced a new play-based learning curriculum. Educational stakeholders (i.e. teachers, early childhood educators and student teachers) have been charged with the task of implementing the play-based curriculum, which upholds children's fundamental right to play, as a means to health and well-being. In this paper, we examine educator's experiences with the new play-based curriculum in Toronto, ON, Canada's largest city. While we found that a play-based curriculum has been championed with respect to health and well-being in educational policy, there are many challenges integrating play into teaching practices, especially in an era of standardized testing. We conclude that while there are benefits to play-based learning for children's health, it is important to further investigate whether current iterations of play-based curricula are a new pedagogical site for governing children's bodies or whether play-based curricula allow children to experience, and engage with the pleasure and ambiguities of play in their daily lives in schools.

Keywords:

• Play-based curriculum
• Biopedagogies
• Neoliberalism
• Teachers' narratives
• Transformation

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all study participants for their valuable insights on play-based learning in Ontario elementary schools. We would also like to thank the reviewers of this paper for their thoughtful and insightful comments on this article.

Notes

1. In Ontario's play-based curriculum, kindergarten classrooms are equipped with a kindergarten teacher and an early childhood educator. Teachers administrate long-term classroom planning, assessment and evaluation, the development of report cards and communication with families. Early childhood educators facilitate learning experiences through the implementation of the classroom plan and assist with student assessment and evaluation (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010b).

2. In Ontario, a student teacher is an individual at a university institution who is studying to become a teacher (completing a teacher preparation programme). Student teachers receive mentorship from their AT throughout their practice teaching.

3. Individuals who are physically literate move with competence and confidence in a wide variety of physical activities in multiple environments that benefit the healthy development of the whole person (Physical and Health Education Canada).

4. An AT is a schoolteacher who supervises a student teacher's practice teaching component of their teacher preparation programme. An AT acts as a guide and mentor and often is an individual selected who has demonstrated excellence in the field of teaching.