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Play, Learning and Child Development - EDU00125M

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  • Department: Education
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Gill Francis
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
    • See module specification for other years: 2023-24

Module summary

In this module we will look at the evidence linking play with various aspect of children’s development, e.g., cognitive development, physical development, social development, and socio-emotional development. We will also consider debates surrounding the role of play with regards to early childhood education provisions and learning including teacher’s competency in implementing playful pedagogies.

Related modules

n/a

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 2 2024-25

Module aims

The module is intended to introduce students to understanding the role of play in human development, including cognition, emotion, language, physical development, and creativity. Crucially, the students will be expected to critically reflect on theories of play, evaluate evidence for how this affects development and learning, and how this is implemented in educational settings. Students will also further develop their skills at critiquing and presenting their work.

Module learning outcomes

Subject content:

  • Students will evaluate evidence for how play how relates to learning and development.
  • Students will examine the construct of play and how it is enacted in educational settings.
  • Students will understand the role of play in human development.
  • Student will design and evaluate pedagogical approaches that support children’s learning.
  • Students will design environments to support social and playful learning.

Academic and graduate skills

  • Students will gain experience in assimilating information to develop an informed personal perspective on an important applied topic in psychology in education.
  • Students will be able to effectively communicate a reasoned argument, and the evidence underpinning it, in both written and oral forms.
  • Students will be able to identify and synthesise a range of sources e.g. academic articles, media and policy documents and critically evaluate their reliability, validity and relevance.
  • Students will learn to plan and critique scientific research.
  • Students will be able to analyse ways in which theories and data from different disciplines and contexts enhance understanding of a phenomenon.

Students will work proactively and autonomously to select and manage information and use this to engage effectively in debate.

Module content

The following is a list of indicative content for this module:

  • The concept of play. Students will learn about definitions and theories of play e.g., Piaget and Vygotsky and discuss how they influence the way children’s play is measured in research.
  • Play and imagination. Students will discuss the underlying role of imagination across various types play e.g., pretend play, symbolic play, games with rules, etc. and identify links with other related cognitive skills like counterfactual reasoning and theory of mind.
  • Play partners. Students will discuss the role, influence, and impact of play partners on the play experience e.g., parents, siblings, peers, teachers, adults, etc.
  • Play interventions. Students will debate applications of play in researching and working with neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals in diverse contexts including the home, school, and hospitals.
  • Play-based learning. Students will be introduced to the literature on learning through play with a view to critique the evidence for using play as pedagogical tool.
  • Play across the lifespan. Students will learn about how children and adults play, how this relates to creativity, life satisfaction, and well-being.
  • Language and play. Students will learn about how language and play develop together, with a particular focus on how play helps ground thinking in bodily development.
  • Sensorimotor and physical development. Students will learn about sensorimotor and physical development with regards to their role in development and how play and environmental influences affect these.
  • Play and embodied cognition. Students will consider philosophical aspects of play and aesthetics with a view to understanding how to shape the environment to influence play positively.
  • Educational approaches to play. Students will describe, compare, and contrast, educational approaches to supporting play with a particular focus on Scandinavian, Montessori and Steiner approaches.

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Essay		 N/A 70
Essay/coursework
Poster		 N/A 30

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

Poster: Students will consider applications of play in supporting neurodiverse or neurotypical individuals and asked, in groups, to design and present an intervention to their peers to support an identified developmental outcome.

Essay: Students will be provided with a series of topics related to the lecture content and asked to provide a critical analysis.

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Essay		 N/A 70
Essay/coursework
Poster		 N/A 30

Module feedback

Individual written feedback reports, with follow-up tutor meeting, if necessary. The feedback is returned to students in line with university policy. Please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information

Indicative reading

Allee-Herndon, K. A., Dillman Taylor, D., & Roberts, S. K. (2019). Putting play in its place: Presenting a continuum to decrease mental health referrals and increase purposeful play in classrooms. International Journal of Play, 8(2), 186–203. https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2019.1643993

Besio, S., Bulgarelli, D., & Stancheva-Popkostadinova, V. (2017). Play development in children with disabilities. De Gruyter Open Poland. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110522143

Brown, S. L. (2014). Consequences of Play Deprivation. Scholarpedia, 9(5), 30449. https://doi.org/10.4249/scholarpedia.30449

Bruner, J. S., Jolly, A., & Sylva, K. (1976). Play: Its role in development and evolution. Jerome S. Bruner, Alison Jolly, Kathy Sylva (Eds.). Penguin.

Bubikova-Moan, J., Næss Hjetland, H., & Wollscheid, S. (2019). ECE teachers’ views on play-based learning: A systematic review. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 27(6), 776–800. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2019.1678717

Mardell, B., Ryan, J., Krechevsky, M., Baker, M., Schulz, T. S., and LiuConstant, Y. (2023). A pedagogy of play: Supporting playful learning in classrooms and schools. Cambridge, MA: Project Zero.

Smith, P. K. (2009). Children and Play: Understanding Children’s Worlds. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/york-ebooks/detail.action?docID=7104580

Zosh, J. M., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Hopkins, E. J., Jensen, H., Liu, C., Neale, D., Solis, S. L., & Whitebread, D. (2018). Accessing the Inaccessible: Redefining Play as a Spectrum. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1124. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01124


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.