Play and Environment
Overview
The unit provides early childhood pre-service teachers with the characteristics and theoretical approaches to play and collaborative learning and their role in the curriculum. The importance of physical environments and play resources are explored in practice outlining how they promote children’s active engagement with authentic learning and promote the resilience and wellbeing required for success. The unit details relationships between children's play and inquiry across the range of subject disciplines and learning areas and provides students with practical opportunities to analyse experiences that foster learning in early childhood education.
Requisites
AND
150 credit points (including EDU10026)
01-June-2025
08-June-2025
08-February-2026
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Evaluate the teacher’s roles in supporting and encouraging children’s play and inquiry in inside and outside learning environments
- Compare contemporary and traditional theories of play
- Examine play and understand its complexities, including cultural influences and global perspectives
- Assess key aspects and features of play environments that support learning for children aged Birth-to-eight years of age
- Describe and define aesthetic and creative features of environments that invite engagement, active learning and constructive play
- Analyse nature pedagogy, natural materials and outdoor play spaces in children’s play
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live Online Lecture |
1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| On-campus Class |
3.00 | 8 weeks | 24 |
| Specified Activities Various |
4.00 | 12 weeks | 48 |
| Unspecified Activities Various |
5.50 | 12 weeks | 66 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Swinburne Online
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning | 12.50 | 12 weeks | 150 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Individual | 50% | 1,2,3 |
| Portfolio | Individual | 50% | 4,5,6 |
Content
- Contemporary and cultural considerations with respect to children's play; an overview of the exploration of major theorists and theories
- Theories, critique and constructs of play
- Categories of play
- Pedagogy and play – the teacher’s role
- The environment as the third teacher – Reggio Emilia approach
- Setting up learning environments – theory of loose parts
- Indoor and outdoor play experiences in EC settings and schools
- Nature pedagogy, natural materials and outdoor play spaces
- Selection and maintenance of learning materials and equipment
- Exploration of current understandings of the place of play in appropriate curriculum for children, in both school and prior-to-school settings
- Daily living experiences (routines) in early learning settings and their potential for learning
- Implications for multi and single age groups
- Equity and inclusion in play
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.