The Impact of Play-based Teacher Education Courses on Pre-service ECE Teachers

Sydney Saulino, Verrazzano Class of 2023, completed major in SLS (Birth-2) 

Through developing and completing my research project, I learned about the academic research process and gained a deeper understanding of my topic, which is the Play-Based Approach (PBA) in the field of Early Childhood Education (ECE).

PBA is the learning and teaching that takes place through play. As stated by educational thinker John Dewey, “Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results.” This quote applies directly to my research, as I acquired practical experience in the ECE field which in turn, deepened my understanding of play in ECE. I engaged in play-based activities, which were facilitated by my professors, to learn the involved steps.

I investigated how pre-service ECE teachers' understanding of PBA was impacted by their participation in a play-based teacher education course. I also learned how to evaluate data, formulate justified opinions about the data, analyze academic articles, and combine this information to write an academic research paper.

The skills I developed from the research process (e.g., time management, research, data collection, and writing concisely) will be extremely beneficial in my personal and professional life. Writing my research paper and analyzing the data was a complex process, but it helped me grow as a writer, student, researcher, and future ECE teacher.

After completing this project, I plan to publish my research and continue researching. I envision that the project could be developed further by analyzing how PBA affects student learning in comparison to other teaching methods in ECE settings. After taking the play-based teacher education course and learning the advantages of PBA, I was inspired to incorporate this pedagogical approach into my future classroom to meet the learning needs of my students.