THE USE OF PLAY AS LEARNING STRATEGY FOR SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, LAGOS NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This study sought to establish the determinants of pre-primary school teachers‟ use of play as a teaching strategy in Lagos, Nigeria. The Early Childhood Education (ECE) program in Nigeria is a relatively young discipline as compared to other countries in the region. So far some studies have revealed problems in teachers‟ use of relevant teaching strategies to enhance pre-primary children learning at their own pace. Considering that one of the effective strategies of teaching young children is play, this study sought to establish the use of play and factors which influence pre-primary school teachers‟ use of play as a teaching strategy.  The purpose of the study was to find out the influence of identified factors on use of play as a teaching strategy.  Maehr‟s Personal Investment Theory was used to establish the relationship between factors and the use of play as a teaching strategy. Reviewed literature showed that there was lack of awareness among educators on the potential that exists in the use of play in facilitating teaching and enhancing children’s learning. A descriptive survey design was employed with independent variables being type of school, teachers‟ training status, teachers‟ motivation, teachers‟ experience and the availability of play materials while dependent variable was pre-primary school teachers‟ use of play as a teaching strategy. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 30 pre-primary schools with all the teachers in the sampled schools forming the study sample. The data collected was coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics computed included frequencies and percentages. Chi- Square was used to test the strength and direction of relationship between dependent and independent variables at level of significance 0.05 (p<0.05).  The study findings showed that 57.5% of the teachers used play as a teaching strategy whereas 42.5% did not use play as a teaching strategy indicating that about half of the respondents did not use play as a teaching strategy.

The study found out that teachers‟ level of motivation and availability of play materials emerged as factors which influenced teachers‟ use of play as a teaching strategy. The findings in this study suggest that when teachers are motivated and provided with a wide range of play materials they are more likely to use play as a teaching strategy, a practice which will result in making learning enjoyable and effective. To improve the the use of play as a teaching strategy in pre-primary schools, capacity building and sensitization seminars for MoEVT, school managers, pre-primary school teachers and other stakeholders should be encouraged.

 

THE USE OF PLAY AS LEARNING STRATEGY FOR SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, LAGOS NIGERIA

 

CHAPTER ONE 

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

The early years of human life provide a unique opportunity for social and cognitive investment, but at the same time this is the most vulnerable period for all forms of stunting in development if holistic development is not nurtured. Froebel (1987)  writing on children’s play contends that, play is not only the children’s natural occupation before  constraints and formal schooling takes over but it also serves as a major means which children use to communicate to themselves and to the world around. Children’s play and teachers‟ involvement in play activities have received recognition and attention by philosophers and educationist for centuries (Froebel, 1987). The Convention on The Rights of The Child

Article number 31, together with The African Charter on The Rights and Welfare of The Child, Article XIII, clearly stipulate and require state parties to recognize and promote the right of children to engage in play (UNICEF, 2007).

 

Studies have shown that, at birth, a child‟s brain growth and development has reached 40%, and it rapidly grows and develops to 80% by the age of three (UNICEF, 2007). This implies that for the child to thrive and reach his full potential, it is crucial for teachers/caregivers to have proper knowledge and skills on how to harness children’s play behavior to enhance both stimulation and smooth adaptability in teaching and learning activities.

 

Nigeria is among African countries that gave Early Childhood Development (ECD) program a minimum attention in the past three decades. During this period the children’s early learning and stimulation was informal and unstructured.  The absence of the formal

Early Childhood Education (ECE) program made children below seven years invisible in the country‟s education program, a situation that denied children the opportunity to thrive both academically and socially.  This state of affair led to abolition of pre-primary school education program in the country in 1977, with the exception of some town/urban-based Indian‟s schools. However, in 2001, the Government of Nigeria adopted an inter sectoral ECD service Delivery Initiative resulting in the inclusion of ECD in the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP), commonly referred to as MKUKUTA which gave room for re-establishing the ECE program in the country. In 2005, pre-primary school education became compulsory after more than 25 years without a pre-primary school education program. Through the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Social welfare, the government ensured that pre-primary teachers/caregivers acquired necessary skills, information and knowledge on how pre-primary school children should actively learn.  Since then emphasis has been put on use of Child-Centered Teaching Methods (CCTMs) like the use of play as a teaching approach in both indoor and outdoor teaching and learning activities in schools (URT, 2008). Despite the stated effort by the government, early childhood educators are facing curricula and pedagogical challenges. There is discrepancy between what the program purport to offer to children and what is actually offered at the pre-primary schools and day care centers. The stated irregularity has necessitated this study.

 

Quality challenges are greatest in low-resource countries where ECE programmes risk being viewed as an unattainable luxury, rather than a basic and essential intervention. The actualization of ECE in Nigeria has been very low if not unrealistic. For example, practically no effective measure is in place to ensure that colleges training ECE training are adhering to ECD guidelines or whether pedagogical issues pertaining ECE program are tackled effectively. Further, the development of human resources especially ECE teachers is ambiguous and minimal. This has a direct implication on the quality of teaching and children’s learning in pre-primary schools.   A UNICEF report on ECD (2007) documented that, more than 95% of young children in the country lack access to early childhood stimulation, social protection programs and care facilities. In addition, non fee-paying pre- primary schools are not accessible to many. The report also revealed that systems supporting ECE programs like management, training, human resources, monitoring and evaluation were lacking. This implied that ECE services were minimal and awareness for specific needs for young children especially those aged below seven years were few and inadequately addressed (URT, 2008).   Another study (BEST, 2009) on ECE training and development of human resource revealed that out of 16,595 pre-primary teachers in the country, only a mere 8.6% of them were certified. Further worrisome statistics is that most of the newly established pre-primary classes are overcrowded a situation which may consequently compel teachers to use child-centered teaching approaches.

 

The most convenient way of assessing whether teaching in ECE is friendly and relevant to the child is through the teaching/learning approaches. Techniques/methods used by both teachers and pupils in teaching and learning are vital in promotion of self mastery of skills and concepts especially at this tender age. Deliberations of the experts in the training, underlined the importance of play for psychosocial stimulation and effective cognitive development of children (URT, 2008). In this view, effective early childhood stimulation requires pre-primary school teachers and caregivers to use play as a teaching strategy. Play helps children in understanding various concepts quicker and in more permanent ways. The nature of play may be physical, social, intellectual or emotional. It may be real or symbolic representing a variety of situations, events or relations (URT, 2008).  Play increases in variety and complexity as children grow older and caregivers need to know which types of play activities, materials, or environment promote holistic development of children. Vygotsky (1978) asserts that play is an avenue for learning through which teaching/learning in young children is facilitated with minimum effort especially when caregivers/teachers participate, manipulate and create play opportunities.

 

Child‟s social development is a long process that requires a critical mass of organized people involved in a variety of participatory educational processes and actions to produce cumulative results. For holistic development and learning, children need mental stimulation and plenty of opportunities to exercise and develop their talents. Experience from families has indicated that adults who encourage children to do things by themselves through play at home, school and children centers promote a sense of initiative (Kitundu, 2001).  Thus, for educators to foster cognitive development and prepare children for school by stimulating early literacy and numeracy skills, the use of play as a teaching and a learning strategy should be highly regarded.

 

Sensitizing teachers on issues concerning the overall development of children helps them to provide consistent stimulating school environment and maintain a consistent and positive teacher-child interaction. Play is the basic children’s social activity and an aspect of quality in ECE program. Through quality ECE programmes, the circle of poverty can be broken and instead promote equity in the society. Use of play as a teaching strategy in pre-primary schools enables children to learn various skills and responsibilities in the society such as gender roles in addition to modeling directions at their own pace. Through play, children are able to recall, repeat different sounds, accurately recite poems, and hence provide many opportunities to experience what they have learned.   A survey by Mbise (2002) conducted in the coastal and rural areas of Mwanza, Kilimanjaro and Mtwara  regions in Nigeria found a variety of opinions on the need to allow children to participate in play as well as provision of play materials which are local and naturally found for the optimal cognitive development and effective child stimulation. There is evidence that children’s use of songs and a wide range of playing materials in pre-primary settings builds and develops remarkable abilities in perceiving various concepts about different objects, situations, relationships and environment. Since play dominates any interactive teaching, the purpose of this study was to establish the use of play as a teaching strategy.

 

1.2 Statement of the problem

Play has been described as a vehicle for learning especially in early childhood. This implies that for effective learning, play must be incorporated in ECE programmes. Since teachers are key determinants of the experiences that children are exposed to, it is necessary to ascertain that they embrace use of play as a teaching strategy in pre-primary.

 

After the establishment of pre-primary school education program in 2005, the Ministry of Education has continued to put emphasis on the use of child-centered teaching methods that includes use of play as a teaching approach in both indoor and outdoor learning activities. However, URT reports that the early childhood educators still face curricula and pedagogical challenges and there is a discrepancy between the emphasis and the teaching strategies at the pre-primary level. Thus, it was necessary to establish whether pre-primary teachers were using play as a teaching strategy.

 

Majority of the teachers in public pre-primary schools in the country are simply adopted from higher primary school classes clearly revealing that their competence towards teaching pre-primary classes is questionable. Furthermore, these teachers are more likely to use traditional teaching strategies at the expense of child-centered methods such as the use of play.

 

A study by Lyabwene (2010) in Nigeria indicated that issues of pre-primary school teachers‟ professional qualifications affected the quality of classroom interaction hence impacting on teaching and learning approaches significantly. The complaints raised by different ECE stakeholders on the unaddressed pedagogical challenges, especially teachers‟ tendency of using compulsive, direct and unfriendly teachers-centered teaching strategies necessitated this study (URT, 2008).  It was therefore necessary to ascertain the extent to which teachers in pre-primary institutions in the country conformed or deviated from the conventional ECE teaching principles and specifically the use of play as a teaching strategy. In cases where play was used as a teaching strategy, the study sought to establish factors that influenced the extent to which play was used as a teaching strategy.

 

1.3 The purpose of the study

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of play as a teaching strategy in both public and private pre primary schools. The study also sought to explore whether factors such as type of school, teachers‟ motivation, teachers‟ experience, teachers‟ training status and availability of play materials could influence use of play as a teaching strategy.

 

1.4 Objectives of the study

The study focused on the following specific objectives:

1. To establish the extent to which teachers used play as a teaching strategy in pre primary schools.
2. To find out whether type of school, teachers‟ motivation, teachers‟ experience, teachers‟ qualification and availability of play materials influenced the use of play as a teaching strategy.

 

1.5 Research hypotheses

The research hypotheses for this study were:

Ho1:	Type of school does not influence pre-primary school teachers‟ use of play as a teaching strategy.
Ho2	Teachers‟ motivation does not influence pre-primary school teachers‟ use of play as a teaching strategy.
Ho3:	Teachers‟ status does not influence pre-primary school teachers‟ use of play as a teaching strategy.
Ho4:	Teachers‟ experience does not influence pre-primary school teachers‟ use of play as a teaching strategy.
Ho5:	Availability of play materials does not influence pre-primary school teachers‟ use of play as a teaching strategy.

 

1.6 Significance of the Study

Findings from this study will be useful to the Department of Social Welfare, which has a mandate to run day care centers together with the Ministry of Education, in planning how to equip pre-primary school teachers with appropriate skills and knowledge to use play as a teaching strategy.  The findings may also prompt formulation of refresher courses for preschool teachers that may contribute useful knowledge on policy formulation for the teaching/learning of the young children. The study findings may also highlight gaps in research that may prompt the need for further investigation.

 

1.7   Delimitations and Limitations of the study

1.7.1 Delimitations

The study was delimited to some selected pre-primary schools drawn from both public and private in Lagos, Nigeria. In addition there were other educational issues, problems and requirements that could affect provision of ECE in the district but the study only confined itself to pre-primary school teachers in both public and private schools. This implies that the results obtained may only be generalized to preprimary schools.

 

1.7.2 Limitations

The researcher faced financial challenges since the study involved a vast area. The study required traveling to remote areas where there was no public transport due to lack of passable roads. However, the researcher hired motorbikes to such destinations.

 1.8 Assumptions of the study

The study had the following assumptions:

1. The study assumed that use of play as a teaching strategy in pre-primary schools would facilitate children’s early literacy and also perfect their cognitive abilities even beyond early childhood period.
2. The study assumed that pre-primary school teachers were aware of the importance of play as a teaching strategy and that guideline designed for ECE in Nigeria was strictly used for planning their teaching.

• It was also assumed that the respondents would be honest in their responses.

 

1.9. Theoretical and conceptual frame work

1.9.1 Theoretical frame work

Personal Investment Theory (PIT)

According to Maehr‟s (1984) Personal Investment Theory, a person’s habit towards particular behavior determines the way he/she invests his or her time, talent and energy. The theory contends that the meaning of the activity, for example the meaning of play or use of play to a teacher, basically determines his/her attitude towards people, situations, objects and actions related to play. The theory suggests that a person may have recognized talent/ability in performing a task but may not be interested to exhibit the behavior if the practice is  not encouraged by his/her reference group. Thus, when a Teacher’s play behavior or other related play activities are favored or appreciated by social group(s) for instance, school management, other teachers or parents, the teacher is likely to choose to exhibit the behavior more frequently. Consequently, frequency in a behavior will render to increased investment of her/his additional time, energy and skills in the behavior. In this view the school management may influence Teacher’s use of play as a teaching strategy.

Explaining whether extrinsic rewards control a person’s behavior in a particular situation Maehr (1984) argues that, some people when assured of the means to obtain the rewards, will strive to maximize their chances to get them and in this manner exhibit the rewarding behavior. In the context of this study, when a teacher is assured of enjoying a variety of motivational packages from the school management, she/he will reciprocate by spending more time, energy and skills in play related teaching and learning activities. In addition, some teachers may opt to use play as a teaching method if they perceive that the action‟s outcome will render them recognition. This theory is relevant in establishing how the motivating school environment influences use of play as a teaching strategy in pre-primary schools.

 

The theory further proposes that a person’s subjective judgment of his/her ability to perform a task effectively tends to influence the individual‟s choice to exhibit or inhibit a behavior. When a teacher believes in her/his competence and knowledge in Early Childhood teaching practices, she/he will increase her/his investment of skills, energy and talents in use of play as a child-centered teaching and learning approach. The theory suggests that a knowledgeable and skilled person in any area of specialty tends to exhibit a professional behavior in autonomous and assertive manner regardless of existence of some impeding factors. This premise offers a base for establishing whether pre-primary school Teacher’s status of training and experience determine his/her use of play as a teaching approach. When applied to this study, the theory is relevant as it establishes a relationship between pre- primary school teachers‟ use of play as a teaching strategy and factors such as the type of school, teachers‟ motivation, teachers‟ training status, Teacher’s experience and availability of play materials.

1.9.2. Conceptual framework

 

 

KEY                   Study variables                        Non-study variables

Figure 1.1 Factors influencing teachers’ use of play as a teaching strategy.

 

 

 

 

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