PLAYLEARNING

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PLAYLEARNING
Preparing the 21st century child for a global
world
Professor Kathy Hirsh-Pasek - Temple
University Professor Roberta Golinkoff -
University of Delaware
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The Economic Imperative for Quality Early
Education

• For every dollar spent on quality early
  childhood education, society saves a minimum of
  7 and a maximum of 17 on each person.
• - Galinsky (2006) Economic benefits of high
  quality early childhood programs

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WHY?

• On productivity grounds alone, it makes
  sound business sense to invest in young children
  from disadvantaged environments early childhood
  interventions are much more effective than
  remedies that attempt to compensate for early
  neglect in later life. Enriched pre-kindergarten
  programscoupled with home visitation programs,
  have a strong track record of promoting
  achievement, improving labor market outcomes,
  and reducing involvement with crime.

- Heckman Masterov (2004) The
productivity argument for investing in young
children
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But how do we create quality early childhood
environments?

• Research suggests that high quality early
  education programs are characterized by playful
  environments in which children have strong
  relationships with their caregivers and are
  engaged in active learning.

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And this is true for all children

• Rural and urban
• Rich and poor
• Across all ethnic groups
• All children need high-quality early education
  and the opportunity to learn through play!

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But whatever happened to play?

• In 1981, a typical school-age child in the
  United States had 40 of her time open for play.
  By 1997, the time for play had shrunk to 25.
• What percentage is it down to now??

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• We are wearing out our youngest children by
• Engaging in drill-and-kill activities rather
  than playful and meaningful learning, even at the
  youngest ages!
• Testing for factoids rather than real learning

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Expecting children to learn like adults has
consequences

• Preschoolers in the U.S. are being expelled at 3
  times the rate of children in K-12.
• Dr. Walter S. Gilliam, the principal investigator
  of the Yale Child Study
• In the 4 billion dollar tutoring business (still
  growing), 20 of the children being tutored are
  2-6 years old (Junior Kumon and Kaplan)
• National Public Radio June 6, 2005

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And more..

• Educational toys have become a billion dollar
  industry, much of it promoting one-right-answer
  learning and little creativity
• Assessment has become a huge industry in the
  U.S.as accountability becomes the norm and
  learning is defined through a narrow lens

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We are confusing learning with memorization
and academic achievement with success
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Teachers are forced to choose between
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And parents are barraged with books that speak to
their newly created anxietiesabout whether their
children will succeed
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As a society, we have a choice
ROBOTS?
CREATIVE THINKERS?
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The 21st Century Child
Has facts at her fingertips. To be a lifelong
learner, and a productive citizen, she must
become a creative thinker who can use information
in innovative ways.
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It is critical to find some balance

• between the desire to breed little
  Einsteins and the need to foster play as a
  foundation for academic and social learning.

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How did we move from a childhood dominated by
play to one that is more skill oriented?
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We believe thatWell-intentioned parents and
teachers

• Have been misled by . . .
• Exaggerated science
• Societal forces
• Marketing ploys

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Exaggerated Science

• Remember the Mozart Effect?

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The REAL evidence

Professor Hetland (Harvard) examined 67 studies
on the Mozart Effect with 4,564 adults
the existence of a short-lived effect by which
music enhances . . . performance in adults does
not lead to the conclusion that exposing children
to classical music will raise their intelligence.
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Societal Forces

• Even comic strips reflect our insatiable appetite
  for products that will boost IQ and save our
  children from the fate of being gasp normal.

From Baby Blues
Reprinted with permission of King Features
Syndicate
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Marketing Ploys
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In this talk we will demonstrate . . .

• What 30 years of developmental science has taught
  us about how to create lifelong learners.

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The accumulated evidence suggests
A talk in three parts

• 1. Early education is important but . . .
• - How you learn is as important as what you
  learn.
• 2. E.Q. is as important as I.Q.
• Each of you has a role to play in helping
  children become life-long learners.
• - You are the village

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Part 1

• Whats the evidence that early education is
  important ?
• 2. E.Q. is as important as I.Q.
• Each of you has a role to play in helping
  children become life-long learners.
• - You are the village

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Three kinds of studies illustrate this point
Early Language Studies
Early intervention studies
The Head Start Evaluations
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Early Language Learning

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Their goal? To understand the achievement gap
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The findings

• In an average year, children hear
• 11 million words - Professional homes
• 6 million words - Working class homes
• 3 million words - Welfare homes
• By age 3 these children had HUGE differences in
  vocabulary and in IQ scores
• Early Head Start has made a tremendous
  difference here in helping all children hear more
  language and use more language!

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Early learning matters!

• We see this in the Head Start data too

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The Head Start Evaluations

Early Head Start(2002) 17 programs,
3001 families, random assignment study
Head Start Impact Study (2005) 84 programs,
5000 children, random assignment study
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• The Positive Results

Early Head Start(2002)
The programs Center based, Home-based, Mixed
approach The findings Higher Mental Age
scores Higher language scores
gt attention lt aggression
gt parent involvement, e.g., reading
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Positive Results Cont.
Head Start Impact Study (2005)
The programs Head Start program vs. Head
Start-eligible community The findings Head
Start children had gt pre-reading scores gt
pre-writing scores gt vocabulary lt problem
behaviors
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• The positive effect that Head Start attendance
  has on pre-reading skills is comparable to, or
  larger than, the effect that homework has on
  school achievement, the effect that lead
  poisoning has on diminished IQ scores, and the
  effect that asbestos exposure has on cancer
  occurrence (Phillips McCartney, 2005).

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• And in an intervention study that spans into
  adulthood

The Abcedarian Project
Campbell Ramey
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These researchers asked
How much can cognitive development be enhanced
by environmental stimulation?
optimal
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• Loooooong-term intervention study
• Children were either in a high quality
• child care environment or an
• ordinary environment at age 5.
• Children followed until 21 years of age!
• What they found might shock you

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Reading scores over time
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Math Achievement over time
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Percent ever attending a 4 year college
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The bottom line?

• Early experience matters
• BUT.

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How you learn is as important as what you learn

• Preschool children in highly academic, drill and
  kill learning environments are
• More aggressive
• More anxious
• More perfectionistic
• Than those who learn in playful environments
  where learning is meaningful.

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Play Learning
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In reading

• Telling stories
• Word play
• (what rhymes with hat?)
• Singing songs
• Dialogical reading
• Reading product labels
• Engaging conversations

Many of these are already included in the
Virginia Foundations for Early Learning
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READING IS NOT

• Phonics without fun
• Simply memorizing the alphabet or vocabulary
  words
• These do NOT build great readers

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Why?

• Learning works best in meaningful contexts!

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In math

• Finding patterns
• Dividing candy
• Sorting trail mix
• I spy
• Noticing more and less
• (She got more ice cream)
• Lemonade stands
• Playing cards

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MATH for PreschoolersIS NOT

• Memorizing equations
• 1 1 2
• Flashcards of numbers
• Computer software for toddlers

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Even in physics?
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There are lessons learned

• When you throw a ball?
• Or push it to the front of the room?
• Or make it fly.

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As Einstein once said

• "The only thing that interferes with my learning
  is my education."

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How you learn is as important as what you learn

• PLAY LEARNING

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Part 2

• 1. How you learn is as important as what you
  learn.
• 2. E.Q. is as important as I.Q.
• 3. Each of us has a role to play in helping
  children become intelligent and happy.

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A tale of two Spocks

• Dr. Benjamin Spock got it all along social and
  emotional skills matter -- a lot
• Mr. Spock did not get it He is all intelligence
  and no social skills

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From the last two decades of research, it is
unequivocally clear that childrens emotional and
behavioral adjustment is important for their
chances of early school success.
Scientific evidence also points to the power of
social skills for emotional health and
intellectual growth!
Raver, 2003
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For example

• Parental talk about emotions creates children who
  are more sensitive to others emotions.

How would you feel if she took your bear?
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Identifying emotion is important for
understanding yourself and others.
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EQ (emotional intelligence) is important for

• Building moral character in children who learn
  right from wrong
• An understanding of who we are, and
• An understanding of others
• AND
• Believe it or not.it is critical for
• SUCCESS IN SCHOOL AND IN THE WORK FORCE

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EQ does not develop on its own

• Children learn it from adults
• Children learn it from other children
• Children learn it through PLAY

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Part 3

• 1. Early education is important but . . .
• - How you learn is more important than what you
  learn.
• 2. E.Q. is as important as I.Q.
• 3. Each of us has a role to play in helping
  children become happy and intelligent.

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It takes a village to raise a child

• Ancient African Proverb

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Learning is the heartbeat of a strong society.
Andrea Camp
Family
The Arts
School
Library
Media
Religion
Museum
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A Huge GAP
What we know in science
What we do
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It is time to bridge the GAP!
What we know
What we do
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The science seems to

• Fly in the face of a global world that thinks
• Faster is better
• Every moment must count
• Yet there is virtual consensus in our field of
  child psychology that children do not thrive when
  they are hurried with no time to explore!

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Thus, in Einstein Never Used Flash Cards

• We,
• Bridge the gap between science and practice
• Show how children really learn
• Give real life examples that can be used in the
  school room and in the living room (as well as in
  the library, museum and media)

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To reach her full potential as a lifelong learner
. . .
The 21st century child must do more than just
learn the facts she needs to integrate them
into a creative framework that meets the demands
of our global society.
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To reach her potential as a productive citizen
she needs to have a high-quality early education
that will prepare her for the workplace of
tomorrow. We know what it takes to raise
intelligent, well-adjusted, successful
children. It is incumbent upon us to put science
into practice!