I.

Play, inquiry and transdisciplinary learning

Early childhood learning and development is essential to one’s wellbeing, and it affects
him in the long run as it will have an influence on what kind of future he is going to
create and/or have. Moreover, it impacts a person’s role, participation, contribution, and
connection to his community.

In the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the learnings and experiences during early
years build the foundations for all subsequent learning (International Baccalaureate
Organization 2009), and it is the starting point when an individual starts to build the very
foundations of his knowledge about the world and how he gives meaning to everything
around him. Educators are strongly encouraged to strengthen and support the interests
of their students, to boost their self-confidence and self-esteem, and to aid in the
development of various skills. The Australian Government (2020) is correct when it
stated that “childhood is an important time for healthy development and learning, and for
establishing the foundation blocks of future wellbeing”. Thus, children must acquire
various skills as early in life as possible to prepare them for formal schooling and for the
future. Early childhood is a sensitive stage for development (Burger 2016).

In the school setting, he starts to learn more skills and knowledge necessary to attain
higher levels of education, and also to acquire social-emotional skills and values such
as teamwork, friendship building, communication and respect (Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare 2022). At this point, the child discovers “a love for learning through
a variety of play experiences” (Irvin 2017).

Play is a vital aspect of child development (Berk 1994; Irvin 2017; Walther 2019; Alharbi
& Alzahrani 2020; Moore 2020). It provides children opportunities to experience
essential skills such as behavioral, communication, social and cognitive. It also
promotes creativity and imagination, which are very powerful tools for learning. Allowing
the children to freely play develops self-regulation skills as well (McGinn 2017). In her
research, McGinn (2017) found that children who were afforded opportunity to engage
in free play, particularly sociodramatic play, showed better self-regulation.
Sociodramatic play promotes socialization, literacy and cognitive development (Fahey
2012). Vygotsky (1967) points out that incorporating play during the early education of a
child results to self-awareness, abstract-thinking and self-regulation.

Through various play experiences, children learn naturally and they are encouraged to
decide, to negotiate, and to make their own choices (Alharbi & Alzahrani 2020) although
still subject to the supervision, assistance and guidance of their educator. Most
importantly, play helps children further their knowledge by building on what they already
know thereby allowing them to have a deeper understanding of their existing and past
knowledge and to strengthen their skills.

Similar to play-based learning, inquiry-based approach is where the teacher merely acts
as the facilitator while the children are doing learning activities (Smallhorn et al. 2015).
In this approach, the educator is not tasked to direct the activity, thus making the
children more responsible in terms of control and direction over the learning activity.

Play and inquiry-based learning produces independent learners. While the children
engage in play, they discover things and become more curious about matters that
interest them which often result to them inquiring further by asking questions or
sometimes even looking for answers independently on their own. Both approaches are
student-centered—students are the ones who direct the learning.

Transdisciplinary learning is an approach where “knowledge is not compartmentalized”

(Mimoun-Sorel 2016). It views knowledge as a wide network of relationships that goes
beyond and across other subjects/disciplines. Each discipline no longer has boundaries
as these are already eliminated so that a particular discipline can be more flexible, thus
resulting to a variety of new perspectives. In transdisciplinary learning, various
disciplines are utilized together in investigating and solving real-life problems. It is
inquiry-driven. Transdisciplinary is the key to creating a program which is aimed at
global problem solving (Smyth 2017).

In the context of IB PYP Early Years Programmes, the International Baccalaureate

Organization (2009) mentions transdisciplinary themes that are considered essential.
The themes are not specific to the typical subject areas that are usually taught in
schools. The themes cover a wide range of subjects, and it is more about connecting
with the self, with other people, and with the world and also creating other connections
to make better sense of things. In the process, the children will learn by continuously
asking questions and seeking answers. These themes can be better explored by using
play as a learning tool. Children will learn best if they themselves experience and act
out certain roles pertinent to the theme, using the past and existing knowledge that they
already have. In the process, they also learn basic decision-making, problem-solving,
communication, and other skills which they can use in real-life situations.

The approaches discussed and the concept of transdisciplinary learning are aligned
closely with each other. Play and inquiry learning is children-directed and teacher-
guided. When students are given sufficient time to engage in play, they usually
encounter problems which they can resolve through inquiry, and by inquiring, the
students are able to explore different disciplines in looking for answers. They find more
ways to solve the problem by looking at different perspectives. In the process, they
learn a combination of various skills and knowledges and such learnings not only
pertain to a single topic; instead, it transcends that.

Furthermore, the approaches are holistic. It does not limit the possibilities and
opportunities for learning. This is why best results can be expected when play and
inquiry are applied in transdisciplinary learning. Students can look at things from several
perspectives and they create connections.

II. Challenges of implementing play and inquiry learning

As earlier discussed, learning approaches involving play and inquiry engage the
students. It triggers the children’s natural motivation to learn about the world and his
surroundings by means of inquiry (Akillioglu & Avci 2018). It encourages the students to
explore, to ask questions and to further investigate. In doing so, they make use of their
past and existing knowledge and end up discovering new knowledge and gaining fresh
experiences. However, these approaches are faced with challenges and limitations as
well, and such are very good topics for debates and arguments.

A huge factor which hinders the integration of play and the utilization of inquiry-based
and interdisciplinary learning in early childhood education is semantic (Parker, Thomsen
& Berry 2022), thereby resulting to the lack of understanding of the importance and
value “play as a foundation for academic concepts” (The LEGO Foundation 2018), and
to the misconception that play is a form of distraction which is why it is an activity which
should be done only during recess or after classes. Semantic being an impediment is a
serious matter because people find it difficult to view play as a learning tool because
there is the learning-play dichotomy. These terms are usually used to refer to very
contradicting ideas. Learning is never used to refer to play; and play is never used when
talking about learning. Because of this, people refuse the idea that play is, in fact,
educational, and that young learners can actually learn through play. The norm/belief is
that children learn only through repetition, memorization and remembering of
information. The dichotomy of learning and play hinders the potential of play as a very
useful tool in learning.

A more complicated obstacle to play and inquiry in early childhood education is the fact
that in several countries, the established curriculum and educational standards still
exclude play or play- and inquiry-based learning activities (The LEGO Foundation
2018). This evident non-recognition of the value of play in learning hampers the
development of the early childhood education system in some countries. In addition to
this, there is also a lack of teacher professional development that is targeted on play-
based learning. This is a result as well of lack of policies and standards fixed by the
Government because of the education officials’ failure to acknowledge and understand
the concept of learning through play. Since the teachers lack the proper training and
confidence to implement the said teaching and learning approach, it will be difficult for
the teachers to gather resources and materials appropriate for a particular learning
activity which incorporates play.

Another challenge is the number of students in one class vis-à-vis the size of the
classroom and the space in which the students can conduct learning activities (The
LEGO Foundation 2018). Movement is very important when it comes to play, and this
will be difficult if the space is too small for a large number of students.
Other obstacles are “assessment and accountability” (Parker, Thomsen & Berry 2022).
It may be difficult to measure the gains and benefits which are associated with playful
learning environments.

Addressing these challenges and problems will start with the Government, its officials
and individuals in charge of creating and implementing education policies. They need to
get rid of their misconceptions and perceptions regarding the concept of play and then
make an effort to have a deeper understanding of the importance, value and role of play
in early childhood education. A whole school, a whole community and a whole system
approach is needed to effectively implement the above-mentioned pedagogies and to
achieve the desired results. The Ministries of Education must have clear and specific
standards in connection to play-based learning; the schools must create strong
partnerships with families and communities so that there will be continuity in the
experiences of the children in the school and home settings and in order to have more
options and access when it comes to resources, materials and support; and quality
professional development for teachers must be provided so that teachers will be
equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to implement a play-based pedagogy
for all children and across settings. .

Support, strong awareness, engagement, critical planning, financing and leadership are
among the factors necessary for its implementation. There is also the need for sufficient
resources, available materials, spaces, and many others. When parents, and key
stakeholders in education are not properly informed about the teaching practice, thus
raising awareness and correcting misinformation are steps as well towards a deeper
understanding of play and its utilization as a tool for learning in early childhood
education.

III. Personal positioning on play, inquiry and transdisciplinary approaches

I am of the belief that play, inquiry and transdisciplinary approaches are effective in
providing children with quality early education. It ensures that the children have fun as
they learn and that the children learn not only literacy and numeracy but also basic
social skills that will prepare and help them to be better members of the community. In
addition to this, the said approaches can promote the children’s wellbeing, self-esteem,
individuality and accountability and responsibility.

Scholars such as Dewey, Vygotsky, Erikson and Piaget all emphasize the importance of
play as a tool for learning in early childhood settings and that the center and focus of
education should be the child (Alharbi & Alzahrani 2020). Hence, learning should be
interactive and active and it must involve the natural world. The children, being the
center of the learning process, are given the freedom to choose the activity in which
they want to engage in and the materials that they want to use. This is important
because children are observed to have the ability to concentrate for longer periods
when they are engaged in activities that capture their attention and natural interests
(Marshall 2017). This is supported as well by Fahey (2012) in his discussion of play and
inquiry, particularly in sociodramatic play where children do a pretend play. He points
out that play should be voluntary, thus the children must be the ones to choose what to
do or play. If the play is based on the choice of the children, their natural curiosity and
interest is triggered thus they are expected to progress beyond their present level of
comprehension and understanding.

As mentioned in the earlier discussions, the role of the educator is to only act as a guide
for the children. According to Robinson et al (2018), the educator can “enrich and
scaffold, facilitate and enable, provide opportunities and gain insights that allow for
meaningful engagement” and aid in the continuance of the child’s development and
learning through play. However, this does not mean that the educator is not expected to
be active. In play and inquiry-based learning, the teachers should show openness in
listening to the ideas of the children; attentiveness in observing the children to be able
to act immediately if circumstances require the intervention of the educator; and
responsiveness in the inquiries of the children. Otherwise, it will defeat the very purpose
and meaning of play and inquiry as learning tools.

Not only is play beneficial to the development and learning of the children, but also to
both their physical and mental health. Robinson et al (2018) mentions that nature play
or outdoor activities aids in boosting the immune system of the children and in
increasing their resilience and reducing their stress levels, thus making them feel so
much healthier. As a result of this, the children will feel good about themselves and they
will develop a better self-concept (Robinson et al. 2018). This will promote and
strengthen their sense of belongingness as well.

However, based on my reading of some journal articles and resources regarding the
subject matter at hand, the difficult task is on the part of the educator in preparing the
environment for the children. No matter how specific the policies and standards are, and
no matter how plenty and strong the support is, if the educator did not sufficiently
prepare the environment and plan ahead for a particular learning activity, then the play-
based approach is bound to be unsuccessful. It is the educator’s role to provide his
students with the best and most appropriate play environments and materials (Robinson
et al. 2018) taking into consideration the profiles and needs of the children.

An open environment is important in a play-based learning. This is because children

learn more effectively by means of sensory experiences and interactive activities and
opportunities, both inside and outside of the classrooms (Marshall 2017). Therefore, if
the space dedicated for the learning activity is very small and limited, then there would
be no space for the children to move freely and actively and engage in the play that they
want.

I also strongly believe that a true educated person is one whose knowledge is not only
limited to the of the confines of traditional subject areas. Knowledges and themes that
are significant globally and that goes across the so-called traditional subject areas must
be incorporated even in early years programmes (International Baccalaureate
Organization 2009). Transdisciplinary learning promotes a deeper awareness and
understanding of human condition and experiences, including the commonalities and
the differences, and also regardless of the latter. Through this kind of learning, the
children become more sensitive to culture, diversity, and experiences. What I find best
about the transdisciplinary learning in PYP is the inclusion of the six themes. The
themes are relevant and appropriate regardless of the age and level of the student/s.
Each theme can definitely be taught and learned depending on the individual
preferences, choices and experiences of the students which will be reflected once they
engage in play and inquiry.

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