The writers obviously value play as the main form of education in pre-school. This should go without saying, now that we have a Foundation Stage curriculum that is play-based. However, it is still common to observe children in pre-school settings being taken away from their play activities to 'do their work'.
Ironically, the 'work' children are asked to do in pre-school is so much less complex and advanced than their play. Recently I saw a child in a pre-school being led away from an extended, child-initiated, co-operative role-play activity involving maps the children had made themselves, guidebooks they had produced, tickets, several forms of transport and a variety of characters. The 'work' he was required to do involved drawing lines between pictures of animals and the foods they ate. I could see he was close to tears as the adult scolded him for what she saw as laziness.
'You can't expect to play all day - you're here to learn!' she told him.
In some pre-school settings a narrow view that education is just about numbers, letters, shape, colour, animals and nursery rhymes still prevails.
It is not really surprising - this type of knowledge is easy to teach and easy to test. A trainee worker or volunteer helper can easily be asked to 'go through a worksheet' with a child - no special skills are needed. Many parents are in awe of educators and are impressed by tick charts that 'prove' their child is making progress.
More widespread use of schemas in pre-school education would start to address this narrow view. If assessments of pre-school children are based on the content and complexity of children's play, adults will be encouraged to protect and nurture play activities, instead of interrupting them. It will be necessary to spend time and energy creating rich play opportunities, rather than photocopying worksheets and filling in tick charts.
Perhaps more children will then, at last, receive the high-quality, play-based pre-school education they have a right to.
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