Balancing Play-Based Learning With Curricular Mandates: Considering the Views of Northern Canadian Teachers and Early Childhood Educators

  • Shelley Stagg Peterson Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
  • Donna Forsyth Brandon University
  • Laureen J. McIntyre University of Saskatchewan
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs.v40i3.15168

Abstract

We discuss early childhood educators’ perceptions of what constitutes play, the contributions of play to children’s learning, tensions arising from and principles guiding their use of play in their teaching contexts. Participants, who are primary teachers, early childhood educators, administrators and consultants working in northern communities in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Saskatchewan, voiced their views in interviews. Their views are discussed in terms of curriculum expectations relating to play in curriculum documents and the theories and findings within the play research literature.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Shelley Stagg Peterson, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
A former rural Alberta primary teacher, Shelley Stagg Peterson is a professor in literacy education in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Email: shelleystagg. peterson@utoronto.ca
Donna Forsyth, Brandon University
Donna Forsyth spent 16 years teaching in northern Manitoba during 30 years of experience as a teacher and consultant within the provincial public school system. She is currently an associate professor in the Faculty of Education at Brandon University.
Laureen J. McIntyre, University of Saskatchewan
Laureen J. McIntyre is an American and Canadian certified speech-language pathologist who is currently an associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education at the University of Saskatchewan.
Published
2015-12-30
Issue
Vol. 40 No. 3 (Fall 2015): Canadian Children
Section
Child Study

Copyright (c) 2015 Shelley Stagg Peterson, Donna Forsyth, Laureen J. McIntyre

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors contributing to the Journal of Childhood Studies agree to release their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International license. This licence allows anyone to share their work (copy, distribute, transmit) and to adapt it for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given, and that in the event of reuse or distribution, the terms of this license are made clear.

Authors retain copyright of their work and grant the journal right of first publication.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.