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The Power of Play-Based, Emergent Educators on Preschoolers’ Literacy DevelopmentJessica R SteeleUniversity of New EnglandEDU 690: Action Research10 April 2014Statement of Academic Honesty: I have read and understand the plagiarism policy as outlined in the “Student Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct” document relating to the Honesty/Cheating Policy. By attaching this statement to the title page of my paper, I certify that the work submitted is my original work developed specifically for this course and to the MSED program. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I acknowledge the possible consequences of the act/s, which could include expulsion from the University of New England. AbstractThis study examined the evolving role of the play-based educators and a play-based environment on the emergent literacy skills of preschool scholars. The study concluded that the educators’ role in the classroom is ever changing in function and depth, but never in importance, despite appearance to an outside observer. Play-based emergent educators have a tremendous responsibility to be well planned, well prepared and keenly observant at all times in order to ensure that the curriculum developing out of the children’s play in their classroom is of the highest learning potential. The research concludes that the play-based emergent environment is a suitable, if not preferred option for young scholars to achieve later academic success as there is a greater likelihood that they will have been exposed to creative thinking, problem solving, higher-order thinking and more complex syntactic development.Keywords: play-based, emergent, preschool, teachers’ roles, preschool environment, literacyAbstract……………………………………………………………………………………………2Key Terms…………………………………………………………………………………………2Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………….……3Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….6Rationale of Study………………………………………………………………………...7Problem Statement………………………………………………………………………………...7Participants……………………………………………………………………………………..…8Center Location…………………………………………………………………………………....8The Classroom……………………………………………………………………………..…..….8Research Questions………………………………………………………………………………..9Hypothesis………………………………………………………………………………..………10Ethical Considerations……………………………………………………………………….….10Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………….….11What is Play?………………………………………………………………………………...…..12Play-Based Emergent Curriculum…………………...…………………………………………..14Literacy Development Through Play………………………………………………………….…16Oral Language Through Sociodramatic Play………………………………………….…16Phonological Awareness…………………………………………………………………17The Teacher’s Role………………………………………………………………………………18Designing Effective Literacy Experiences……………………………………………….21Extending Child-Lead Play…………………………………………………....................22Measuring Literacy In The Play-Based Environment………………………………..………….23Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….24Methodology……………………………………………………………………………….…….25Research Design………….…………….…………….…………….…………………..…….…..25Research Questions………………………………………………………………………..……..26Data Collection Plan………….…………….…………….…………….………………..………26Sample Selection……….…………………….…………….…………….…………..…..28Instruments……….…………….…………….…………….………………………….…28Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………………….........30Validity…………………………………………………………………………...….…..30Reliability……………………………………………………………………………..…31Generalizability…………………………………………………………………….…….31Credibility………………………………………………………………………….…….32Ethical Considerations…………………………….……………………………………….…….32Results……………………………………………………………………………………..….….33Findings…………………………………………………………………………..………….…..34Early Literacy Learning Observation Checklist……………………………..…………..36Literacy Developmental Milestone Checklist…………………………………………....39Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………..41Evolution of Play and Literacy Practices………………………………………..……….41Pretend Writing……………………………………………………………….….43Syntactic Development…………………………………………………………..44First Name Recognition…………………………………………………….……45Limitations……………………………………………………………………………………….45Summary and Further Research……………………………………………………….………...46Action Plan………………………..……………………..……………………..………….....….47References……………..……………………..……………………..………………..………….50AppendicesAppendix A……………………….………………………………………………..……53Appendix B……………………….…………………………………………………...…54Appendix C……………………….……………………………………………………...55Appendix D………………………..……………………………….………………….…57List of TablesTable 1…………………………………………….………………….……………..…...27Table 2…………………..……………………..……………………..………………….34Table 3……………………..……………………..……………………..………...……..35Table 4……………………..……………………..……………………..……………….37List of FiguresFigure 1………………………………………..………………..………………………..24Figure 2…………………………………..……………………..………………………..29Figure 3…………………..……………………..……………………..…………...…….40Figure 4……………………..……………………..……………………..………………41Figure 5………………………..……………………..……………………..…………....49The Power of Play-Based, Emergent Educators on Preschoolers’ Literacy DevelopmentUbuntu Education’s Early Childhood Department provides early childhood education to the vulnerable children of South Africa’s Ibhayi Township, where things that most take for granted, like books and eating consistently, are a luxury. Ubuntu’s aim has always been to provide opportunities for the young children of this community to access proper nutrition, world class healthcare and education, which will help them succeed in future, equipping them to be on a pathway out of poverty. The establishment of the Ubuntu Centre fifteen years ago, this April, is a monumental step in stabilizing the community through this holistic approach.Children in South Africa grow up in an environment where there are eleven national languages, which as one can image, impacts literacy development and instruction significantly. At Ubuntu, educators seek to provide a language rich environment for these young children in order to promote engagement and develop literacy attainment that will provide a solid foundation for their school going years and build a view of literacy that is positive, engaging and meaningful (Hanline, 2001).Rationale of the studyWith 41.4% of the country and 77% of the population of the Eastern Cape (Ubuntu’s province of residence) falling below the poverty line according to 2011 census data, one can interpret that a large proponent of this percentage is due to the fact that 2,552,438 of the Eastern Cape’s residents did not finish high school. Of this 2 million plus individuals, more than 375,000 never had any formal schooling and over 650,000 never finished primary school (S.A. Census, 2011). Thus the need for quality education programs that provide a solid and lasting foundation are essential. Early Childhood Development Programs are absent from most areas of Africa, but in recent years this has begun to change. The recognition of the value of early childhood education and the need for educated, qualified, early childhood practitioners is on the rise, particularly in the private sector. The disconnect is still that the poorer communities, who perhaps need this support and service most are traditionally not receiving the quality and level of services needed, if they are receiving them at all. The research site aims to equip community members with the skills necessary to be effective, highly qualified early childhood practitioners and thus provide the young scholars who are the beneficiaries of this program with the educational foundation necessary to enter onto the pathway out of poverty.Problem statementIn recent years education systems, locally and internationally, have pushed the academic structure, previously reserved for the formal academic years into the kindergarten, then early childhood classrooms. In contrast to the rigorous demands imparted on early childhood and foundational classrooms, the use of play as a method for expanding student learning and engagement has been widely investigated in preschool and Kindergarten classrooms during the past two decades. The researcher believes that play allows children to explore their understanding of the world around them, which includes literate behaviors such as reading and writing. According to Owocki (2000), play is a “gold mine in its potential for facilitating literacy” (p.17). Preschool literacy is the building block for future literacy success in school (Beauchat, Blamey & Walpole, 2009; Arthur and Makin 2001); therefore, this research study explores how the adoption of a play-based, emergent curriculum has affected teacher roles in relation to literacy programming and students’ literacy development, in the Ubuntu Preschool classrooms.Participants. For the past ten months, the researcher has served as the Mentor Teacher at Ubuntu Education Fund, working in three preschool and toddler classrooms. The researcher holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and is in the process of completing a Master of Science in Education, specializing in Literacy. The focus of this study is on the Ubuntu Pre-K 4 educators and scholars, whose participants, like all in the organization are African, belonging to the isiXhosa community with the exception of the researcher, who is a Caucasian American. Of the scholar participants, 100% are classified as low socioeconomic status and families are recorded at an 83% unemployment rate (Ubuntu Education Fund data). Of the educators, 66% do not hold a degree of any kind.Twelve Pre-K 4 scholars ranging in age from four years to four years and seven months will take part in this study. Classroom colleagues will aid in this study by taking rating scale surveys at three points during the process and sharing their observations and notes in team planning meetings; additionally, the teaching team designed centers will be discussed and shared in this study. The Early Childhood Manager, in conjunction with the researcher, will conduct meetings with the parents to explain the processes of the study and obtain their consent.Center Location. Ubuntu is located in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in the Ibhayi Township, at number 5 QeQe Street. Ubuntu it situated in a large architecturally designed building which represents the communities need to lean on one another. The building comprises of four multi-purpose spaces, two computer labs, one art room and three Early Childhood Classrooms, which rotate throughout the week to cater for toddler and preschool scholars.The Classroom. The classroom on which the study is focused consists of twelve preschool scholars, two teachers and the Mentor Teacher/researcher. The preschool classrooms feature a ration of 4:1, which allows for optimal observation and interaction on the part of the educator and the development of a classroom community. The classes occur Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week, breaking each quarter to observe the school holidays. Implementing a play-based curriculum is a new teaching opportunity at Ubuntu and will enable the researcher to examine the effectiveness of the approach in relation to educator’s comfort and implementation, as well as scholar development. The researcher will share the results from the study with colleagues at the site, and throughout the school to it’s stakeholders.Research Questions From the outset, Ubuntu has placed literacy attainment as a high priority for students in order for them to build a solid foundation for future education; additionally, the need for play as stimulation, personal expression and to explore one’s environment has been recognized as a key component to self-efficacy, and given the nature and vulnerability of the Ubuntu scholars backgrounds, play has been viewed as a vital element necessary to obtain this personal growth. As the organization embarks on the journey of implementing a play-based, emergent curriculum which blends literacy development into deep, meaningful play, the researcher will study how the preschool teachers’ work with play and literacy. The study will include the evolution of the educators’ role in the play-based emergent classroom, during the action research period. Additionally, the researcher will explore how educators prepare the learning centers and environment to promote literacy development through play. Through this environmental change, the researcher will observe how students interact with literacy materials, in the play-based environment. Through detailed planning and meticulous observations, the educators will track student interaction and monitor literacy development in accordance with the Early Learning Framework for South Africa. The researcher will explore how play-based, emergent activities promote early literacy skills in young children, by answering three distinct research questions.How does the educators’ role in the play-based emergent curriculum evolve to create meaningful literacy learning?How does the educator design effective literacy learning experiences through play?What effects do educators’ intentionally designed, literacy rich, play centers/experiences have on preschoolers’ literacy attainment??HypothesisFollowing on from initial training in a play-based, emergent curriculum, educators will demonstrate an increased and growing competency, in their roles, in the preschool classroom, in terms of facilitating student literacy development through intentional, well designed, play-based learning experiences, engaging the children in deep, meaningful play, led by student interest in carefully developed literacy and play centers with support provided through scaffolding, to the learners.Based on a review of current research and the experiences and data gathered in the Ubuntu Centre, the researcher will share conclusions about supporting early literacy development through well-trained play-based educators, delivered within a play-based, emergent environment.Ethical ConsiderationsThe Early Childhood Manager was informed of the proposed research study. An agreement was reached that a notice explaining the study would be sent home (see Appendix A) and that the Mentor Teacher and Early Childhood Manager would conduct meeting with parents to answer questions and obtain their consent. Parents would be informed of the purpose of the research and the students’ role in the study. The letter emphasizes that student participation is voluntary, the strictest confidentiality will be maintained, and no additional risks to students are foreseen. Within the classroom, measures will be taken to safeguard the welfare and rights of the research participants (Mills, 2013, p.26). Students will be informed that they are being observed in their classroom; however, this is a common practice and students will likely not notice any difference to their day-to-day classroom interactions with the researcher. Educators are willing participants as it is organization wide policy that research be conducted yearly; contracts stipulate involvement and agreement in order to avoid delays in the launch of any research conducted on site. The day-to-day role of the educator will not be interrupted by the study, in fact, it will be aided by the research as a support tool in their personal development as play-based educators.Literature ReviewPlay-based emergent curriculum is not a new phenomenon to the world of early childhood education; however its’ arrival to the shores of South Africa, an educational environment commonly built on standards and outcomes based curriculums might come as a surprise to many in the field. Additionally, its launch in an impoverished community is largely unheard of in research. The power of play and thus, learning through play, has been a topic of exploration for the past thirty years, perhaps most resoundingly followed by those who research and pay homage to the work of Vygotsky. In competition to this methodology is the more rigid approach, which treats preschool classrooms as preparatory models of future academically driven grades, in large part due to the influx of assessments, standards, and even accountability in schools that has come about since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002.This removal of play and the adoption of a more rigid, drill-and-kill approach to learning has inadvertently launched a whole new generation of play-based enthusiasts and an increase in research related to the effects of a play-based preschool approach to future gains in social-emotional, intrapersonal and future academic success. “Decades of research, following these early studies, indicates that preschool models with substantial play components lead to academic outcomes that are at least equivalent and, in most cases, greater than those of direct instructional models” (The Center for Early Childhood Education [White Paper], 2009, p.2). Research conducted at Harvard University, Barnard University Toddler Center, Columbia University's Rita Gold Preschool, and the High Scope Preschool Project support this finding.In this literature review, the researcher demonstrates how play can further the ambitious goal of providing quality, early literacy programming in the preschool environment, through instruction that encompasses research-based evidence, strong standards, and a play-based curriculum environment. The current trend in preschool curriculum models and teaching methodologies lends to the development of a child lead, play-based emergent curriculum in which the teacher acts as a reflective observer and facilitator of literacy learning through which children demonstrate literacy attainment which is on par or exceeding their peers in more rigidly structured classrooms.What is play?In a 2012 Early Learning Framework conference, in Australia, Barblett (2012) called out for participant teachers’ responses to the question, what is play? It was discussed that play is a difficult concept, but that if it is going to be utilized as a cornerstone for preschool pedagogy, then we should all understand what exactly is meant by the term ‘play’ (p.2). This exploration has sparked abundant discussion, as the sheer nature of play is that it is difficult to define; it is ever changing and evolving, which is part of the beauty of play, as a means of learning. Play is voluntary, which lends to its’ ability for students to take ownership of it. If a child is playing, and learning through that play, as research suggests, then they are far more likely to take ownership of the learning since they were voluntarily exposed to their play; this drastically affects their motivation to learn. Play is active, whether this means physically or mentally through deep thought or “verbal engagement with people, objects and ideas” (Barblett, 2012, p.3) as one manipulates objects or ideas to develop understanding. Outsider observers often overlook this area as learning in the process of occurring, when in fact it is one of the most valuable manipulations young children enact.Play is process-oriented. This might give the illusion that play has a structure; however, while it is a process it is not a process that is guided by the end-result, but rather by the activity itself. Perhaps the most important aspect of play as a process is that play is susceptible to suggestion and possibility, meaning that it can grow, be steered and ultimately have endless possibilities (Barblett, 2012). This is vital to the educators’ role within the classroom; a play-based, emergent educator must be able to examine the play of children and use their observations to build literacy development, create further engagement and extend their learning.Play is typically considered a practice of young children while learning is the result of a practice carried out by young people or adults; this is where the line needs to blur more deeply, as in fact, for young children, play and learning are results of each other, often carried out simultaneously (Carlsson & Samuelsson, 2008). This idea inspires play-based educators to design, with intentionality, effective experiences in the classroom, which will provide provocation for play and learning simultaneously as parts of each other.“The processes involved in playing and learning appear to contribute to building children’s brain architecture: rehearsal and practice may lead towards pruning and editing existing connections in the brain, as well as making new connections. In play children develop exploratory as well as explanatory drives: they actively look for patterns, test hypotheses and seek explanations, leading to increased complexity in thinking, learning and understanding” (Gopnik, Kull & Meltzhoff, 1999). The ability to mold these occurrences and build those explanatory and exploratory drives in young children is a vital competency of a play-based educator in order to further the children’s academic abilities, later in life.Play-Based Emergent CurriculumJones (2012) states that in the play-based, emergent classroom, curriculum is what is happening. This is a very true statement. While planning is an essential part of the play-based classroom, it is even more essential to note that planning is completed throughout the year, during the whole process, as a result of what is happening in the classroom—not something that is predetermined by a set of stranger experts who have no connection to the children or classroom in question (p.66). This means that curriculum is developed throughout the learning experience and documented continuously by the educator, to demonstrate growth in topics, exploration, inquisitiveness and the children; all of which are vital to the curriculum, which is being developed.Emergent curriculum emerges from the children, but not only from the children. It depends on teacher initiative and intrinsic motivation, and it lends itself to a play-based environment. The main objective of a play-based, emergent curriculum is to respond to every child’s interests; this however does not mean that the curriculum is individualized for each child. Its’ practice is open-ended and self-directed (Jones, 2012, p. 67). According to Jones (2012, adapted from Jones and Nimmo, 1994, p.127) sources of the curriculum which emerges in preschool classrooms could be: children’s interests, teachers interests, developmental tasks, things in the physical environment, people in the social environment, curriculum or resource materials, serendipity of unexpected events, conflict resolution or caregiver routines and values of the school, community or home (p.68).Play-based curriculum is often classified as emergent because of its nature to emerge from the play of the children involved, and in some respects the teachers, as participants. It is co-constructed by the children, the adults, and the environment itself. “To develop curriculum in depth, adults must notice children’s questions and invent ways to extend them, document what happens, and invent more questions. The process is naturally individualized” (Jones, 2012, p.67).Play-based, emergent curriculum focuses on the process of learning rather than merely assessing the outcome, as is common practice for more structured, standardized curriculums. The more standardized the curriculum, the less children’s individual needs are met and the more likely it is that many children will fall behind, thus making the NCLB Act of 2002 and its’ call for standardization and increased assessments for young children, seem entirely impractical to early childhood educators. Children have diverse strengths and interests; early childhood educators, granted the time and trust to do so, “can build on those strengths and on passionate interests as they help children construct genuine knowledge for themselves and practice empathy and respect for their fellow learners” (Jones, 2012, p.68).Literacy Development through PlayPlay-based literacy offers a much needed, reasonable and largely more rational response to the increasing expectations placed on young children (and their teachers) for literacy achievement, as learning through play enhances the learning experience and the child’s ability to make connections. While these experiences do not hinge on formal instruction, they are authentic and purposeful; which in turn allows for the literacy play to develop a more meaningful connection in the child’s mind (Klenk, 2001). When preschool aged children are provided with literacy materials or props, such as books, writing tools, and environmental print within a learning center or deep play area they engage in many literate activities and tend to acquire a better understanding of print (The Center for Early Childhood Education [White Paper], 2009, p. 6). Studies have shown that this type of play enhances reading and writing capabilities in young children to include an increases in children’s phonemic awareness which is one of the best indicators for a child’s later reading success (Constantine, 2001 as cited in The Center for Early Childhood Education [White Paper], 2009, p. 7). It is imperative that the play-based emergent educator understand how to incorporate literacy materials or props, into the environment, without their presence feeling forced, but rather that their arrival is a happy and engaging presence, which will extend their play. Oral Language through Sociodramatic PlayIn many ways and more often than not, a child’s play mimics real life interactions and experiences. Through this pretend play children engage in deep, meaningful language based connections, which inspire growth in their language development as well as their understanding that spoken and written words convey meaning. Recent definitions of literacy classify literacy as a social practice involving listening, speaking, and viewing, reading and writing.In play situations, children tend to engage more deeply with a specific context or scenario, which then leads them to utilize language which is more complex, using more words and typically more syntactically correct language (Cohen & Uhry, 2007; Fekonja, & Marjanovic?,Kranjc, 2005 as cited in The Center for Early Childhood Education [White Paper], 2009, p.4). An explanation for these findings is that in pretend play or make-believe play, children use their best imitations of adult like statements in order to carry out their adult roles in the play. Another explanation of why this might occur is that children feel the need to utilize more words, give more detail and make the play less egocentric with their peers in order to make them understand their play ideas; whereas adults are better able to interpret even the bits and pieces of child-language used in order to derive meaning from the child-language when it is utilized (The Center for Early Childhood Education [White Paper], 2009, p.5). This finding makes it imperative that the play-based educator know their role and when to engage or become involved in the play to extend this oral language development and when to take on the role of an observer or parallel player.Phonological AwarenessAs educators of young children are keenly aware, phonological awareness refers to conscious awareness of the sounds of language. This awareness is viewed as a precursor and prerequisite for learning the alphabetic principle that letters represent the sounds of language. Educators and researchers alike agree that the early development of phonological awareness is perhaps one of the best early predictors of later reading success and ability.In preschool classrooms, children need the opportunity to experiment with phonological awareness by creating rhymes or toying with sounds they have learned; this process helps them to develop syntactical awareness and lexical understanding of phonics as a pathway, which ultimately leads to communication (Clancy-Menchetti, Farver, Lonigan & Phillips, 2011). Play-based educators are responsible for facilitating experiences where this can occur, as often as possible, without direct instruction. Young children need to the opportunity to play with these sounds in an authentic manner to them; this is often where the literacy educator has the opportunity to engage in play and promote the discovery of phonological understanding by becoming a co-player.As the reader has learned, the play-based educator’s role in the classroom is innumerably varied and conscientiously enacted. The researcher further explores play-based emergent curriculum, by defining the role of the teacher in this literacy rich, play-based model.The Teacher’s RoleIn Play-based learning, the teacher often takes a metaphorical backseat to the child in order to allow for truly child-centered learning to occur. This, however, does not mean that the educator is inactive or uninvolved. Play-based emergent curriculum is developed “by bringing teachers and children together in interactions that support learning” that is directly meaningful to the child” (The Center for Early Childhood Education [White Paper], 2009, p. 8). The teacher’s role is one of support and enhancement; it is essential that the teacher act in a manner that is sensitive to the child’s needs and the play being developed, and is able to interact in such a way that the play be extended to create deeper meaning or enhance concepts that are being explored.The roles of the early childhood educator in play are many and varied, but they have to be intentional and thoughtful in order to get the most out of the play experience (Saracho, 2004). To the outside observer, a play-based, emergent preschool classroom might appear chaotic or as if the teacher has no control. This is a widely held misconception, when in fact the roles of play-based educators’ are extremely demanding of time, energy, reflective ability and cognitive function. An intense amount of purposeful observation is occurring at all times in order to monitor students growth and interest areas, which will allow the teacher to engage, redirect or extend on student learning.First and foremost, a play-based educator must listen, observe and reflect on the occurrences in the classroom and their observations in order to work with the children to build out the curriculum (Dutton, 2012). After reflection and discussion with the child or children a concept or project might begin to take shape. The “use of the children’s ideas as the basis for curriculum recalibrates the balance between emphasis on how much teachers should take initiative and how much space to give children to develop and expand their ideas” (Dutton, 2012, p.5). Another element of this is to share with co-teachers regularly through discussions of observations and the design of play experiences in order to provoke engagement or extend learning that is occurring in the classroom.Sometimes in play, the educator must take on the role of the observer. The educator is not always necessary in order for play to build, develop and be meaningful; however, this does not mean that the educator is not involved. There will be instances where the educator needs to intervene or feels that they could add to the play to deepen its impact on the child, but it is through listening, observing and knowing your children well that this is made possible (Barblett, 2012; Dutton, 2012; Saracho, 2004).The most effective means of interaction for an adult in the child-centered, play-based model is through scaffolding. This means that the adult tailors their involvement in the play to address the needs of individual children at a particular moment in time, in order to extend the play (Barblett, 2012; Saracho, 2004, and Bodrova & Leong, 2006; Trawick-Smith, 1994, 1998; Vygotsky, 1976 as cited in The Center for Early Childhood Education [White Paper], 2009, p. 10). This can include almost any type of interaction, ranging from being directly involved in the play to asking a question or giving a subtle hint. A vital element to scaffolding is tracking the level of support provided that drives learning and allows it to occur. This gradual release of support ranges in levels from engaging with direct support to the child developing a skill or learning outcome with guided support, then lastly on to applying what they have learned with minimal support. After this element comes the teachers’ role of extending on their play which allows for a the more meaningful and richer learning experiences.Intentionality is the next big concept for an educator in the play-based setting. The educator needs to clarify if they will in fact bring anything to the play by joining in, how they can join in effectively to extend the child’s play, and ultimately, the harshest of reality, they must ask, are they really needed in the play at all (Barblett, 2012)?An additional role or possibility for the educator is that of a parallel player. In this role, one simply plays alongside a child, often mimicking their play in order to make casual adjustments in hopes that the child will make connections or adaptations to their own play by observing you (Barblett, 2012; Saracho, 2004).Perhaps the most crucial role the teacher plays in a play-based environment is one that is entirely behind the scenes. In order for a play-based model to succeed, it is essential that the educator create a secure, safe and challenging environment, which promotes play interactions and learning. This is a key element and fundamental in maintaining quality early childhood education (Kennedy, 2010, p. 14; Saracho, 2004).Designing Effective Literacy ExperiencesIn designing classroom experiences, the teacher must take great care to provide provocations for learning that invite children into the play, which the educator has likely designed in their mind (Kennedy, 2010, p.14). In most, if not all, center activities, the educator who has designed the area has a learning outcome in mind, which the children will likely achieve by engaging in the area, with the materials. A preschool educator in a play-based environment has the responsibility to have incredible foresight and the ability to think like the child, in order to understand what possible outcomes or learning will be explored in the developed literacy play area or center.It is essential that the design process not only facilitates learning, but also invites investigation with a variety of resources, to include media. In some instances, educators will place materials in a play-area for the purpose of provoking an interest or exploration of that material. This is frequently in done in areas that are unrelated, for example, placing books in the block area of a classroom, can prompt the question in a child, with no interaction from the teacher, of “why are these books here?” This type of placement of materials might seem haphazard, but there is a goal in mind for the reflective early childhood educator. By placing books or other literacy props in the block area, children are given an additional opportunity to bring in literacy development into their block play which can significantly increase literacy behaviors in young children (Morrow and Rand, 1991; Neuman & Roskos, 1993; Yaden, Rowe & MacGillivray, 1999 in Benedict, et al., 2007, p.5). Often times, educators are able to promote literacy by making use of a highly utilized play-area, one which constantly draws in a crowd of young scholars, by placing literacy materials in that area whether they are directly related or not. An example of this might be in a center where there is a whiteboard where children frequently draw pictures, an educator might post images of objects the children have shown interest in and the word which names that object (an image of a seashell and the world seashell labeling it). Children at this age often mimic adult writing and are developing their understanding that letters form words and written words convey meaning; by putting this image near the whiteboard, it is highly likely that the child will attempt to copy the word. This emergent literacy skill is one small step in building their solid literacy foundation.Extending Child-Lead PlayBeyond strategic placement of materials into seemingly unrelated areas, a truly perceptive and reflective, play-based educator is able to build on the children’s expressed interests by designing literacy experiences which target their interest and are truly child lead. Some early childhood educators refer to this tactic as interest centers. An example of this might be, if an educator has noticed a child’s expressed interest in the beach after a school outing or family trip to the ocean. Building on this interest, the educator would likely set up an area in the classroom that develops or extends on this interest. The area might include a beach towel, a sand and water sensory table (which was likely already in the room, but can now be included in the interest center). Inside the sensory table, the educator might place some seashells and plastic sea creatures. Beyond this, the educator must take care to provide literacy development opportunities outside of the language, which can be learned through the above designed interest center. To further incorporate literacy into this learning experience, the educator would be wise to include printed words that are related to the interest theme of the child, books with images and words or stories about the sea, and perhaps an iPad. The teacher could engage the child to create an iBook about the sea using images taken on the class outing or searching or pictures online which could be utilized. This inclusion of literacy props and development of a print rich area will undoubtedly draw the young learner into deep, meaningful learning. The possibilities are truly unlimited.Measuring Literacy and Play-Based ExperiencesAs established in the previous section, the play-based educator structures the learning environment in such a way that learning can and will occur.“In addition to providing, rich, authentic opportunities in which to acquire print-related skills, play-based literacy affords teachers a rich context for assessment. Observations of children engaged in play-based learning are more valuable than those conducted under stressful and unreliable circumstances meant to document student learning, such as standardized tests. As children play with storybooks, dramatizing the plots or orally reenacting a text, teachers can note their comprehension and their use of storybook (or written) language” (Klenk, 2001, p.150-151).In a play-based emergent environment, assessment is an ongoing process, often measured through observations of children, during their play, using anecdotal notes, developmental checklists, running records, images and video recordings. These assessments of children’s development, in this case, examining specifically their literacy attainment, inform practice for the educator to include, future observations, learning environment design, and the amount of support, interaction or involvement likely needed in the child’s play experiences.These efforts work together in a continuous cycle that is supported by the curriculum developing in the classroom, the educators’ knowledge of their children and how they learn, the team’s professional experience and knowledge, as well as, data from ongoing assessment and evaluation of children on their selected developmental continuum. This cycle in this put in place through planning, supporting, assessing, evaluating and reporting, all of which repeat continuously to make this an ongoing process. This is detailed below, in the visual, Figure 1.026416000Figure 1. Ongoing Assessment and Planning Processes.Figure 1 demonstrates the continuous cycle of planning, supporting, assessing and evaluating which is occurring in the play-based classroom through carefully developed structure of professional experience, resources, knowledge of our scholars and how they learn and the curriculum we are developing our classroom (play-based emergent).ConclusionResearchers’ findings on the effects of play and play-based emergent curriculums have remained consistent as a predictor for later academic success or seemingly more holistically developed individuals. This evidence supports the hypothesis that a play-based environment, in conjunction with knowledgeable, play-based educators leads to later academic success. A literacy rich, play-based environment, provides the opportunity for more realistic and authentic measurement of student literacy growth and attainment than standardized assessment situations, thus highlighting the results of these play-based observations as more reliable predictors of later academic success.Through the strategic planning of effective, literacy engaging, learning environments that provoke student play, educators can create meaningful opportunities for students to develop oral language competencies and engage with emergent reading and writing skills. This authentic engagement and experimentation within their personal comfort zone and during their play, sociodramatic or otherwise, leads to literacy and language attainment which is on par or higher than their structured-classroom peers.MethodologyThe intended outcome of this study is to understand the effect of a highly qualified, competent, play-based educator on scholars early literacy attainment through analyzing both past and current research, as well as data gathered in this study.Research DesignThe research for this project was conducted through the collection of qualitative data from surveys, as well as field notes measured against checklists, to ensure validity, using the triangulation approach. The purpose of this Action Research Project was to measure the increase in the play-based educators’ comfort and abilities in relation to the implementation, design and measurement of play-based, emergent curriculum with a focus on literacy attainment. Additionally, the researcher investigated the affectivity of the play-based emergent curriculum experiences designed by the children, in conjunction with the educators, in relation to the children’s demonstrated literacy growth. Published research lends the teacher researcher to believe that a positive correlation between both a teachers’ competence in designing play-based literacy experiences, as well as the removal of teacher control in the classroom environment and student literacy growth will emerge from the data.Research QuestionsIn order to determine the growth in student literacy attainment in relation to the play based educator’s affectivity in the play-based classroom, the study focused on a few pivotal questions:How does the educators’ role in the play-based emergent curriculum evolve to create meaningful literacy learning?How does the educator design effective literacy learning experiences through play?What effects do educators’ intentionally designed, literacy rich, play centers/experiences have on preschoolers’ literacy attainment?By answering exploring the data gathered in relation to these questions the teacher research can present findings, which will highlight the early childhood programs approach to the governing board as a sustainable model for the preschool’s future and the young scholars’ future academic success.Data Collection PlanA data collection matrix was developed to determine the impact of the educators’ growth as play-based emergent educators in relation to the preschoolers’ literacy attainment developmentally (Table 1). This visual matrix (on the follow page) demonstrates how each data selection tool will be utilized in relevance to the research questions in this study.Table 1Data Collection Matrix QuestionsD. S. 1D. S. 2D. S. 3D. S. 4How does the educators’ role in the play-based emergent curriculum evolve to create meaningful literacy learning?Educator SurveysObservations/Field Notes & Reflections(Teacher researcher as active participant) How does the educator design effective literacy learning experiences through play?Educator SurveysTeacher Researcher Designed Early Literacy Learning Classroom Observation ToolObservations/Field Notes and Reflections(Teacher researcher as active participant)What effects do educators’ intentionally designed, literacy rich, play centers/experiences have on preschoolers’ literacy attainment?Educator SurveysTeacher Researcher Designed Early Literacy Learning Classroom Observation ToolObservations/Field Notes & Reflections(Teacher researcher as active participant))Emergent Literacy Developmental Checklist. Note: D. S. is Data SelectionTable 1. Data Collection Matrix. Table 1 is a visual breakdown of how each research question will be addressed by the various data selection tools in this research project. Data for this Action Research Project will be collected over a period of three months. A survey will be administered to the play-based educators involved (Appendices B), the teacher researcher will utilize an Early Literacy Learning Classroom Observation Checklist (Appendix C), designed by the teacher research, observational field notes will be completed and collected by the teacher researcher, and lastly an emergent literacy developmental checklist (Appendix E) will be utilized during the action research project.The compilation of the educator surveys (Appendices B), early literacy learning observation checklist data (Appendix C), observational field notes being conducted by the teacher researcher and literacy milestone developmental checklist (Appendix D) documentation will be occurring throughout the action research period, with the survey occurring at three points during the action research period: weeks one, six and twelve.Sample SelectionThe group of participants will be comprised of three co-teachers, including the teacher researcher and 12 students in the center’s pre-k 4 class; the teachers are two females and one male, while the preschool class consists of 5 females and 7 males. There are three pre-k 4 classes at the center, each with three to four teachers per class. The educators, apart from the teacher researcher do not possess a formal qualification, but each possess more than three hundred hours of professional development in the field of early childhood education and are part of the organizations internal leaders development programme.The preschool scholars all come from impoverished families who are clients of the center. The families underwent a screening process to gauge their commitment to the program in order to gain access to the Early Childhood Department. All parents are committed to the program; more than 80% are unemployed.InstrumentsThe researcher will collect qualitative data for this action research project using the triangulation approach, as noted by Mills (2013), triangulation requires that several different sources of data are collected throughout the research project to ensure a broad scope of accurate results (p. 92). For this research project, data was compiled from four major sources, all of which are qualitative. Multiple resources for data and measurement of the data will be gathered including field notes, surveys, and checklists. This data will be collected from the educators and the pre-k 4 class by compiling information from the teachers’ survey results (Appendix B), making observations throughout the study and rating those observations according to the Early Literacy Milestone Checklist (Appendix E), examining teacher designed centers using a teacher researcher created Early Literacy Learning Classroom Observation Checklist tool (Appendix D) and analyzing and drawing supporting data from classroom Field Notes/Observations and Reflective Journal Transcripts, shared during daily team meetings. Information from all data sources will be compiled and carefully examined throughout and upon the completion of the study. Figure 2 illustrates the data collection methods used in this Action Research Project in a triangulation model.Figure 21714500233045ACTION REASEARCH DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES(The Three Es)00ACTION REASEARCH DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES(The Three Es) Qualitative Data Collection Techniques1371600647700034950406477000274320010287000EXPERIENCINGENQUIRINGEXAMININGActive participant observationsQuestionnairesStudent literacy growth through field notes and observations measured against checklistsFigure 2. A taxonomy of the data collection techniques used for this Action Research Project is presented. The three qualitative techniques are categorized by Mills (2013) as experiencing, enquiring, and examining (P.99). Adapted from “Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher (Fifth edition),” by G. Mills. Copyright 2013 by Pearson, Boston, MA. Surveys will be conducted with the educators, to include the teacher researcher, at three intervals: the start of the study, at the midpoint and at the end of the study. The surveys data will be displayed in a graph indicating each individual’s growth and the overall average growth of educators during this period in relation to their confidence and the decreased level of scaffolding needed in their classrooms to promote literacy development through play-based interactions. Overall teacher growth will be compared in contrast to the data recorded from the Early Literacy Learning Classroom Observation Checklist tool (Appendix D) and the students’ literacy attainment as exhibited on the Emergent Literacy Developmental Checklist Document (Appendix E). This comparison of the qualitative data obtained will determine if the play-based educators are effective in producing the play based model and developing the children’s’ literate behaviors and emergent literacy skills.Data AnalysisValidity. The teacher researcher has the responsibility to capture data accurately and effectively in order to best serve the project and ultimately the students involved. The study is constructed and designed to answer research questions developed from the teacher researchers’ environment in conjunction with external research and thus addresses the hypothesis of the study, making the work valid.This study comprises of checklist and field notes (Appendices C and D), of which, the field notes take a higher need for accuracy in recording and reporting. It is the responsibility of the teacher researcher to “accurately capture the essence of what transpired in the classroom” (Mills, p.118, 2014). As a preschool educator, a large portion of our time and energy is spent documenting what occurs in the classroom; therefore, this element of validity should not be a struggle for the educators involved, including the teacher researcher.Another area where validity can be questioned in the use of field notes is in the level of reporting, even when data might contradict the point one is trying to prove. It is essential that the teacher researcher and educators involved share even data which might be in contrast to the study’s main aims or that lead to the development of questions in relation to what has transpired.As the teacher researcher is reflecting not only on the practice of colleagues in their development as effective play-based educators, but also on her own ability, the personal reflection data may be viewed as biased. The teacher researcher commits to removing herself from the study and focusing solely on colleagues growth as reported in their surveys, should the reflective data appear inconsistent with that of the colleagues to the point that one would question the integrity of the reflections. Reliability. The qualitative data, which is collected for this study, is primarily done through checklists and a survey. Educators take the survey anonymously; therefore, their answers should be honest and reflective of their practice. The checklists are used to measure teachers’ field notes in relation to the student’s performance in the play-based environment, which are compared to early literacy developmental milestones and the teachers’ design of an environment or activities conducive to play-based early literacy development. The aim of using the checklists is to increase the reliability of the findings in the study; if an outside party were to be given the checklist to measure field notes a teacher has taken about a child or group of children, or to conduct observations themselves and use the checklists to measure their data, the results should be the same (Mills, 2014).The use of checklists and surveys regulate the data’s reliability in that they can be utilized repeatedly and produce the same outcome. This increases the reliability of the data gathered from the study.Generalizability. The data collected from this study primarily documents the growth in play-based educators in relation to their level of comfort and skill in the play-based, preschool environment, specifically in relation to designing learning experiences which promote literacy development through play. While each educator is different, the teacher researchers’ study will likely be representative of other populations, in that as an educator becomes more skilled, their designed learning experiences grow and thus their students perform or develop in direct correlation to their results. Other individuals could use the tools utilized in the study to measure teacher and student growth in multiple environments and achieve the same or similar results to this study. They are not person or context specific.Credibility. In order for this study to be conducted during the educator’s initial period of growth an interaction, it will need to be conducted in the first quarter of the year. This ensures that educators (and scholars) are starting with a clean slate as far as practical experience in the play-based environment. According to Guba’s suggestions as stated in Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (Mills, 2014), persistent observations are vital in order to identify “atypical characteristics.” As previously identified, the teacher research and educators involved in the study must record their field notes meticulously in order to ensure accuracy and report fully in order to identify areas or discrepancy to the studies main outcomes. Looking for patterns in the preschool scholars’ behavior, play, interactions and attainment on the literacy developmental milestone checklists (Appendix D) are completely dependent to the overall success of the project.Ethical ConsiderationsColleagues participating in the educator survey drew letters from A to C. They shared their assigned letters with no one else and will submit their documents as “Teacher A” and so on, for the continuation of the study. The teacher researcher is aware of her own letter designation, but will not know which letter belongs to her which colleague. This process of anonymity ensures that the teacher researcher does not know to whom the survey belongs. Educators in the study are all willing participants, as it is normal policy for the organization to conduct research, which can seek to improve the quality of teaching and learning.The teacher researcher has assigned scholars participating in the study numbers, at random. Only the teacher research knows which child corresponds with each number. As colleagues submit field notes, the teacher researcher will copy the documents and replace the scholars name with the assigned number.The Early Childhood Manager was informed of the proposed research study. It was agreed upon that a notice explaining the study would be sent home (see Appendix A) and that the Mentor Teacher and Early Childhood Manager would conduct meeting with parents to answer questions and obtain their consent. Parents would be informed of the purpose of the research and the students’ role in the study. The letter emphasizes that student participation is voluntary, the strictest confidentiality will be maintained and no additional risks to students are foreseen. Within the classroom, measures will be taken to safeguard the welfare and rights of the research participants (Mills, 2013, p.26). Students will be informed that they are being observed in their classroom; however, this is a common practice and students will likely not notice any difference to their day-to-day classroom interactions with the researcher.ResultsFollowing seven weeks of the total twelve-week action research period of play-based emergent instruction in the Ubuntu early childhood Pre-K classroom, the teacher researcher has noted significant changes in the scholars, educators and the classroom environment. In accordance with current and past research, children in the play-based emergent environment at Ubuntu have demonstrated increased literacy development, in the environment provided, according to field notes recorded by their classroom teachers as measured against the Literacy Developmental Milestone Checklist (Appendix D), with no formal instruction from teachers.FindingsIn week 1 of the programme, educators in the Pre-K 4 class were asked to draw letters from a hat and be assigned letter identities for this voluntary study. Educators utilized their letter as their name moving forward on submitted documents, to include the teacher surveys. Data from the teacher surveys was recorded.Group data is recorded below in two segments. The data is split into tables based on the segment of the survey. For part one of the survey, Educators A-C indicated their level of Comfort with several different experiences or tasks in a play-based environment during week 1 and 6 of their experience. For each survey, the rating scale was from 1 to 10 with a score of 10 being comfortable a score of 1 meaning uncomfortable.Table 2Educators’ Level of Comfort in Week 1Survey QuestionsEducatorWeek 1Week 6Designing play-based experiences ABC222453Facilitating play-based experiences through scaffolding ABC336558Designing play experiences from your observations of students interests and needs ABC343555Removing yourself, as part of the play, in order to utilize parallel playABC231563Being invited in to play experiences ABC566888Extending children’s literacy development through play experiences ABC454876Extending sociodramatic play experiences to enhance vocabulary and syntactic language development ABC333564For part two of the survey, educators were asked to share their honest and professional opinion about the level of scaffolding they felt was needed in the classroom, which they all share, as co-teachers, in order for literacy experiences to develop in the children’s play. This survey was administered at the same intervals as the previous sections on confidence (Weeks 1 and 6). The data from Educator A, B and C, in regards to the level of scaffolding needed, in week 1 and 6, are detailed in Table 3.Table 3Level of Scaffolding Needed in the ClassroomSurvey QuestionsEducatorWeek 1Week 6In relation to oral language development (overall) ABC888778Vocabulary ABC101010779Syntactically ABC101010789Print Awareness (overall) ABC889797Pretend ReadingABC778777Pretend Writing ABC101010999Phonological Awareness ABC899778As the timeline for the study has not yet expired, the last survey (week 12) is still outstanding; however, from the data in weeks 1 and 6, the teacher researcher is hopeful that the scores will continue to trend in the same fashion.Early Literacy Learning Observation ChecklistThroughout the action research period the Early Literacy Learning Observation Checklist was utilized to ensure the environment was provided in the highest standard and in line with the expectations of a literacy rich, play-based preschool classroom, as outlined by the checklist. In addition to the teacher researcher, the co-teachers, education manager and classroom teachers from other pre-k classes at the center were asked to conduct the ELLOC, while observing in the class, in order to ensure non-bias in the data collected, from the checklist, for the research. It is not uncommon practice at the center for educators to observe in other classrooms, as the center views this as a learning experience for educators. For outside observers, namely the education manager or other classroom teachers, the minimum observation time in the Pre-K 4 class was suggested to be a minimum of one hour in order to see a broad scope of activities unfold in the classroom. Additionally, as the Pre-k colleagues in the center’s other classrooms are not as familiar with the play-based emergent approach as the educators involved in the study, it was concluded that additional time might be necessary to grasp all which they witnessed during their observation period.Each time the ELLOC was conducted the teacher researcher recorded the data into a master sheet. The Pre-K 4 class has been evaluated on the ELLOC five times on the ELLOC. The teacher research has assigned each evaluator with a character for monitoring in the record below: Teacher Researcher (T), Co-teachers (t), education manager (EM), Other Pre-K teachers (Pk).Table 4Early Literacy Learning Observation Checklist DataGeneral Classroom EnvironmentWhen looking at your room, do you see:Not ObservedObservedOrganizational patterns that encourage the use of different sized groupings?T, t, Pk, Pk, EMItems arranged so they are easily accessible by students?T, t, Pk, Pk,EMCenter materials that relate to the center's topic or child’s expressed interests?T, t, Pk, Pk, EMClassroom routines and procedures established so time spent on behavioral issues is minimized?T, t, Pk, Pk, EMMaterials and routines established that promote independent learning?PkT, t, Pk, EMA daily schedule that promotes various approaches to learning?PkT, t, Pk, EMComputers, recorders, etc. easily accessible for children and with materials available that integrate with current instruction?T, t, Pk, Pk, EMMaterials developed by children that are available for children's use?T, t, Pk, Pk, EMA classroom climate that respects all children?T, t, Pk, Pk, EMLiteracy ActivitiesWhen reflecting on your class activities, do you see:Full group reading Activities?T,t, EM, PkOne-on-one or small group reading activities?T,t, EM, PkChildren reading alone or with a friend?T, t, EM, Pk, PkChildren writing while they play?EM, PkPk, T, tAdults modeling writing or helping children to write?T, t, EM, Pk, Pk Language, Literacy and CurriculumIf you were an outside observer looking at your class, would you see:Not Observed ObservedThe teacher encouraging oral language development through both active participation in the play and scaffolding facilitation/ involvement in the play experience?pkT,t, pk,emTeachers and students reading, discussing, and completing activities related to books and reading strategies, whether teacher designed or through impromptu facilitation/learning extension?Pk,pk,t,T,emWriting materials and students and teachers actively engaged in writing both in responses to scaffolded questioning and from a creative perspective?T, t, EM, Pk, PkIntegrated learning that encourages students to learn in a cross-curricular fashion rather than a specific, skills-based setting?T, t, EM, Pk, PkIndications that diverse personal, family, and cultural backgrounds are recognized and respected?T, t, EM, Pk, PkEvidence that appropriate, ongoing assessment is used to evaluate learning and adjust instruction?T, t, EM, Pk, PkLiteracy EnvironmentWhen you look at your classroom, do you see:Not ObservedObservedAn area where children can sit to read books or locate books?T t, Pk, Pk, EMBooks or literacy materials that vary in difficulty and relate to student interest?T, t, Pk, Pk, EMBooks and writing materials available in each center or deep play area?T,t, EM, PkRoom displays that include charts, big books, and environmental print?T,t, EM, PkAlphabet toys and puzzles?T,t, EM, PkRoom displays that show a variety of children’s own writing efforts?T,t, EM, PkLiteracy Developmental Milestone ChecklistThe Literacy Developmental Milestone Checklist (Appendix D) is a powerful tool when paired with accurately recorded field notes and observations recorded by a knowledgeable play-based educator. This tool allows educators to track growth in a student’s literacy development as well as determine red flags or delays, which might require some form of intervention or deeper monitoring.As much of the data is deeply qualitative it is difficult to share in visual or quantitative ways in which to clearly demonstrate the amount of growth during a period of time. However, in Appendix D, the reader will locate the data recording where each of the 12 Pre-K 4 scholars, form this study are, in relation to their literacy developmental milestones. Students were assigned a number at random, and only the teacher researcher is aware of their number designation. On the Literacy Developmental Milestone Checklist, (Appendix D) each student is represented by the letter S and their assigned number, ranging from S1 to S12. This data marks their progress at Week 7 of the action research period.Some elements of the checklist, such as the awareness of print, can be recorded into quantitative data through ongoing classroom assessment. Letter recognition and first name recognition, for example can be measured and recorded as a percentage increase. Figure 3, below, represents the data for the Pre-k 4 class in regards to letter recognition at week 7 versus week 1. In week 1, according to data gathered in their playgroups observations (field notes) only two children knew any letters at all. Those children were only able to identify 6 letters between them. This equaled to a class average of 2% for letter identification; however, in week 7 of the program, educators have noted a significant increase, without any direct instruction in alphabetic knowledge, the class average for alphabet recognition has risen to 12%. Figure 3Letter Recognition in the Pre-K 4 Class0000First Name Recognition. Another Literacy Milestone Skill, which can easily be transferred to quantitative data, is the child’s ability to recognize their first name in print. In week one of the program 8% of the children could identify their own name in print. By the end of week seven, 58% of students can identify their name consistently. This growth is demonstrated visually in Figure 4, on the following page.Figure 4Name Recognition in the Pre-K 4 ClassDiscussionThe discussion of the findings of this study is based on a review of current research as well as the experiences and data gathered in the Ubuntu Center; the teacher researcher will share conclusions about supporting early literacy development through well-trained play-based educators, delivered within a play-based, emergent environment. Evolution of Play and Literacy PracticesA common misconception of those outside of the education field is that teachers simply play with children all day; often a lengthy debate ensues, but many times educators themselves are guilty of thinking preschool educators to be the lowest of the pedagogic groupings and that they do, in fact, play all day! A study of a preschool educators time, to the casual outside observer, might make this statement appear true, but as the teacher research has examined, play is not just something kids ‘do’ but rather a learning process and the play-based, emergent educator is a valuable part of that journey. Play is typically considered a practice of young children while learning is the result of a practice carried out by young people or adults; this is where the line needs to blur more deeply, as in fact, for young children, play and learning are results of each other, often carried out simultaneously (Carlsson & Samuelsson, 2008). This idea inspires play-based educators to design, with intentionality, effective experiences in the classroom, which will provide provocation for play and learning simultaneously as parts of each other.As the educators in this study grew in their understanding of their children, with time, interaction and careful observation, and their comfort with their skills as play-based educators grew (Table 2) they were able to design and facilitate more engaging literacy based learning experiences in the play-based environment.By Week 6, all three co-teachers indicated a comfort level of 5 with designing play-based learning experiences based on their scholars’ interests and needs. This is an integral part of the play-based emergent curriculum and a vital step for both educators and scholars in this environment. This means the classroom community is becoming firmly established and there is communication, trust, sharing and common interests.In the previous curriculum model, the educator served as a model for the children to follow, often interacting as the leader in their interactions; whereas, in the play-based model the educator is often a backstage participant or an active observer in the play. The educator is discouraged from being the model and creating models for the children to copy and even recommended to do so with their non-dominant hand if its absolutely unavoidable, to avoid giving the children the play with which to learn from. Educators A, B and C all relayed instances where they were invited into the play or where they felt that as parallel players children were using them as models; they took this opportunity to not instruct, but to explore the materials as a child would or to create something out of the materials as a piece of the process to learning instead of a product. This experience was valuable for both the educators and the students involved as it lead to more exploratory thinking for the young children in the center, instead of replicating what the teacher had created and the educator was able to interact in such a way which brought him or her to the level of the child.The levels of scaffolding of course change as the year goes on and with each activity; therefore, it is vital that educators be active observers and pay meticulous attention to the interactions in their classroom environment. This observation allows the educator to intervene and provide the appropriate level of scaffolding or to assume the appropriate role in the play, where possible, in order to further the experience and create deeper, more meaningful learning for the children. Table 3 highlights that a decrease in the level of scaffolding was needed in the classroom, by week 6, which should not be surprising. The main areas where students still need support are in the pretend writing, syntactic structure and vocabulary; all of these areas can be addressed through play. Pretend Writing. To address this need in the classroom, the teacher researcher and co-teachers have actively made writing materials available in centers, which to an outside observer might not make sense. In some instances, educators will place materials in a play-area for the purpose of provoking an interest or exploration of that material. A student might happen upon a small whiteboard with a marker in the block area and wonder “why is this here?” this interaction leads to investigation, which leads to the child using the materials and mimicking adult like writing. Student 2, 6, 12 and 4 have all used writing materials which they have found in centers that might feel odd or out of place to copy from environmental print of scribble emergent writing.Writing materials are always readily available at the chalkboard, whiteboard, by the mirror (yes, children are encouraged to write on a mirror) and in the art space. Children can at any time use any of the materials. All of the students are beginning to write strings of scribbles, which resemble letters (S1 – S12). Data for this is recorded in the Early Literacy Developmental Milestone Checklist (Appendix D).Syntactic Development. Through the data collected in the Early Literacy Developmental Milestone Checklist (Appendix D) all students were identified as beginning in their syntactic development. This can be in large part due to the language or the level of language spoken at home, prior to exposure at Ubuntu. As South Africa is a country with eleven National Languages and while the Ubuntu Center focuses exclusively on English and isiXhosa, many scholars come from families with multilingual homes as well as illiterate homes. Constant exposure to language that is syntactically correct is an important element of the early childhood program. Educators strive to ensure that outside of direct interaction with educators, children have learning opportunities to further their language development, this might present in the form of sociodramatic play amongst peers. In these play scenarios, children often need to utilize more words, give more detail and make the play less egocentric with their peers in order to make them understand their play ideas; Educator B identified their level of comfort in week 6, in regards to supporting literacy development through sociodramatic play as a level 6. This increase from a level 3 in week 1 is a significant jump; this directly corresponds with the students need for scaffolding, with this same literacy milestone at this point in the year. According to the Literacy Developmental Milestone Checklist (Appendix D) data, students S2, S12, S11, S9, S4 are developing their syntactic language, while S1, S3, S5, S6, S7, S8, S10 are beginning, which requires a stronger level of scaffolding.First Name Recognition. A vital skill and one small step on the pathway to understanding that print conveys meaning is the ability to recognize ones name in print. The preschool classroom is littered with strategically placed environmental print and labels, name labels are a vital piece of this process. Students are encouraged to locate materials with their names on it around the room, ranging from papers to bags or seats at a table. Each morning, the class teacher takes attendance; using name cards in child friendly print. The teacher starts the year reading the names out and then helping the child to identify that the name she is holding belongs to them. The children then will place their own name card in the “present” attendance pocket. As the year progresses, the teacher asks, leading questions such as “who’s name is this?” when he or she holds up a name. Sometimes, a student answers, that the name does not belong to, in order to give the correct answer or to claim it as his or her own. The teacher uses all of these instances as a learning opportunity for phonics and name recognition. As the year progresses, the children learn their names and can recognize them more quickly and the level of scaffolding needed becomes more minimal before falling away completely.LimitationsThe action research in question is of an ongoing nature and will only conclude at the end of the first quarter, in May 2014, there may be limitations to report in future. During the period in which data has been examined, thus far, two children have been absent, each for two school days. Both children were sent home ill by the nurse at the center and marked as excused.Additional limitations to the study might include the educators’ backgrounds as only one classroom teacher holds any formal qualification.Summary and Further ResearchThe results of this study confirmed the play-based emergent educators demonstrated an increased and growing competency, in their roles, in the preschool classroom, in terms of facilitating student literacy development through intentional, well designed, play-based learning experiences, engaging the children in deep, meaningful play, led by student interest in carefully developed literacy and play centers with support provided through scaffolding, to the learners.Through careful observations (field notes) and taking on various roles in the play, educators were able to facilitate deeper, more meaningful learning and gain insight into their young scholars’ thinking and interests. This allowed the educators to design interest centers and build upon learning experiences for the students. By carefully monitoring students as both an active observer and active participant observer, the play-based educator is able to track developmental milestones, extend on learning experiences, and provide intervention in authentic situations, making the literacy learning more applicable to preschool scholars. Using the ELLCO (Appendix C) assisted educators in ensuring that their environment and their planning was prepared, thoughtful and appropriate in respect of a literacy rich, preschool classroom. This tool provided a framework with which to measure ideas against and ensured that the environment was of the highest possible quality.Incorporating literacy learning into play-based experiences is a challenge that many educators face, but the educators showed tremendous growth in their implementation through their increasing comfort and their decrease in the need for scaffolding in order for certain literacy tasks to occur and develop.The teacher researcher would like to explore using a control group (a non play-based classroom) and pilot group (play-based classroom) the effects of and performance on assessment in an authentic play-based emergent environment versus a more academically structured curriculum driven preschool environment. If the strategic planning team at the center chooses to launch the play-based in smaller controlled stages, then this study may occur in the 2015 school year.Action PlanAs the teacher researcher’s organization of employment is an educational Non-Profit, with a focus on research and development, the process for approval is quite simple. The teacher researcher, as a senior level employee, must gain approval from the Education Manager who directly oversees the relevant unit. In the case of this action research proposal presented, the decision affects the Early Childhood Department. Once approved, the Manager then signs off on the research and monitors the research occurrences to ensure that the research is conducted in accordance with the plan presented by the teacher researcher.As the research proposed directly aligned with the organization’s launch of the play-based emergent curriculum in the preschool classroom, the proposal was approved and data can be utilized to determine a course of action for the following years’ programming at Ubuntu.The timeline for approval is dependent upon the proposal and is thus determined on a case-by-case basis. In the case of this proposal, the timeline was less than one week. The study will be implemented for one quarter, which is a period of twelve weeks. The teacher researcher would then like to compare data from quarter one, during the new play-based curriculum model, to data from the previous Pre-k class before intervention, during the same time period (quarter one). The study began in the second week of February 2014 and will conclude at the end of the second week of May 2014.Upon final completion, in May 2014, data from this study will be shared with the education manager, parents, co-teachers and colleagues from other Ubuntu classrooms, to include both Pre-k and Toddler age groups. By sharing this data, the teacher researcher hopes that the program stakeholders and education manager will make the shift to the play-based emergent curriculum for all the community classes. This shift will allow for a smooth transition from the toddler to Pre-K classes and a relative form of continuity between classrooms, despite each being its own unique creation, due to the nature of the play-based emergent curriculum.The teacher researcher believes that the play-based emergent curriculum provides the scholars in the care of the Ubuntu educators’ with the best opportunity to beat the odds stacked against them in the townships of Port Elizabeth and learn to be active, engaged learners with above average literacy skills. In play, children develop exploratory as well as explanatory drives: they actively look for patterns, test hypotheses and seek explanations, leading to increased complexity in thinking, learning and understanding (Gopnik, Kull & Meltzhoff, 1999). This understanding of past and current research leads the teacher researcher to advocate for play-based emergent instruction in all of the center’s preschool classrooms.The data will first be shared with the strategic planning team, namely the education manager and relevant staff. This team will decide if the pilot programme can be launched in a larger scale to the whole program or if it must first begin with the toddler classes, then launch to the remaining Pre-K classes.The data and final strategic plan will then be shared with the parents and remaining stakeholders for consideration. This process is detailed in Figure 5 on the following page.Figure 5Sharing of Data from Play-Based Emergent Pre-K Action ResearchReferencesAnastasopoulos, L., Brady, J. P. & Smith, M. W. (2008). User's guide to the early language & literacy classroom observation pre-K tool: ELLCO pre-K. Baltimore, Md: Paul H. Brookes Pub. Co.Arthur, L. & Makin, L. (2001). High quality early literacy programs. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 26, 14-19.Barblett, L. (2012, May). Transcript from Play based learning. The early years learning framework: professional learning program. Retrieved from Beauchat, K., Blamey, K. & Walpole, S. (2009). Building Preschool Children’s Language and Literacy One Storybook at a Time. The Reading Teacher, 63, 26-39. doi: 10.1598/RT.63.1.3. Benedict, J., Burts, D. C., DiCarlo, C. F., & Wayne, A. (2007). Increasing the literacy behaviors of preschool children through environmental modification and teacher mediation. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 22(1), 5-16. Retrieved from Clancy-Menchetti, J., Farver, J. M., Lonigan, C. J., & Phillips, B. M. (2011). Promoting the development of preschool children's emergent literacy skills: A randomized evaluation of a literacy-focused curriculum and two professional development models. Reading and Writing, 24(3), 305-337. doi: Dutton, A. S. (2012). Discovering my role in an emergent curriculum preschool. Voices of Practitioners, 7(1), 3-17. Retrieved from Gopnik, A.N. Meltzoff, & P.K. Kuhl (1999). The scientist in the crib: Minds, brains and how children learn. New York: Harper Collins. Hanline, M. F. (2001). Supporting emergent literacy in play-based activities. Young Exceptional Children, 4(10), 15. doi: 10.1177/109625060100400402 Jones, E. (2012). The emergence of emergent curriculum. YC Young Children, 67(2), 66-68. Retrieved from Kennedy, Anne. (2010). Learning and teaching through play: Supporting the early years learning framework. Deakin West, A.C.T: Early Childhood AustraliaMcLennan, D. P. (2011). Meeting standards in the changing landscape of today's kindergarten. YC Young Children, 66(4), 106-111. Retrieved from Mills, E.G. (2013). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (Fifth Edition). Pearson: Boston, MA.Nicolopoulou, A. (2010). The alarming disappearance of play from early childhood education. Human Development, 53(1), 1-4. doi:, G. (2000). Literacy through play. Scholastic Early Childhood Today, 15(3), 17-19. Retrieved from , J. G., & Jones, R. B. (2010). Acknowledging learning through play in the primary grades. Childhood Education, 86(3), 146-149. Retrieved from Rowe, D. W. (2008). The social construction of intentionality: Two-year-olds' and adults' participation at a preschool writing center. Research in the Teaching of English, 42(4), 387-434. Retrieved from , O. N. (2004). Supporting literacy-related play: Roles for teachers of young children. Early Childhood Education Journal, 31(3), 201-206. doi:, K. (2006, Aug 07). Preschool kids play to help build literacy. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved from African Census Data (2011). Census 2011: Census in Brief. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from Stegelin, D. A. (2005). Making the case for play policy: Research-based reasons to support play-based environments. YC Young Children, 60(2), 76-85. Retrieved from Center for Early Childhood Education. (2009). Science in Support of Play: The Case for Play-Based Preschool Programs [White paper]. Retrieved from Wasik, B. A. (2010). What teachers can do to promote preschoolers' vocabulary development: Strategies from an effective language and literacy professional development coaching model. The Reading Teacher, 63(8), 621-633. Retrieved from Appendix AJanuary 2014Good Day Parents,As the final component to my Masters Degree in Literacy, I will be conducting an action research study in our pre-k 4 classrooms. The intention of the study is to examine the growth of our educators since the shift to the play-based emergent style of teaching and learning. In order to effectively measure this growth, I will need to closely monitor the design and implementation of the play-based emergent classroom, which will also include observing scholar’s interactions with teacher designed play experiences. Throughout this process, the daily classroom routine will experience little to no interruptions, as we will not veer from our normal day in any way. I will continue to observe and instruct your children as per normal, the only difference being that I will now begin to observe not only the children, but my co-teachers and myself as well. There are no foreseen consequences to your children or their education by participating in this study.Please note that your child’s participation in this study is optional. Should you allow their participation in this study, their identity and personal details will remain completely anonymous.Thank you,Jess SteeleMentor Teacher--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Please indicate your choice below:I will allow my child, _______________________________________, to participate.I will not allow my child to participate __________________________, to participateParents signature: ________________________ Witness Signature: _____________________Appendix BEducator Rating Scale SurveyPlease circle the week: Week 1 Week 6 Week 12Directions: Using the rating scale below, please indicate your level of comfort with:Designing play-based experiences _______Facilitating play-based experiences through scaffolding _______Designing play experiences from your observations of students interests and needs _______Removing yourself, as part of the play, in order to utilize parallel play _______Being invited in to play experiences _______Extending children’s literacy development through play experiences _______Extending sociodramatic play experiences to enhance vocabulary and syntactic language development _______Directions: Using the rating scale above, please indicate the level of scaffolding needed, at this point in the school year, for most students play experiences:In relation to oral language development (overall) _______Vocabulary _______Syntactically _______Print awareness (overall) _______Pretend Reading ______Pretend Writing ________Phonological awareness _______Appendix CEarly Literacy Learning Observation ChecklistGeneral Classroom EnvironmentWhen looking at your room, do you see:Not ObservedObservedOrganizational patterns that encourage the use of different sized groupings?T, t, Pk, Pk, EMItems arranged so they are easily accessible by students?T, t, Pk, Pk,EMCenter materials that relate to the center's topic or child’s expressed interests?T, t, Pk, Pk, EMClassroom routines and procedures established so time spent on behavioral issues is minimized?T, t, Pk, Pk, EMMaterials and routines established that promote independent learning?PkT, t, Pk, EMA daily schedule that promotes various approaches to learning?PkT, t, Pk, EMComputers, recorders, etc. easily accessible for children and with materials available that integrate with current instruction?T, t, Pk, Pk, EMMaterials developed by children that are available for children's use?T, t, Pk, Pk, EMA classroom climate that respects all children?T, t, Pk, Pk, EMLiteracy ActivitiesWhen reflecting on your class activities, do you see:Full group reading Activities?T,t, EM, PkOne-on-one or small group reading activities?T,t, EM, PkChildren reading alone or with a friend?T, t, EM, Pk, PkChildren writing while they play?EM, PkPk, T, tAdults modeling writing or helping children to write?T, t, EM, Pk, PkLanguage, Literacy and CurriculumIf you were an outside observer looking at your class, would you see:Not Observed ObservedThe teacher encouraging oral language development through both active participation in the play and scaffolding facilitation/ involvement in the play experience?pkT,t, pk,emTeachers and students reading, discussing, and completing activities related to books and reading strategies, whether teacher designed or through impromptu facilitation/learning extension?Pk,pk,t,T,emWriting materials and students and teachers actively engaged in writing both in responses to scaffolded questioning and from a creative perspective?T, t, EM, Pk, PkIntegrated learning that encourages students to learn in a cross-curricular fashion rather than a specific, skills-based setting?T, t, EM, Pk, PkIndications that diverse personal, family, and cultural backgrounds are recognized and respected?T, t, EM, Pk, PkEvidence that appropriate, ongoing assessment is used to evaluate learning and adjust instruction?T, t, EM, Pk, PkLiteracy EnvironmentWhen you look at your classroom, do you see:Not ObservedObservedAn area where children can sit to read books or locate books?T t, Pk, Pk, EMBooks or literacy materials that vary in difficulty and relate to student interest?T, t, Pk, Pk, EMBooks and writing materials available in each center or deep play area?T,t, EM, PkRoom displays that include charts, big books, and environmental print?T,t, EM, PkAlphabet toys and puzzles?T,t, EM, PkRoom displays that show a variety of children’s own writing efforts?T,t, EM, PkAppendix DLiteracy Developmental Milestone ChecklistExhibits Developmentally Appropriate Receptive LanguageNot ObservedBeginningDevelopingConsistentlyListens to others with understandingS4, S5, S10S1, S2, S3, S6, S7, S8, S9, S11, S12Listens to stories attentivelyS10, S5, S4, S3, S6, S7, S1S11, S12, S2, S8, S9Recognizes environmental soundsS5, S10, S7The child listens to musicS1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12Understands and follows simple three or four step directionsS4, S5, S10S2, S1, S3, S7, S9, S11, S12S6, S8Exhibits Developmentally appropriate oral language for communicationShows an increase in complexity of vocabularyS2, S1, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12Identifies common objects and interprets picturesS3, S1, S2, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12Uses language to express actionsS1, S7, S8, S9, S11S3, S4, S12, S6, S1, S5, S10, S2Uses language to communicate information, experiences ideas, stories, emotions, opinions, wants, needs, thoughts, questions, and for conversationS10, S11, S12, S1, S3, S2, S4, S5, S7. S6, S8, S9Uses language to recall a sequence of events or retell a familiar storyS2, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12, S1, S3Shows awareness of the structure of language by using simple sentences, new vocabulary, and positions words in proper contextS1, S3, S5, S6, S7, S8, S10, S12S2, S12, S11, S9, S4Demonstrates phonological awarenessDistinguishes words in a sentenceS1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12Recognizes rhyming wordsS1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12Distinguishes syllables by clapping, stomping or finger tappingS1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12Begins to notice beginning sounds, (phonemes)S2, S6, S7S1, S3, S4, S5, S8, S9, S12, S10, S11Begins to notice ending soundsS1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12Demonstrates an awareness of printRecognizes local environmental printS2, S6, S7S1, S3, S4, S5, S8, S9, S12, S10, S11Understands that print conveys meaningS2, S6, S7S1, S3, S4, S5, S8, S9, S12, S10, S11Holds book correctly and begins to understand directionalityS2, S6, S7S1, S3, S4, S5, S8, S9, S12, S10, S11Recognizes first name in printS2, S6, S7S10, S11S1, S3, S4, S5, S8, S9, S12Begins to recognize lettersS2S10, S11, S6, S7S1, S3, S4, S8S9, S12, S5Attempts writing (scribbling/drawing)S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12Understands that different texts are used for different purposesS1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12Constructs meaning when responding to a story of pictureShows an interest in books/readingS1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12Joins in reading familiar/predictable pattern booksS9S2, S4, S7, S10, S11S1, S3, S5, S6, S8, S12Demonstrates understanding of literal meaning of story through questions or commentsS1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12Begins to predict an outcomeS1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12Develops an awareness of cause and effectS1, S5, S2, S3, S4, S6, S7, S8, S10, S12S11Begins to differentiate reality from fantasyS1, S2, S3, S4, S6, S7, S8, S10, S12S9, S11, S5Connects information from a story to life experienceS1, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11S2, S12Adaptation from First Look and The Early Childhood Direction Center, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY and Mississippi Department of Education, Early Learning Guidelines ................
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