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Learning through play – pedagogy and learning outcomes in early childhood mathematics
European Early Childhood Education Research Journal
Abstract
Whilst research underlines the importance of early mathematics in kindergarten, practitioners need effective and innovative approaches to pedagogy. Currently, very different approaches are deployed from an instructional, educator-led approach based on training programmes to a play-based approach. This intervention study examines the effects on the mathematical competency of these two pedagogies. Thirty-five kindergarten educators and 324 six-year-old children were randomly assigned to either a training programme, a play-based approach with card and board games or to the control group. Educators’ views on the interventions were gathered in semi-structured interviews. The results indicate higher learning gains overall for the play-based approach. Differentiated effects were found as tendencies: children with low competencies tend to gain more from training programmes compared to no intervention; children with high competencies gain more from the play-based approach than the training. Educators evaluated the play-based intervention with card and board games as better suited to children’s diverse needs.
... The focus group participants' perception of play indicates that they see play as a child's fundamental activity and a way of learning, a finding similar to the results obtained by, for example, Altun (2018), Davis (2024), Jensen et al. (2020), Lazić et al. (2020), Pramling Samuelsson andJohansson (2006), Tsai (2017) and Vogt et al. (2018). However, early childhood educators also see play as something that contributes to the overall respect of children's rights, a view that has recently been supported in research of children's rights in play (Lagerlöf et al., 2022). ...
... There are other examples of research findings that implicially or explicitally suggest the same issue, with some choosing not to problematize the instrumentalization of play in depth (e.g. Lundqvist et al., 2021;Vogt et al., 2018) and others discussing this issue through a critical lens (e.g. Lazić et al., 2020;Pyle & DeLuca, 2016). ...
Within Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) the child-centred approach, with all its various and diverse contextual interpretations, is well-established as a cynosure of contemporary theoretical discourses as well as endeavours in everyday practice, at least on a declarative level. Play is positioned as a high priority within the child-centred approach; more specifically, play is conceptualized as the central activity of the child through which they learn. Whilst these two concepts seem to be coherent and based upon similar theoretical underpinnings, there is much room for critical discussion concerning the conceptualizations and rationale behind both of them. This paper discusses how the academic community, in this paper, exemplified by specific policy-makers and early childhood educators in Croatia, see play and child-centredness in the curriculum-framed ECEC context. An e-focus group was conducted with twelve (12) early childhood educators in Croatia, showcasing the educators' uncertainties regarding thinking about and 'doing' play and child-centredness while realising their planned curriculum. The paper concludes with deliberations on the position of adults within child-centred ECEC practice, based on both literature and research results with a potential impact in terms of rethinking ECEC practices as well as documentation practices in Croatia.
... and the ways in which they represented wonder as an important part of play. Terms related to imaginary or pretend play (e.g., Jayman and Ventouris, 2020;Tam, 2021;Vogt et al., 2018) were quite frequent when describing wonder in K-5 settings. Terms like "explore" (e.g., Johnston et al., 2023;Macdonald et al., 2022) or "discover" (Morgan and Kennewell, 2006;Whitton and Langan, 2019) were often seen in elementary as well as older grade levels. ...
This systematic review provides a comprehensive meta-synthesis that examines empirical research on the implementation of play-based learning in formal educational settings. The review aims to identify patterns in the enactment of play-based learning, including its representation across academic disciplines, methodologies, grade levels, geographic contexts, and key indicators of play—choice, wonder, and delight. A comprehensive search across nine databases yielded 1,475 studies, of which 87 met stringent inclusion criteria: empirical, K-13+ formal settings, and an intentional learning objective tied to play. We extracted data from each study and used thematic synthesis to analyze patterns across multiple dimensions. Findings indicate that play-based learning is predominantly explored in early childhood and elementary education, with limited research on its implementation in secondary and post-secondary contexts. Studies were concentrated in North America and Europe, highlighting a need for greater geographic diversity. Findings also reveal significant gaps in nature-based play and its role in formal learning environments. Limitations include potential selection bias due to English-language restrictions and the exclusion of studies without a curricular focus. This review underscores the need for broader research on play-based learning, particularly in underrepresented populations and adolescent education. By providing a systematic overview of current research trends and limitations, this meta-synthesis contributes to the growing body of knowledge on play-based learning and informs future research directions.
... In early childhood education, it is important to promote the gradual acquisition of mathematical processes by encouraging activities that include problem-solving (Schillinger, 2021;Vogt et al., 2018). Daily pedagogical practice should involve challenges and materials accompanied by guiding questions that encourage children to solve problems, fostering their use of mathematical language and exploration of strategies through trial and error (Aleksieienko-Lemovska, 2022;Kangas et al., 2021). ...
This study addresses the critical issue of mathematical underperformance among preschoolers in Yopal Casanare, Colombia, through the perspective of an action research project. It focuses on the design and implementation of a didactic unit aimed at promoting numerical thinking, specifically seriation and structured counting, in preschool students. The methodology centers on qualitative action research, combining problem-solving approaches to comprehensively examine and transform educational practices. The intervention was designed to address identified weaknesses in mathematical competencies. To assess the initial state of mathematical competence, the Utrecht Early Mathematical Education Test was administered to 25 transition-grade children, revealing significant deficiencies in seriation and structured counting. The didactic unit included three activities focused on pattern identification, structured counting, and comparison of collections. Post-intervention assessments demonstrated notable improvements in these areas, though the emphasis remains on qualitative insights rather than statistical significance. This study contributes valuable insights into early childhood mathematics education, highlighting the potential of problem-solving-based interventions to enhance foundational mathematical competencies and emphasizing the importance of early diagnostic assessment and targeted educational strategies.
... In sum, prior research has predominantly examined parents' and in-service teachers' perspectives on play and pedagogy in the field of ECE (e.g., Pyle et al., 2018;Vogt et al., 2018;Wu et al., 2018. By comparison, pre-service teachers' beliefs about implementing play-based learning have remained largely unaddressed, particularly in Asian contexts. ...
The concepts of learning through play and a play-based curriculum have gained widespread recognition and popularity in the 21st century. However, in Hong Kong (HK), parents, teachers, and other stakeholders still exhibit limited confidence and capacity in applying these notions to the field of early childhood education (ECE). Moreover, how ECE student teachers perceive and understand these concepts remains largely unknown. To address these issues, this research adopted the ecological system theory as a theoretical framework to 1) investigate HK ECE student teachers’ views on implementing a play-based curriculum and 2) understand the associated difficulties they encounter in the HK context. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, including a Play Belief Survey and a qualitative focus group interview. In total, 200 survey responses and 100 minutes of interview data were collected from a group of ECE student teachers from teacher education institutes in HK. The findings revealed a salient contradiction and concern among student teachers, who expressed positive beliefs about a play-based curriculum yet faced insufficient support in terms of its practical implementation in local ECE settings. This finding underscores the need to closely scrutinise a play-based curriculum in terms of the uniqueness of the HK ECE context. In addition, the implications of this research for the wider Asia-Pacific region are discussed.
Background
Most children from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are at risk of poor development. Poor developmental outcomes are associated with later poor schooling and labour outcomes. Previous literature has documented a range of factors that influence children’s development. However, these factors are not well established in rural settings.
Aim
The current study aims at assessing the determinants of developmental outcomes among children under 3 years.
Setting
Siaya County, Kenya.
Methods
A cross-sectional study of children under 3 years and their caregivers, attending Child Welfare Clinic (CWC) at tier 3 health facilities in a rural setting in Kenya, was conducted. A total of 149 children were randomly selected to participate in the study and had their development assessed using the third version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3). We assessed the association between ASQ-3 scores and environmental, cultural and individual-level factors in crude and adjusted linear regression models.
Results
Being married and being employed showed the strongest positive associations with child development while earning less than $100.00 per month has a negative association with children’s development for individual-level factors. In addition, exposing children to opportunities for early learning had a greater effect on the child’s outcomes. Also, responsive caregiving showed higher scores for children’s developmental outcomes.
Conclusion
The study suggests a positive association between child development outcomes and caregivers’ socio-demographic characteristics. There is also an association between responsive caregiver-child interactions and child development outcomes. Programmes that create an enabling environment for caregivers to provide a stimulating environment for their children may help children to thrive, improving their development outcomes.
Contribution
This study contributes to the body of knowledge on the important roles of caregivers in enhancing their children’s optimal development.
Studies depict that early childhood programs which are based on indigenous knowledge are more valuable than the Western traditions for young children. Keeping this all-in mind, the present study is aimed at exploring the role of IK in early childhood education, particularly in numeracy development. It aims to fill the knowledge gap in indigenous early childhood education and contribute to the literature and policy on the subject. The study uses a mixed-methods approach, involving 30 elders and 30 children from the Sidama people in Ethiopia. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and questionnaire. The findings reveal that the Sidama people’s indigenous games, such as Tiiki-tiikiyyo, Hayyye, Assitta-assumma, and Shilinge’ya ba’u, teach young children early numeracy skills. These games involve activities that help children count numbers, identify shapes, and compare objects. However, the study also found that many indigenous knowledge and practices are not well incorporated into early childhood practices. Therefore, the study suggests the need for further in-depth investigations in this area. The expected outcomes were to identify the benefits and challenges of using IK in early childhood care and education, develop a framework for incorporating IK into the numeracy curriculum and pedagogy, and provide insights into the role of indigenous games in promoting numeracy development and cultural diversity in ECCE.
Die Kontextbedingungen vorschulischer Bildung in der Schweiz, in Deutschland und in Österreich unterscheiden sich in verschiedenen Aspekten. Im Beitrag wird über eine Untersuchung berichtet, die vor diesem Hintergrund der Frage nachgeht, welche Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede in den Überzeugungen zur mathematischen Frühförderung pädagogische Fachkräfte aus den drei genannten Ländern zeigen. Während im Bereich der Überzeugungen zum Fach «Mathematik» und zum Lehren und Lernen von Mathematik nur wenige Unterschiede festgestellt werden konnten, zeigen sich in Überzeugungen, die sich konkreter auf die Gestaltung mathematischer Förderung im Kindergarten beziehen, deutliche Unterschiede: Schweizer Kindergartenlehrpersonen zeigen eine «intentionalere» Haltung gegenüber mathematischer Förderung im Kindergarten als ihre Kolleginnen und Kollegen aus Deutschland und Öster-reich. Die Ergebnisse werden in Bezug auf kulturelle Prägungen durch länder- und stufenübergreifende Bildungskonzepte und Bildungsvorstellungen und insbesondere vor dem Hintergrund der in der Schweiz vollzogenen Integration der vorschulischen Bildung in das Regelschulsystem diskutiert.
Analyzing data from two nationally representative kindergarten cohorts, we examine the mathematics content teachers cover in kindergarten. We expand upon prior research, finding that kindergarten teachers report emphasizing basic mathematics content. Although teachers reported increased coverage of advanced content between the 1998–1999 and 2010–2011 school years, they continued to place more emphasis on basic content. We find that time on advanced content is positively associated with student learning, whereas time on basic content has a negative association with learning. We argue that increased exposure to more advanced mathematics content could benefit the vast majority of kindergartners.
The mathematical competences of students with mild to moderate intellectual
disabilites: A cross-sectional study
There has been little research on the mathematical competence of students with mild to moderate
intellectual disabilities (ID) in the German-speaking countries. This article offers new insights into
this topic. The mathematical competence of 109 German and Swiss children and adolescents with
ID (age 6;0–18;0) was evaluated with the test TEDI-MATH. The interpretation of the results is based
on a current model of the development of quantity-number competencies. Furthermore, the mathematical
competences were compared with one another, referring to school age groups and grades
of ID. Results show that TEDI-MATH turns out to be suitable for students with ID. A large share of
students with ID show basic mathematical skills, but only partially insight into precise quantity perceptions.
These results question those current concepts which advise the training of skills like classification
and seriation or, otherwise, of routinized counting techniques, to solve arithmetical problems.
Early childhood educators are often aware of the general importance of play in children's development; however, they are often less aware of how play can support both academic and social learning and what their own roles can be in children's play. In this study, we examined the effect that professional development training about play would have on early childhood teachers' beliefs about and practices in supporting play. Educators' beliefs did not change after training: they generally believed that play was relevant to both social and cognitive skill development and that play had many benefits both before and after their training. After training, teachers were more engaged with children during play and these roles were related to children's cognitive and social play categories. In a time of increasing academization of the early childhood years, these findings highlight the importance of providing professional development opportunities about play to early childhood professionals in order to remind and inform them of the important role that play can have in the early childhood curriculum.
Die sozialwissenschaftliche Analyse von qualitativen Daten, die Text- und Inhaltsanalyse lassen sich heute sehr effektiv mit Unterstützung von Computerprogrammen durchführen. Der Einsatz von QDA-Software verspricht mehr Effizienz und Transparenz der Analyse. Dieses Buch gibt einen Überblick über diese neuen Arbeitstechniken, diskutiert die zugrunde liegenden methodischen Konzepte (u.a. die Grounded Theory und die Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse) und gibt praktische Hinweise zur Umsetzung.
In dem Methodenbuch wird forschungsphasenorientiert sowohl methodologisch umfassend als auch praxisnah in die zentralen Aspekte qualitativer Interviewforschung eingeführt. Dabei wird ein integrativer Ansatz verfolgt, der in den verschiedenen Forschungsphasen und -dimensionen versucht, ein zentrales Ziel nicht aus den Augen zu verlieren: die Offenheit gegenüber den Forschungsgegenständen und den Forschungsprozessen vor dem Hintergrund der methodischen Herausforderungen und Problemen qualitativer Sozial-/Interviewforschung. Die rekonstruktive Sozialforschung ist aus dem Kanon der Methoden empirischer Sozialforschung nicht mehr wegzudenken. Im Zuge ihrer Etablierung hat sie sich enorm ausdifferenziert. Dies gilt auch für den Bereich der qualitativen Interviewforschung, innerhalb derer es eine Vielzahl an Forschungsprogrammen und methodischen Ansätzen gibt. In Bezug auf deren gegenseitige Anschlussfähigkeit fällt auf, dass es scheinbar zahlreiche methodologische und forschungspolitische Unvereinbarkeiten gibt, worunter das zentrale Grundprinzip der rekonstruktiven Sozialforschung oftmals selbst zu leiden hat: die Offenheit gegenüber dem Forschungsgegenstand und den Forschungsprozessen. In dem Methodenbuch wird forschungsphasenorientiert sowohl methodologisch umfassend als auch praxisnah in die zentralen Aspekte qualitativer Interviewforschung eingeführt und dabei ein integrativer Ansatz verfolgt, der in den verschiedenen Forschungsphasen und -dimensionen ein zentrales Ziel versucht nicht aus den Augen zu verlieren: die Offenheit gegenüber den Forschungsgegenständen und den Forschungsprozessen vor dem Hintergrund der methodischen Herausforderungen und Problemen qualitativer Sozial-/Interviewforschung.
Anhand von Videoaufnahmen aus 29 Kindergartenklassen wird die individuelle mathematikbezogene Lernunterstützung durch die Pädagogin am Beispiel eines Regelspiels zur Förderung von Mengen- und Zahlenkompetenzen untersucht. Dabei werden die mathematikhaltigen Pädagogin-Kind-Interaktionen, die rund 18% der Spieldauer ausmachen, anhand eines sozial-konstruktivistisch begründeten Modells der Lernunterstützung eingeschätzt. Es zeigt sich, dass die individuelle mathematische Lernunterstützung vorwiegend positiv beurteilt wird, dass aber viele Pädagoginnen ihr differenziertes Wissen über den aktuellen Lernstand einzelner Kinder nicht hinreichend nutzen, wenn sie ein Kind in der Spielsituation individuell unterstützen. Die Ergebnisse werden mit Blick auf den Aufbau fachlicher und didaktischer Kompetenzen für eine spielbasierte mathematische Förderung im Kindergarten diskutiert.
In countries with a social pedagogic tradition for early childhood education, mathematical learning typically takes place in play-based situations. Preschool teachers’ ability to recognize mathematical content in children’s play is therefore an important prerequisite for educational quality. The present study examines how this ability relates to other aspects of preschool teachers’ professional competencies. Findings from regression analysis indicate that mathematical content knowledge (CK) predicts teachers’ sensitivity to mathematical content. However, further analyses reveal that this association is mediated by preschool teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs.
In this article we discuss nine common misconceptions about learning and teaching mathematics for young children that are widespread among prospective and practicing early childhood teachers in the United States. These misconceptions include: 1. Young children are not ready for mathematics education; 2. Mathematics is for some bright kids with mathematics genes; 3. Simple numbers and shapes are enough; 4. Language and literacy are more important than mathematics; 5. Teachers should provide an enriched physical environment, step back, and let the children play; 6. Mathematics should not be taught as a stand-alone subject matter; 7. Assessment in mathematics is irrelevant when it comes to young children; 8. Children learn mathematics only by interacting with concrete objects; 9. Computers are inappropriate for the teaching and learning of mathematics. These misconceptions often interfere with understanding and interpreting the new recommendations of early childhood mathematics education (NAEYC & NCTM, 2002), and become subtle (and sometimes overt) obstacles to implementing the new practices in the classrooms. We hope this article provides an opportunity for practitioners to examine and reflect on their own beliefs in order to become more effective and proactive early childhood mathematics teachers.