Guided Play: Where Curricular Goals Meet a Playful Pedagogy

Deena Skolnick Weisberg, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta

Michnick Golinkoff
I thought this reading was very good. I think play for children is very
important and this reading really ignited my interest in play based learning.
It really showed the difference between Guided Play, Direct Instruction
and Free Play which is think is so important to know as there needs to be a
learning goal and scaffolding going on while also allowing children to
maintain a large degree of control over their own learning.
Direct Instruction: Involves a teacher playing an active role in imparting
information to the students who themselves are mostly passive recipients.
Free Play: Children retaining the ability to choose their activities and
focus without active guidance from a teacher.
I also agree with the writers of this reading in that I feel Guided Play
allows for teaching rich content in a way that incorporates elements of
free play, discovery learning and traditional pedagogy. Adults initiate the
learning process, constrain the learning goals, and are responsible for
maintaining focus on these goals even as the child guides his or her own
discovery. Guided play is child-directed and can take a number of paths. I
feel this allows the children to explore activities at their own pace and
make links and discoveries along the way. Looking at my own class this
year, I feel Guided Play will really enhance my childrens social play and
also allow them to explore a range of activities and make links in their
learning. I feel all my children will benefit from such an approach and am
very excited about beginning this in my own classroom. I also feel it will
enhance the childrens mindsets for the better and will encourage them to
try things at their own pace and see success within their own learning. It
will also allow them to observe others playing at the same activity and
give them ideas for creativity.