ABSTRACT
This phenomenological case study looks at the use of play pedagogy in an early childhood education university course Play as Development. The voices of the instructor and graduates of the program are used to describe and reflect upon the use of play and its influence upon the understanding and adoption of play as pedagogy. Described in this chapter are planned learning opportunities in which pre-service teachers experience a Froebelian approach to learning using play-based methods and materials that parallel those used by young children (Tovey, 2017). Meeting in a play-based early childhood education environment rather than in the typical university classroom setting, students socially construct knowledge with peers through active and meaningful engagement (Epstein, Johnson, & Lafferty, 2011; Vygotsky, 1978) where the learning environment is the third teacher (Thornton & Brunton, 2014). Through semi-structured, guided interviews, the instructor/researcher reflects with former students on the influence of this unique university course upon their beliefs, knowledge, and understanding of young children and learning. This chapter ends with a look at former students’ implementation of play as pedagogy, identifying influences that support and inhibit play as pedagogical practice.
