ABSTRACT
The design and architecture of the Play School supported the play way method or play-based pedagogy that it claimed to use in classroom teaching. The dramatic play area in the classroom contained three food stalls that reflected the diverse food courts found around Singapore, offering Chinese, Malay, Indian, and American cuisines. The print in the classroom reflected a trilingual approach, and labels for materials and spaces were printed in Chinese, English, and Malay. The practical application of child-centered approaches is consistently hindered by the difficult ground realities of classrooms, such as a paucity of classroom resources, including physical space and materials; teachers trained inadequately in child-centered pedagogy; lack of tools to document children's learning and developmental progress; and a lack of basics such as water and electricity in schools. The dichotomy between teacher-centered and child-centered pedagogy is a false one, as early childhood teaching usually combines elements from both a play-based/child-centered approach and a teacher-directed approach.
