EFFECTS OF PLAY AND DEMONSTRATION METHODS ON PRESCHOOL LITERACY SKILLS (A case study of Selected Nursery School Teachers in Ovia North east LGA)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Play and demonstration methods are the
primary vehicle by which young children learn. For the preschool child (3-6
years old), demonstration methods is at the very centre of his life. The play
experience of the young child serve as the primary vehicle by which he/she
learns about himself and his environment. During the preschool years, young
children greatly expand their knowledge, understanding and abilities. They
explore and discover their world through experiences using their sense of
touch, sight, smell, hearing, taste and the child’s discovery of the
environment could be done through play. Play is a universal language which
every child understands, it is seen as a positive tool for holistic development
in young children. Children love to play and learn a lot through play. It is
such a significant factor in children’s learning that the National Policy on
Education 2004 categorically stated that government should ensure that the main
method of teaching at the early childhood level should be through play.
Play has been given different
definitions by different authors. Play is a perfect activity for normal
development and growth of children in all aspects of life. It is especially
useful in the all round development of the child in the cognitive, affective, and
psychomotor domains of learning (Ibiam, 2010). According to Bedrova & Leong
(2003) play is a specific behaviour involving divergent thinking usually used
to describe the activities of children from babyhood until the early teenage
years. They also argue that play is something in which humans of all ages, from
diverse cultures engage in, although the purpose for and the type of play may
be different across ages and culture.
A commonly held belief among those in
Early Childhood Education is that play is the most important activity of young
children because it is during play that children are at their most competent
form. Children learn best not when they are told but when they can act on their
environment and construct knowledge for themselves. It gives children fun, joy
and help in developing the child’s personality, realization of their potentials
and to experience the satisfaction of success. Children have other forms of
play such as hide and seek, art, running, climbing building and others but
dramatic play provides distinctive, lasting benefits for total development of
the child.
Dramatic play can be defined as a type
of play where children accept assigned roles, and then act out. It can be seen
as a term that refers to everyday make-believe games that kids naturally enjoy
(Maureen, 2003). Dramatic play occurs when children adopt roles and use make
believe transformations to act out stories. In dramatic play, children bring
existing skills and act of dramatic play in turn enhances these existing
skills. The skill-set that develops through dramatic play are role playing, use
of materials, pretending, attention span, social skills and communication.
Children say what they feel and feel what they say. They unashamedly use
erroneous conceptions and unintentional puns. In play and demonstration
experience, children integrate emotions, thinking and motivation to establish
natural connections critical to effective brain functioning (Lester &
Russell, 2008). When they engage in play, they use imagination and imitation
which require complex cognitive or intellectual processes. The understanding
that they have built through play experience are symbolized by things, action
plots and behaviors.
Play and demonstration give children
opportunities to explore, talk to each other and solve problems with the help
and supervision of their teachers.
Recent research on emergent literacy,
has revealed that play and demonstration can make important contributions to
children early reading and writing development. The development of cognitive
skills, including dispositions for learning, (such as curiosity and
persistence) memory and thinking skills and language and literacy skills have
strong links to play (Bedrova & Leong, 2003). They also agree that play and
demonstration is an integral part of a well rounded preschool programme as it
is healthy for early childhood development.
Play can help the educator of young
children meet the co-curricular goals and build the children developing
literacy skills. It allows children to experiment with purpose for literacy
things they have seen at home, to recognize that different tasks require texts
to produce a wide variety of texts and by demonstrating things they have heard
for them.
1.2
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Play and demonstration method helps the
children learn to assert themselves in a way to build their competence in later
adult roles. The ability to experiment with demonstrations, problem solving and
conflict resolution while promoting abstract thinking, helps the child’s
ability to develop, thereby contributing greatly to the holistic development of
young children.
Demonstration has some educational
purposes/ values. It fosters creativity of thoughts, imagination, strategies
for problems solving and the development of divergent thinking ability. Some of
the key components of holistic development including characteristic of how
children demonstrate each area. These areas of growth are interrelated and
independent. Growth in one area reinforces and promotes growth in the other
areas.
1.3
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following are the objectives of
this study:
1. To
examine the effect of play on preschool Literacy skills.
2. To
examine the effect of demonstration method on preschool Literacy skills.
3. To
find out how play and demonstration method can be used for a holistic
development of a child.
1.4
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What
is the effect of play on preschool Literacy skills?
2. What
is the effect of demonstration method on preschool Literacy skills?
3. How
can play and demonstration method be used for a holistic development of a
child?
1.5
HYPOTHESIS
HO1: There is no significant
relationship between play and Literacy skill development in preschool children
HA1: There is significant
relationship between play and Literacy skill development in preschool children
HO2: There is no significant
relationship between demonstration method and Literacy skill development in
preschool children
HA2: There is significant
relationship between demonstration method and Literacy skill development in
preschool children.
1.6
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The following are the significance of
this study:
1. The
outcome of this study will enlighten the school teachers in nursery schools,
nursery school managements and the general public on the impact of play and
demonstration methods on the development and perfection of Literacy skills
among preschool children.
2. This
research will be a contribution to the body of literature in the area of the
effect of personality trait on student’s academic performance, thereby
constituting the empirical literature for future research in the subject area.
1.7
SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This study is limited to Nursery school
teachers in nursery schools in Ovia North East Local government area. It will
also cover the effect of play and demonstration methods on Literacy skills in
preschool children.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint-
Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing
for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data
collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The
researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work.
This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work
REFERENCES
Ibiam J. Approaches and Materials in
Childhood Education: Nsukka: University of Nigeria, 2010.
Bedrova E, Leong DJ. The importance of
being playful. Education Leadership, 2003; 60(7):50-53.
Maureen C. Interactive Toys and
Children’s Education: Strategies for Educators and Parents. Childhood Education
Winter 2003, 81-85.
Lester E, Russel B. Play Development
from birth to age four, in D.P. Fromberg and D. Bergen. (Eds). Play from birth
to twelve: context, perspectives and meaning (2nd Ed.). New York:
Routeldge, 2008.