ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

According to the website abc.net.au, Australian school teachers “are pushing for formalised assessments and testing to be scrapped for children aged under eight in favour of a play-based model of learning favoured in Scandinavian countries. State School Teacher's Union WA (SSTUWA) president Pat Byrne said research had shown play-based learning was better for children in terms of wellbeing, academic outcomes, problem-solving and social skills.

Yet she said children from kindergarten onwards were expected to participate in a range of formal assessments….

Speaking at the launch of the union's Play is Learning campaign, Ms. Byrne called on the State Government to develop a strategy to ensure all WA children could access quality play-based learning.”

And in the popular book, From Teaching to Thinking, authors Ann Pelo and Margie Carter advocate for a similar idea – a culture of inquiry for young students: “A culture of inquiry prizes questions and the process of investigating them, more than arriving at the right answers.”

Source: “Teachers call to scrap school tests for children under eight in push for play-based learning,” by Andrea Mayes, abc.net.au, August 12, 2019

ExchangeEveryDay

Delivered five days a week containing news, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.