The Role of Teachers in Play

In their updated book The Play's the Thing:  Teachers' Roles in Children's Play, Betty Jones and Gretchen Reynolds talk about "Why Teachers Play":

"Some teachers enter play spontaneously for their own pleasure or the children's.  They take their cues from the children, and the relationship is one of mutuality.  Other teachers intentionally guide play for teaching purposes.  Inherent in the role of teacher as player is the risk that the adult will take over, directing play that then ceases to be the children's, or will attract children looking for adult attention.

"When is this risk appropriately taken?  We believe it is at the beginnings, when children are still short on ideas for play in the school setting and/or skills for playing with materials and each other.  There are several kinds of beginnings, including beginning child care as a young 3-year-old or entering a school culture that is different from one's home culture....

"Teachers of children who come to school unfamiliar with its materials, language, or play scripts may need to enter into play with children to build bridges from home culture to school culture. Children become competent with materials, not through directed practice but through exploratory play.  Very young children, learning communication skills in their home language, as well as second and third language learners, become competent with oral language through spontaneous exploration of its sounds and its possibilities for communication.  They become competent with scripts of their home, neighborhood, and cultural traditions by playing them."

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