Home » ExchangeEveryDay » Joy as a Learning Concept



ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues


<< Previous Issue | View Past Issues | | Next Issue >> ExchangeEveryDay
Joy as a Learning Concept
December 26, 2016
Treat people as though they were what they ought to be and you help them become what they are capable of being.
-Goethe

"The American kindergarten experience has become much more academic—and at the expense of play," wrote Timothy D. Walker in his October 2015 Atlantic article, "The Joyful, Illiterate Kindergartners of Finland."

"Finland requires its kindergarten teachers to offer playful learning opportunities to every kindergartner on a regular basis, according to Arja-Sisko Holappa, a counselor for the Finnish National Board of Education. What's more, Holappa, who also leads the development of the country’s pre-primary core curriculum, said that play is being emphasized more than ever in the latest version of that curriculum. 'Play is a very efficient way of learning for children,' she told me. 'And we can use it in a way that children will learn with joy.'

"The word 'joy' caught me off guard—I’m certainly not used to hearing the word in conversations about education in America, where I received my training and taught for several years. But Holappa, detecting my surprise, reiterated that the country's early-childhood education program indeed places a heavy emphasis on 'joy,' which along with play is explicitly written into the curriculum as a learning concept.

"'There's an old Finnish saying,' Holappa said. 'Those things you learn without joy you will forget easily.'"





Featured Resources:
Supporting Learning Through Play
Special Pricing
Enter code "play" when prompted

"Play is the highest form of research." -Albert Einstein

We are pleased to help you support learning and wellness through play by offering you special pricing this week on:

  • Books
  • Video Resources
  • Continuing Education Units (CEUs)
  • Exchange Essentials
  • Beginnings Professional Development Workshops
  • Out of the Box Training Kits

Learn More and Purchase

Offer ends December 27, 2016 at 11:59 pm PDT. May not be combined with any other offer.

ExchangeEveryDay

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

What is ExchangeEveryDay?

ExchangeEveryDay is the official electronic newsletter for Exchange Press. It is delivered five days a week containing news stories, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.

Killing the bad germs doesn’t have to wait until the kids are gone. Now you can spray stop germs during the day, before they spread, with a product so gentle you can use it around babies with no rinse required. At WB Mason, Essendant, Amazon.
Explore Resources for Creating Natural Outdoor Environments
New Zealand Tertiary College - Online ECE Study.


Comments (3)

Displaying All 3 Comments
Lori · December 26, 2016
Pennsylvania, United States


Learning and play go hand in hand --you cannot separate them. I see the joy in the eyes of the children in my class when they are creating, experimenting, trying something new and I am there to support them when they become frustrated. Teaching young children is not a boxed-written curriculum. It is normal, everyday conversation and experiences---be part of their play---see the joy!

Eva Moravcik · December 26, 2016
Honolulu Community College
Honolulu, HI, United States


When we wrote the book Meaningful Curriculum for Young Children we wanted to call it Joyful Curriculum. Our publisher would not allow this and went so far as to survey American ECE professors. We were told that joy was too trivial a concept to be included in the book title--sad.

Cynthia Aldinger · December 26, 2016
LifeWays North America
Norman, Oklahoma, United States


Joy is a central tenant of our pedagogy for the care of young children. Rudolf Steiner, founder of Waldorf education, said that joy is a foundation of health for young children.



Post a Comment

Have an account? to submit your comment.


required

Your e-mail address will not be visible to other website visitors.
required
required
required

Check the box below, to help verify that you are not a bot. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this form.



Disclaimer: Exchange reserves the right to remove any comments at its discretion or reprint posted comments in other Exchange materials.