Mun Wai's Reflection

Why choose learning through play?

Originally, I was quite doubtful about implementing a play curriculum in Singapore due to the many challenges an educator may face from such a curriculum. However, learning through play was still an intriguing topic for me and I wanted to find out more about its feasibility in the industry itself. Hence, I have chosen to work with the topic of play in the classroom for this project.

Through this, I've learned that despite the challenges, learning through play in a classroom within the context of Singapore is possible. It requires a lot of careful planning, from both the teaching staff as well as the principal. It also requires a bond and mutual trust between the centre and the parents. This allows the centre to progress in their implementation of a play curriculum.

It is also important to start small, and slowly expand as the curriculum gains support form the community. The principal of the centre currently implements purposeful play in her centre, but to get there, she had to achieve many things such as organizing workshops to educate parents and finding alternatives to assure parents that their child is not just "playing". All these little things that she took into consideration led to the success of the implementation of purposeful play in her centre. Without understanding the concerns, implementing purposeful play would have been impossible.