PALIMPSEST - Play as an Instructional Strategy

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Osmosis 2024

Title: Play as an Instructional Strategy in Pre-primary Education: Teachers’ Perception and Present Status
Author(s): Mousumi Das, Assistant Teacher, Sayedpur Govt. Primary School, Narayanganj, Bangladesh and Fouzia Chowdhury Diba, Technical Officer - MC Secondary, Plan International Bangladesh, Bangladesh

Publication Information
Journal Title: Palimpsest - East Delta University Journal of English Studies
Volume No: 03, Issue No: 01, Year: 2024, Pages: 01-13
Publisher: Department of English, East Delta University, Chattogram, Bangladesh
Type of Publication: Research Article
Received: 30 January 2023, Accepted: 06 June 2023, Published: 11 February 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46603/pedujes.v3i1.1

Abstract
Play is an important part of early childhood development (ECD). Like in many other countries, plays are used in Bangladeshi classrooms for ECD. This study aimed to discover teachers’ perceptions and the practice of play as an instructional strategy in pre-primary education. The study employed a qualitative approach. A convenience sampling technique and interviews were used to get data from the participants. A total of ten participants were interviewed. Among them, eight were pre-primary teachers, and two were pre-primary education experts. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data from the interviews. The study revealed that teachers positively perceived play as an instructional strategy and used the ‘free play’ and the ‘guided play’ regularly in the classroom except for the sand and water corner. However, teachers encountered problems when teaching special needs children (SNC) through play as an instructional strategy. It was also revealed that several factors influenced teachers' use of play as an instructional strategy in the pre-primary classroom such as the availability and quality of play materials, teacher-student ratio, and shortage of the pre-primary classroom. It is recommended that the concerned body of pre-primary education introduce play-oriented training so that pre-primary teachers can use the guided and free play more effectively and can include appropriate play for SNC to ensure their learning.

Keywords
instructional strategy, play, play material, teachers’ perception, ECD

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