UniSA’s Victoria Whitington says play, not tests is key to early-childhood learning

A leading SA early-childhood educator is worried young kids are being pushed into tests and formal teaching – rather than critical play learning.

A leading South Australian early-childhood educator is warning against pushing very young children into tests and formal assessments, arguing play is critical.

Associate Professor Victoria Whitington Education, Uni SA’s Education Futures dean of programs, said she worried political pointscoring was being put ahead of children’s learning.

This includes the drafting of some early-years learning strategies for preschool that don’t mention play but instead refer to “instructional leadership”.

“I do think we are in an increasingly regulatory environment where our politicians and policymakers don’t understand the nature of learning and early-years pedagogy and are trying to push school-based approaches on to the early years,” Prof Whitington said.

“(They) want learning assessed in a form that they can easily understand and track so they can deliver outcomes and demonstrate their effectiveness in their role … they want formal testing that produces numbers.”

“(While) currently there are no formal testing requirements in the preschool years, there has been talk of it.”

Play and nature help children learn at The Lady George Kindergarten at Highgate. Pictured with director Brett Gent are young learners Tom, Aadhya and Evie. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Prof Whitington said she was also concerned by the use of “off-the-shelf phonics programs”, phonic testing in Year 1 and “worksheets that don’t require any form of creation or critical thinking”.

“In preschool, children want to learn and are imbued with the joy and excitement of it, full of curiosity – it is no place for formal instruction if we want children to love learning,” she said.

“There are also issues around the social and emotional health of children when they spend time working sitting very still when we know that they learn through active movement, in play, through engaging all their senses.”

“In the birth to five years and beyond, children learn through play, through interacting with their environment that surrounds them, testing their hypotheses, experimenting with ideas and with materials, through building relationships with peers and adults, and learning about themselves as members of their community, and more broadly citizens.”

At Highgate-based The Lady George Kindergarten director Brett Gent said play was used as

“a vehicle for children to explore their world”.

Aadhya, Noah and Adam with Evie, Kate and Emily and Lady George Kindergarten director Brett Gent reading a book. Picture: Keryn Stevens

“We view children as very capable and confident … we promote independent thinking, free thinking (and) value children as powerful learners,” he said.

“But we also value childhood and nature with a big focus on play, to let the children be children and free to learn in the direction they want to learn.”

A spokeswoman for the SA Education Department said a new “Early Learning Strategy that speaks to the quality of educator interactions and intentional teaching” was in its final stages.

“In South Australia we are very clear on the value of learning through play in the early years,” she said.

Prof Whitington’s comments came as she unveiled a new timeline of early education milestones in SA, a project been three years in the making.

She said many people weren’t aware of “SA’s rich history” in early-learning space.

“We’re recognised nationally for this remarkable history and this (resource) brings it together in a snapshot,” Prof Whitington said, adding the growing professionalism of the sector had been the biggest achievement.

To view the timeline to: www.unisa.edu.au/about-unisa/Our-History/early-childhood-learning/