Ssh! I don't like 'free learning'

[Wakemeupfromthisdream]

I have name changed for this. Just like the title says. If you are an Early Years teacher in Scotland you just might empathise with me. The Emperor's New Clothes springs to mind. Also, don't get me started on loose parts. Please just let me wake up from this nightmare and get on with teaching......

Fad after fad. Not in Scotland but I can guess what you mean. Smile and carry on!😃

Thank you Tortola! I will put on my 'gameface' and carry on.....

I'm so glad I moved out of P2 as I just couldn't bring myself to teach this way. A friend's school have been doing this for a few years and she now feels she has to squash 2 years' of work into their P2 year to catch up.
Yes, fad after fad. I'm afraid I've been teaching for so long I've seen them all come and go - and now they were shite when they were first announced.

So glad I saw this.

I've been teaching a long time and always had P1. Got moved out of P1 to P2 so probationers could take this on and honestly feel it's just slap in the face after slap in the face.

My new class are the most immature, academically poor P2 I've ever had. All our PSAs are in P1, having a great time all day doing fuck all, while I'm completely on my own with children who can't read any words, write their names or count confidently.

I'm miserable. Utterly miserable. The only saving grace is that my own kids are past this.

I’m an Early Years teacher teaching in England - currently in Reception but have been in Nursery - and I don’t know much about education in Scotland. So please forgive my ignorance but what do you guys mean by free learning?

I suppose Free Learning would be the same as the great "Play Based Learning" approach that is the current in thing in Scotland. I'm fed up of hearing the Play is the Way lobby spouting how marvellous it is. We have always had excellent standards in our P1 and P2s using traditional methods and now it all has to be shelved. Some schools even advocate it right through to P7.

I'm just waiting for the outcry in 10 years time when standards have fallen so much - play based learning along with the Curriculum for Excellence - what could possibly go wrong.

It's the move to a more Reception like model. Previously most schools ran carousels and active learning. The children always got to play, but it was very structured and controlled.

Now everything is based on the idea that the teacher sits at a u-shaped table and the rest of the class do challenges at their own pace. There's no funding, our buildings aren't set up for it, class sizes are enormous, there's hardly any TAs or any extra adult support, and there isn't the training and knowledge to do it properly in most schools.

Play based learning does seem to be being interpreted and implemented in different ways in different schools. I do worry about missed learning and teaching opportunities, and also about the time wasted in tidying away all the resources(by the children) and of course the waste incurred. I have always championed play, and thought I understood how to provide quality learning experiences. It turns out I was deluded. Everyone is working so hard to make this work, which is the nature of teachers, but it is just not working. I would love to hear and learn from the experience of anyone who is finding this an improvement. I am constantly itching to intervene and teach, rather than let the children do their own thing. Surely there must be a happy medium?

Yanbu. Free flow is a great concept for nursery/childcare type type provision where you may have one adult to 4 or 6 kids, there's scope for the adults to guide, intervene and help children extend the play, which leads to learning outcomes. It's the ideal in an environment with plenty of adults.

I dont believe it translates very well to the higher ratios of primary schools - the lack of structure doesnt lend well to a gradual transition towards more formal learning required in year 1, and the low numbers of adults risks children playing rather repetitively and never actually learning enough of the new skills & concepts that form the foundation for good academic learning later on.

This a controversial view though, the current fashion in education is to preserve free play as long as possible (and then people wonder why academic standards fall and kids find sudden transitions to higher expectations later on very difficult as they are unprepared).

I'm currently having this fear for my son 😂 !! Our local school does play to p7 and I can't think of anything worse.

Children can't focus, aren't used to sitting at a table and getting on with a task, it's a free for all.

As a child I could have thought of nothing worse than playing all day at any age. I was very studious and, like many children, was very eager to learn. I'd have been bored to tears. They will reap what they sow in years to come but they won't listen to old dinosaurs like us who've seen it all come and go before.

@RaraRachael we all find year on year the children are less able and lack basic skills.

I can't believe it's advocated! I'm all for active learning and there's a time a place for play absolutely in infants but not at the expense of education.

I've never understood "play" based learning further up school. Do kids in P7 want to play all day - I think not. If so they'll leave primary knowing even less than they do now 🙄

I am a huge advocate for play. In our Reception classes, we free flow between inside and outside for most of the day. The children have short inputs for phonics and maths in the morning and then we have another short carpet session after lunch, covering a range of other subjects. We use a planning in the moment approach. While the children are playing, we spend our time in provision with them, extending their learning while they do so. We have one teacher and one TA per class and 1:1 support for those with who need it. Our cohort is very mixed too - including children with needs, those who speak little English and those who are living in poverty. All the children make amazing progress - most of them can read and write simple sentences by the end of reception. They also have great understanding of numbers, know a lot about the world around them and can interact well with their peers. They spend most of their time in school playing and don’t realise how much they are learning at the same time. Their play is totally free - we don’t put any activities on the table for them to do and they don’t have challenges to do either. They also learn through play in Year 1. I hate this idea that by letting them free play they aren’t learning anything. If that is happening then the provision isn’t right and the teachers/practitioners need to think why. Free play for young children is not a new idea and children of 4, 5 and 6 are still so young.