Helen Bartlett
Early Childhood Teacher and Play Purist.
This blog is my way of sharing my ideas, thinking and my thoughts on play in Early Childhood Education.
I am passionate an Early Childhood teacher working with young children and believe that children learn best through play in a child-centred environment. To quote TeacherTom, I am a play purist.
I am a strong advocate for children to be given space, time and freedom to choose their own learning path. I believe that by giving this choice to children, we are instilling in them a passion for knowledge and an understanding that they can be in control of what and how they learn. While there is a time and place for structured play, I advocate that children learn best by following their own interests and passions and that as teachers, it is our responsibility to find and foster these interests within a play-based environment.
I have a strong pedagogical base from which I teach. I believe it is important to use current research, such as Margaret Carr, Kath Murdoch, Ken Robinson, Peter Gray, as well as personal and peer evaluations to continue to inform and guide my own learning. At the core of my thinking is ‘what is best for children?’ I believe that you must always question why you are making the choices you are and challenge yourself to be open and accepting of any change that may arise from this questioning.
I have a Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Early Childhood and have spent the last 20 years teaching internationally in London, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta and Phnom Penh, Oman and now DR Congo. During this time I have taught the British National Curriculum, IB PYP curriculum and the Creative Curriculum.
I love hearing from you all.
Learning through Play 