Marjorie B.

Chavez EDTEG 101 Final Paper

BEEd TEG (K-2)

Right to Play: A Retrospect on My Experiences

Through the Lens of Developmental Principles
"The principal goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new
things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done—men who are creative,
inventive, and discoverers”, Jean Piaget, a renowned Swiss developmental psychologist
and genetic epistemologist said (Cherry, 2019). I went through many unforgettable
experiences as a child which include enduring corporal punishment of ruler slapping on
hands for not cutting my nails on time and being late in class for thirty (30) minutes
because my guardian left my uniform blouse at home, which was an hour and a half away
from school. However, the most memorable situation I have ever been in as a kid was
when I was not allowed by my grandmother to play with our neighbor’s kids because she
dislikes one of my playmates who had speech problems. I was deprived of my rights to
choose my own friends and to play (UNICEF Canada, 2010). Looking back, this
experience affected my emotional and social development. In this light, I will examine this
event through the lens of an educator, a child’s advocate, and versed in various
developmental theories.
The physical, cognitive, social, language and literacy, emotional, and moral
development of a child’s well-being is developed through play and external factors such
as family and friends (Frost et al., 2012). Play is as important as regular eating and
sleeping “to further regularities and to a certain degree in [a child’s] life” (Dobinson, C. H.,
1970). Whenever my strict grandmother would go to the farmland, I was able to sneak
out and play with our neighbors. My playmates and I used to reach for the leaves of
medium-sized coconut trees and weaved them into swords, wands, and crowns. We were
able to recreate toys out of the resources from our surroundings. As John Locke, an
environmentalist, believes that “as children learned best by not being coerced but through
recreation, they would develop the desire to be taught” (Moseley, 2014). My neighbors
and I became curious of the things that are available to us, of the endless resources of
open-ended materials which as served as our toys. Little did we know that we were
enjoying free play, a concept suggested by Jean Jacques Rousseau, wherein what

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children learn from each other is worth more than what they have learned in the traditional
classroom (Dobinson, C. H., 1970). Moreover, Friedrich Froebel, a German
scholar, emphasized that humans and nature are connected and that outdoor games
were an important part of his concept of kindergarten (Frost & Sutterby, 2017). This is an
important proof of how play must be staple in every child’s life.
One of my favorite roles to play as a kid while playing with coconut tree leaves is
becoming a princess protected by guards in a castle. My cousins and I constructed a
story-play where they would try to serve the princess in a castle, which was the lower part
of our grandfather’s house. Sticks, leaves, and stones symbolized the real props that we
needed in our drama such as wands, swords, and crowns. Our accidental learning of the
worldly things was led to us through symbolic play, which is one of Jean Piaget’s types of
play: sensorimotor play, symbolic play, games of construction and games with
rules. Piaget realized that “pretense became the dominant mode of play during early
childhood, and he identified games with rules as the common type of play for elementary-
age children” (Bergen, 2015). Piaget, a Swiss philosopher, constructivist, and
developmental psychologist, also believed that learning is accomplished through
exploring, experimenting, and manipulating objects which are directly related to the active
participation and development of children’s creative thinking process. Piaget was not
alone in suggesting types of play because Mildred Parten introduced the social stages of
play including group or cooperative play. She reiterated that children develop their sense
of goals and roles through competitive play (Bergen, 2015).
Sometimes, the articulation of our own rules came with disagreements in the
backstories of our characters and we negotiated on how we would conduct the dramatic
play. Such is what happens whenever my friends and I would pretend to play teacher and
student because some would want to become the teacher even if only one is allowed.
This experience is present in the sociocultural perspectives of Lev Vygotsky, who also
gave importance to the use of “pivots” or objects that represent other objects in play
(Vygotsky, 1967). For him, the use of objects in play as support for the development of
meaning in the mind is key in the development of thought. Besides this, in play, children
conceive various possibilities for their own actions in the world (Henricks, 2015). Another
significant reason why play is necessary to a child’s life is because through playing with

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others, we were able to learn strategies and social skills that are not available in a teacher
classroom set up or at home with adults trying to dictate our every move.
According to Frost, “On no other educational or child development issue is the
body of evidence clearer — play is essential to the healthy development of children and
to their adaptation to their culture, society and world” (Jacoby-Garrett, 2016). Whenever
I was not allowed to go over to our neighbors’ place to play, I felt doubtful of my capabilities
to make decisions and guilty of asking for more than what is allowed. I lost my sense of
power and autonomy in choosing my friends. Lastly, I became too dependent on the
words and rules of elder people which made me feel inferior compared to my friends who
were allowed to go out of their houses. This is what affected my toddlerhood, early
childhood, and middle childhood as theorized by Erik Erikson, who is known for the
“illustration of emotional themes in children’s lives” (Bergen, 2015). Although my friends
and I initiated play and worked through our failures and contradictions by sneaking out
and finding the right timing whenever my grandmother would leave or come back, I still
felt guilty about what we did during the “play stage” (Bergen, 2015).
Humanist Abraham Maslow is the proponent of the theory of motivation based on
the Hierarchy of Needs namely: survival needs such as food, shelter, and clothing;
physical and psychological safety; belonging, love, and acceptance of others; approval
and recognition from others; knowledge and intellectual needs; aesthetic needs for beauty
and order; and lastly, self-actualization or self-transcendence (Saul, 2018). According to
him, a self-actualized person is mentally healthy, can fully function, and creatively live a
productive life. However, this would not be possible without being able to fulfill the needs
on the lower part of the pyramid before reaching the next step. I believe that I was not
able to fulfill until the third stage which is receiving the feeling of love and acceptance
from other people. This rooted from my guardian and other elders in our household not
giving me freedom to enjoy my childhood years with other youth. I was strip of my right to
play and to choose my friends because the people around me are too protective and
cautious of how other kids might influence me.
As a present-day tutor and a future educator to elementary-level kids, the theories
and skills that I have learned from this course would become my foundation in teaching
and spending time with children. I would be able to recognize the mistakes from my past

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and try my best to correct them by practicing freedom of play and trying to incorporate it
in everything that I do with my students. I vow to guide my students as they enjoy learning
through various kinds of play instead of pressuring them into focusing too much on the
academic side of classroom learning. As a teacher, it is also my duty to protect the rights
of the students, not just in playing, but also in every other aspect of their lives such as
their emotional and social well-being. With this, I will also take extra precaution of my
words and actions around children because I know and understand how these formative
years might affect them.
When acquaintances and other relatives are informed about my course and my
major, they would criticize me for choosing the “easy” course because for them, the
curriculum for early grades students are easy and does not need enough “thinking”.
However, after spending time with kids and with the subjects required for my course, I
realized that I am fascinated by the pedagogy and the techniques I needed to acquire to
be an effective teacher to my future students. I am amazed at how developmental theories
are essential in the foundation of children’s growth and that is the reason why I chose to
stay and love this course. It is my belief that the child must be given ample leisure time
and fun but necessary activities that is developmentally appropriate to their age level
instead of trying to advance their education. According to Rousseau, “education should
not be a preparation of a child for its future and should not model it in any definite manner
it ought to be identical with the child's life. The teacher should not claim to do more than
skillfully to help the child in developing its own needs, drives, feelings and thoughts, which
would build up his future personality” (Dobinson, C. H., 1970).

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REFERENCES:

Bergen, D. (2015). Psychological Approaches to the Study of Play. American Journal of

Play, 7(3), 101–129.
Cherry, K. (2019). Developmental Psychology - Jean Piaget. Very Well Mind.
https://www.verywellmind.com/jean-piaget-quotes-2795116#:~:text=%22The
principal goal of education,accept everything they are offered.%22
Dobinson, C. H., E. (1970). Comenius and Contemporary Education. United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Hamburg (West Germany). Inst.
for Education., 90(2), 22, 183–195.
Frost, J. L., & Sutterby, J. A. (2017). Whole Child Development. 72(3), 82–85.
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(2012). Play and Child Development. In From American Playgrounds Courtesy of
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Henricks, T. S. (2015). Play as Experience. American Journal of Play, 8(1), 18–49.
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Jacoby-Garrett, P. (2016). The Power of Play. Parks and Recreation, December, 45–48.
Moseley, A. (2014). John Locke. Bloomsbury Library of Educational Thought.
Saul, M. (2018). Hierarchy of Needs (Abraham Maslow). Simply Psychology, 16.
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UNICEF Canada. (2010). Children’s Rights and Responsibilities. 4–7.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1967). Play and Its Role in the Mental Development of the Child. Soviet
Psychology. https://doi.org/10.2753/rpo1061-040505036

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