1. Faye Nicholson, P7 Class Teacher, Kingsland Primary School
In what way does the format of ‘loose parts play’ need to change to provide progression of creativity and problem solving skills at P1, P4 & P7?
Faye Nicholson, P7 Class Teacher, Kingsland Primary School
What did you do?
I used three different methods of ‘loose parts play’ at each stage to examine which methods provided the most appropriate challenge and chance to develop problem solving and creativity skills at that particular stage. I provided opportunities for each group to experience a session of exploratory ‘loose parts play’, guided ‘loose parts play’, and set timed tasks using ‘loose parts play’. The materials provided for each stage and session were the same to ensure the possible variables were reduced. I analysed the evidence from these sessions to comment on the appropriateness of each method in order to provide suitable challenge for each stage. Using an observation grid, I noted down each pupil and the elements of problem solving and creativity skills they used. This was the weakest part of my enquiry as it is so difficult to capture a skill and measure it. I conducted a semi-structured interview with each group of children afterwards to find out how they felt about that type of play. As the children experienced more of the play they could then start comparing it during the interview.
What has happened?
The whole process has developed my understanding of Learning for Sustainability as a whole, as well as my interest into how we develop and assess skills in schools. Specific learning related to my enquiry question has been that there is not one way of ‘playing’ for different stages at primary school. Pupils enjoyed a range of play experiences and each had their own benefits as well as joint benefits. I realised that I did not need to change the play dependent on the child but in fact, the child would access the play at the level appropriate to them. Taking this ownership away from the child creates a different activity. Set tasks and differentiated activities have their place in school, but by doing this to play experiences removes the benefits that ‘loose parts play’ has. The pupils found that without realising, they were using broad learning vocabulary during their play e.g. ‘this is really heavy’, ‘if we push this harder, there will be more force behind it’, ‘let’s make this stronger by creating a bigger base’. They were also able to highlight more skills being used than I was able to spot when observing them. I believe that by making skills more visible to pupils, means that they will be more able to apply and use these skills in a range of contexts.
How has this impacted on your leadership learning?
To me, teacher leadership means creating and leading change on a varying scale. This could be a small, personal change or development being investigated or could be a larger scale cluster/region research project and everywhere in between. Teacher leadership is not defined by what or who you are leading, but by the fact that you have seen a gap in a certain area and are taking initiative to do something about it. Coming into teaching at a time in which teacher leadership is a phrase that is used to mean the leadership of some kind of change, as opposed to leadership of people, has benefited me. I know colleagues who have found it more difficult to separate this idea but as more teachers become involved in undertaking teacher leadership opportunities and sharing their experiences I believe this will change. The teacher leadership programme has been a structured way to explore my questions and create new ones. I had an idea in my head of a broad area I wanted to investigate through my enquiry approach but I have broadened my interest and understanding in this area beyond where I thought I would due to the nature of an enquiring approach. As I discussed in my post about an enquiry approach, it is a cycle that continues and although this programme is coming to an end and I have some answers to my initial questions, I feel only at the start of what will be a continual cycle of question, investigate, develop, create more questions and so on…
This is just a suggested template, please feel free to create your own. This slide is sized to A1 which is the size the poster will be printed at. The current text is very large (30) and could easily be reduced in order to include more content if need be, but perhaps don’t go any lower than about 18. Obviously including images would be great, but please ensure that you have permission from the subjects and your employer to share these. All posters will be printed for the event for you take away with you, and they will also be uploaded to the web.
What are the implications?
I think a mind-shift is required for the full impact of ‘play’ and ‘loose parts play’ to reach its potential. At a recent professional learning event I discussed this idea and we commented that it seems to be acceptable to have ‘Muddy Mondays’ or ‘Outdoor Wednesdays’ at ELC or P1 but the acceptability of this from a pupil, parent and teacher perspective changes as pupils get older. Perhaps we need to think differently about how learning looks further up the school and use our younger stages as an example of the benefits of varied experiences.
Why did you do it?
I was rolling out ‘loose parts play’ opportunities across the school to develop skills for learning, life and work. I needed to learn more about how to differentiate the use of ‘loose parts play’ in order to achieve challenging experiences for all involved to develop sustainable creativity and problem solving skills. The British Teaching Council explains that knowledge and skills are intertwined but this means that too often the skills that come with the knowledge are simply delivered by a teacher. This means that the environment for developing these skills is not challenging enough and therefore the skills are not fully developed at a sustainable level. As problem solving and creativity are going to be vital skills for the future it is essential that when pupils develop these skills, it must be in a manner which is sustainable for learning, life and work.
References
British Council (Accessed 2019) Unlocking a World of Potential, Available at:
North Lanarkshire Council (Accessed 2019) This Place is Like a Building Site, Available at:
Education Scotland (Accessed 2019) Whole school and community approach to learning for sustainability (LfS) - Self-evaluation and improvement framework, Available at:
Contact Details
Faye Nicholson,
@FayeMhairi
My reflective journal is available using
the QR code or by visiting