Children playing with toys in a classroom

Education

The barriers to utilising play-based learning in England’s primary school classrooms

Psychology lecturer and PhD researcher Holly Amber Stokes explores the importance of play-based learning, alongside her research on barriers to using this approach in the classroom

21 August 2023

Play is not optional: It is a fundamental right of the child

Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that every child has the right to rest and leisure, including play and recreational activities. This right to play is as fundamental as any other human right; it makes considerable contributions to children's happiness and health.

Further to this, play activities contribute to many areas of child development including, but not limited to, language development, physical development, and socio-emotional development. However, opportunities to play have been rapidly declining in recent decades, especially in the school setting where children spend a large amount of their time.

No time to play?

The LEGO Play Well report, published in 2018, found 93% of children aged 5 to 12 across nine countries report feeling happier when they had the opportunity to play, and 82% of UK children reported play-based learning (PBL) helped them 'learn more and learn better'. However, one in five of the children in the UK stated that they were 'too busy' for playtime.

Often, 'play' and 'learning' are perceived to be distinct, separate concepts by parents, educators and children. With mounting importance placed on measurable academic progress, this binary thinking surrounding play and learning often means that play is given as a reward for engagement in structured academic activities, rather than being utilised as a mode of teaching or, at the very least, being given recognition for its importance on par with structured academic activities.

This is further demonstrated by the continuing reduction in the amount of playtime children are being given in the school setting. Recent research has noted "marked reductions" in break-times at school over the last 25 years, with a decline in afternoon breaks and shortening of lunchtimes.

Additionally, play opportunities are seldom provided in the classroom after the early years stage of education. The emphasis on engaging in structured academic activities and reduction of play opportunities provided to children may partially explain the finding of the LEGO Play Well Report surrounding children's perceptions of being "too busy" for playtime.

Play as a vehicle for learning

Play can be viewed as a spectrum, from "free play" where there is minimal to no adult-initiation or direction, with the activity being initiated by the child, through to "playful instruction" which is adult-initiated and adult-led, but still maintains playful elements of an activity. This spectrum of play acknowledges the many different forms play embodies and its varying functions.

Within this spectrum, it is specified that the varying types of play activities (except for "free play") have a "learning goal" attached to them and can, therefore, be utilised as a mode of teaching in childhood education.

Early play-learning experiences have also been associated with more positive child attitudes towards learning throughout primary school. Perhaps most importantly, play is also a significant contributor to positive mental well-being in children and can serve as a protective mechanism against poor school-related mental well-being. This is particularly important as the mental well-being of children is of growing concern, with 15.2% of 7–10-year-olds in 2022 having a 'probable mental health condition', according to NHS reports.

The protective nature of play

Adding to the discourse regarding children's mental health in the UK, a review of existing literature and Childline statistics from Howard (2020) provided insight into difficulties surrounding school-related anxiety specifically.

They found children in the UK report higher levels of performance-related anxiety than the national average of other countries, with 26% of school-related concerns discussed in counselling sessions relating specifically to exam or revision stress across all ages. Under 11's were also most likely to discuss school-related anxiety as their key concern in counselling sessions, further highlighting the impact that school has on mental well-being for this age group.

To cope with specific anxiety surrounding academic pressure, resilience-building is key; a review by Hewes (2014) promotes the ability for play to build emotional strength and resilience in children, equipping them with the ability to overcome these types of stressors. According to the protective-reactive model of resilience, play can weaken the correlation between risk factors (i.e., academic pressure) and the potential outcome (i.e., poor mental well-being).

Play also aligns with the protective-protective model of resilience, in that it allows children access to other protective factors such as building socially positive relationships. Taken together, these models further highlight the benefit of utilising play in the school environment to not only facilitate learning, but to also promote and improve child well-being.

Despite this, the National Curriculum currently employed in England's primary schools does not have a specific role for play in teaching and learning, and PBL techniques are seldom used in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 classrooms.

Barriers to utilising PBL in England’s primary school classrooms

One part of my PhD research has included gathering data from primary-school teachers regarding the factors that they perceive to impact the ability to use PBL techniques within the classroom setting. A large-scale online questionnaire was completed by 203 primary school teachers across England where they indicated how far they perceived 17 separate factors to impact upon the ability to utilise PBL techniques.

The barriers that teachers perceived to most impact their ability to utilise PBL techniques were the “specifications of the curriculum”, closely followed by the “requirements of assessing children’s academic progress”. This demonstrates the difficulty teachers experience in knowing how to utilise PBL techniques alongside a curriculum that does not offer an explicit role for play, and the pressure that teachers face surrounding the assessment of children’s academic progress.

Except for factors surrounding pupil abilities and behaviour, and negative attitudes of parents towards PBL, all other factors were rated relatively high. Specifically, the negative attitudes of other school staff, particularly senior staff, was perceived to have a large impact on the ability to utilise PBL in the classroom, as well as the practical resources (e.g., time, funding and support) and the knowledge, skills and confidence of the teacher themselves.

The factors that were perceived to be the least impactful all surrounded children's abilities and behaviour, including instances of limited language abilities, additional needs, lack of play skills and poor behaviour.

Supporting England's teachers to utilise PBL techniques in the classroom

On reflection of the findings presented above and the evidence surrounding the importance of play, significant change is needed in the discourse surrounding and requirements for measurable, academic progress and achievement. This would allow room for teachers to feel comfortable in utilising PBL to a greater extent in the classroom, and to reduce the pressure felt by teachers and children alike regarding current measures of pupil's academic achievement.

Secondly, it would be beneficial for a more explicit role to be specified for play in the National Curriculum, with examples of how core elements of the curriculum may be delivered in a PBL mode of teaching and learning.

These higher-level changes in governing processes and requirements of primary-school education in England would then likely address perceived barriers surrounding negative attitudes from others, specifically senior staff who likely face considerable pressure to align with country-wide educational standards and measures of progress, and the allocated practical resources that would allow for PBL techniques to be more widely implemented.

Finally, to address issues surrounding teacher's knowledge, skills and confidence, further PBL training and coaching should be provided to primary school teachers, including practical examples and models of how PBL can be implemented in alignment with the National curriculum, and how academic progress can be measured in alternative ways.