From Preschool to First Grade in Colombia: The Importance of Play in The Transition

 At the very beginning of the school year, most students are not familiarized with school anymore after a long period of vacation. However, the process of adaptation is certainly different from grade to grade; many teachers find first-grade as an extremely difficult grade due to the drastic change students face coming from a completely distinct playful surrounding offered by preschool. It is noticeable the relevant role of play during those first stages of preschool education; nevertheless, it changes severely when entering to primary education. Several aspects such as, the curriculum, teachers’ training, resources, directives, parents, etc. start interfering with a play-oriented approach or a play-based learning which make children feel unfamiliar and anxious in the new surroundings.

The process of adaptation may vary depending on the country due to the different strategies applied by schools in preschool and first grade. Particularly, in Colombia, this process of adaptation takes more time since there are many external and internal drawbacks that affect directly an effective transition from grade to grade.  Undoubtedly, it would be easier for students and teachers to keep taking advantage of the benefits that play can provide in the learning process; but in reality, many first grades in Colombia have forgotten why play matters. Hence, it is certainly necessary to take a look at those powerful tools that work with preschoolers and make that transition a more meaningful and not oppressive step in the learning process.

Nowadays, play is seen as one of the most natural and necessary activities for a successful development of children capacities; as it develops essential life-long skills that are not only used in educative contexts, but also play an important role in everyday life. According to Mardell et al. (2016), “bringing play into a central role in a school entails creating a culture that values the core tenets of play: taking risks, making mistakes, exploring new ideas, and experiencing joy”. When children go to first-grade, those tenets that were valued through play in preschool, tend to be avoided due to the perception of a more rigid level of education; therefore, creativity, autonomy, and motivation are usually affected creating an invisible barrier that hinder an optimum transition from grade to grade.

After some reflection, the Colombian Ministry of Education decided to divide preschool into three grades, having the grade “transition” as the bridge to connect to primary school. Nevertheless, it has not been enough since multiple aspects have not been taken into consideration during this process. The inflexibility of the curriculum makes teacher forget about the playful environment; the lack of resources in public schools avoid the exploration through play; the failure on updating to new approaches in classroom; the lack of regulation from private to public schools; and even parents and school directives preclude a play-based learning demanding results by forcing the training of basic skills such as reading and writing.

However, play brings a great quantity of benefits if it is implemented in more than early education stages. It can surely add a better alternative to deal with the process of transition from grade to grade by keeping implementing it in following grades. As stated by Mardell et al. (2016) in the proposal “Towards a Pedagogy of play”, learning through play involves: Intellectual, social, emotional and physical development. “In playful learning, children try out ideas, test theories, experiment with symbol systems, explore social relations, take risks, and reimagine the world”. There is no reason to consider that play is not effective even when education needs to go to another level of difficulty.

Although, it is also necessary to implement a set of strategies to facilitate the transition and change the perception that primary schools bring to children. Sink et al. (2016) suggest the following strategies: “(a) building a collaborative relationship between the kindergarten and first grade teachers, and (b) providing direct student assistance/ interventions”. Plus, including experiential practices for children; involving families and curriculum; and establishing a learner-centered pedagogy. Facilitating this key transition is a matter of organization and reflection that would definitely improve children’s perception about school.

In conclusion, the role of play is imperative to achieve not only a successful transition grade to grade, but it may also strengthen an education system that needs to value the core tenets of play. Its benefits are valuable and need to work in cooperation with the development of basic skills without forgetting the importance of making it suitable for children. Furthermore, the implementation of articulated strategies to promote collaboration in all involved parts would make a great progress and facilitate the process. On the other hand, more research on the matter needs to be carried following works like “Towards a pedagogy of play” or even following play-based approaches.

References

Abha, S., & Shukla, P.C. (2016). Play: World of Children. Educational Quest- An International Journal of Education and Applied Social Sciences. 7. 71. 10.5958/2230-7311.2016.00021.0.

Ali, E., Constantino, K. M., Hussain, A., & Akhtar, Z. (2018). The Effects of Play-Based Learning On Early Childhood Education and Development. Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences, 7(43), 5482+. DOI: 10.14260/jemds/2018/1044

Bossenmeyer, M. (2015). Why Play: The Importance of Play. Peaceful playgrounds.

Garcia, U., & Ángel, M. (2014). Transition from preschool to first grade primary school in Mexico: the perceptions of teachers, headteachers and parents. PhD thesis, University of York.

Herrera, X.D., Escobar, A.B., Mateus, S.G., & Rodríguez, J.A. (2018). Coaching a docentes y rendimiento académico: PTA en Colombia. Revista De Educación, 181-206.

Mardell, B., Wilson, D., Ryan, J., Ertel, K., Krechevsky, K., & Baker, M. (2016). Towards a Pedagogy of Play. Project Zero and Lego Foundation. Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Sink, C. A., Edwards, C. N., & Weir, S. J. (2007). Helping Children Transition from Kindergarten to First Grade. Professional School Counseling, 10(3), 233–237. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42732514