Scaffolding In Children's Play

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Pages: 8

Throughout this essay it will provide an understanding of the importance of scaffolding in facilitating meaning- making in children’s play. It will provide an understanding of the educator as an integral component of the learning environment. Play in the early years is a crucial support for the development of children throughout their childhood. It provides opportunities for children to actively engage and make sense of the world and the environment around them. It is an important part of an educator’s responsibility to activate the child’s innate learning desire and prior knowledge before building on and providing scaffolding experiences to develop their knowledge and skills further. Scaffolding enhances children’s development and learning, …show more content…
They appreciate and share the children’s natural excitement and enthusiasm for learning. Early childhood educators are a supportive and reliable resource for children’s learning and help children to develop positive attitudes and learning dispositions (Kearns, 2010). Educators use their professional knowledge to guide and support children’s learning through intentional teachings and scaffolding. Bruner’s theory revolves around the idea that the role of the educator is to stimulate children’s learning through providing opportunities for play and interaction with others. His belief is that educators should do this through scaffolding the child’s learning (Kearns, 2010). The responsibility of the educator is to provide a safe, nurturing and supportive environment that promotes all children’s sense of belonging. The EYLF guides educative practices with learning outcomes and principles to provide children with an environment that will promote a sense of being, belonging and becoming. Educators are guided to work in partnership with families as they are the child’s most influential educators (Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations for Council of Australian Governments, 2010). Partnerships between educators and families underpin the quality of care that is provided. A child’s sense of belonging and learning is affected by the level of connection and communication that is between these partnerships. This is supported with Rudolf Dreikurs’ belief that the role of the educator is to recognise and build on the child’s diverse background and experiences as well as engaging children, families and their community in curriculum decisions (Kearns, 2010). It is important for educators to know and understand how children learn and make connections between learning experiences that actively engage the children leading their learning to more complex and