The University of Montana 5th Annual ECE Summit

Please join us for our distinguished guest speaker!

We know that children are amazing learning machines. As adults that support young children and their families in a number of capacities, our challenge is to uncover how to harness this natural tendency to learn. In other words, how do we teach in a way that is child-centered, evidence-based, and most effective for learning today and success tomorrow? And importantly, how do we prioritize and recognize an individual’s strengths and experience so that we support children in ways that are meaningful for individuals and not one-size-fits all?

Research from the Science of Learning is zeroing in on an answer to these question. This talk will explore how learning can be maximized when we purposefully create joyful experiences that promote active (minds-on), engaged (not-distracted), and meaningful learning (connects to the child’s life) using iterative exploration (experimentation) and utilizing the power of social interaction. Playful learning, a pedagogical approach that views play as a spectrum rather than through the false dichotomy of play vs. learning, naturally harnesses these characteristics in a way that is effective for learning across domains – from content knowledge (e.g., STEM and literacy) to the development of self-regulation and beyond. By thinking about free play, guided play, games, teacher-directed play, and direct instruction as different approaches, we can begin to explore how and when these approaches can be used to achieve desired learning outcomes. This talk will explore what is known about playful learning and discuss how this pedagogy can be leveraged across contexts (e.g., schools, homes, and communities) and ages.

Jennifer M. Zosh, Ph.D., is a Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at The Pennsylvania State University’s Brandywine campus. As the Director of the Brandywine Child Development Lab, she studies how infants and young children learn about the world around them. Her areas of expertise and publication include playful learning, the impact of technology on children, working memory, mathematical cognition, and language acquisition. Notably, she was co-lead author on a recent (2015) publication in Psychological Science in the Public Interest about putting education back in educational apps through the application of research in the science of how children learn.

**ECP Credit Available**

Play isn't a break from learning; it is the engine of learning. However, many educators feel stuck between "free play" (which feels chaotic) and "direct instruction" (which feels rigid). This  interactive workshop bridges that gap using the Spectrum of Play framework. Participants will begin with a 15-minute deep dive into the research-backed power of playful learning, identifying the five key characteristics that make an activity "playful": joy, meaning, active engagement, iteration, and social interaction. We will also explore the various “stops” along the spectrum of play and discus their relative strengths.
The core of the session is a hands-on "Pedagogical Pivot." Participants will audit one of their own existing lessons, mapping it onto the spectrum and identifying opportunities to infuse it with greater agency and choice. By the end of the session, educators will walk away with a redesigned, playful lesson plan and a toolkit of strategies to move their practice toward Guided Play—the sweet spot where adult scaffolding meets child-led discovery.
Learning Objectives

• Deconstruct the nuances between free play, guided play, games, and direct instruction.
• Evaluate a current learning activity using the five evidence-based characteristics of playful learning: joyful, meaningful, actively engaging, iterative, and socially interactive.
• Synthesize pedagogical strategies to "pivot" a teacher-led activity into a guided play experience that maintains learning goals while increasing student agency.