Analyzing The Play And Learn Through The Arts (PLA) Program In Children’s Multi Modal Learning

Play and Learn through the Arts method and its linkages to the multi modal approach in teaching

Before the discussion proceeds further to explain the Play and Learn through the Arts method, I would like to clarify what a multi modal approach in the process of teaching, and multi modal environment entails. That shall be beneficial for establishing the context upon which the arguments further shall be built upon by me.

Modality in this particular context shall be the methods in which the educational instruction is disseminated and received. Multi modal approach in learning thus means a situation whereby the learner reacts positively to various methods of learning. It is an indication of the fact that the learner can adapt very easily to a wide variety of styles, or modes of instruction. Multi modal style of instruction involves a wide range of practices in teaching which seeks to stimulate the sensory and cognitive capabilities of the learner with an effective and balanced use of the visual and audible tools, or modes (Mroueh, Marcheret and Goel, 2015). Apart from the visual and the audible modes, the usage of text based, linguistic and spatial modes of communication are also used in multi modal method of learning. The conceptual understanding of the term modes in this aspect, hints at the various methods which is used in disseminating the course material. In simple words, they are the methods of teaching. The multi modal method demands that the instructor is quite skillful and is quite deft at balancing the techniques for effective learning and creating a multi modal environment which shall be crucial for the success of multi modal learning (Di Mitri et al., 2018).

A multi modal learning environment is essentially an interactive one wherein the learners and the teachers are involved in an active exchange of ideas, interpretations, questions and answers in making the process of teaching and learning vibrant and interesting (Aneke et al., 2016). In a multi modal environment, the system is not strictly based on the continuum that the learners are expected to learn and the teachers are supposed to teach. Rather, it is a vibrant experience whereby both the learner and the teacher are expected to learn, grow and develop themselves to their best. It shall not be possible if there lies no free flow of interaction between the learners and the teachers (Yamasaki 2015).

Having explained multi modality as a particular method used by teachers to disseminate education among the learners, I shall now be devoting the flow of discussion towards explaining the Play and Learn through the Arts method, and establish its connections with multi modal form of learning and teaching. As the name suggests, play and art are the modes employed, which are central and most important to the particular pedagogical approach. It is also called as the play way method of teaching, and is more appropriate for children who are at the pre-school, nursery or kindergarten level (Kumar 2016). The method of teaching involves the creation of an environment of joy and positivity by the teacher using various activities, which could be both simple and complex. Thus it is clear that the method of learning is through playing, in simple words, it is an activity oriented process of teaching and learning. The guiding philosophy behind the application of this particular method in teaching is to nurture the intellectual and cognitive growth and development of the learners by imbibing emotions in to the process of teaching. Since the intellectual capacities of each learner is different, hence the teacher must device a subjective and customized method of providing guidance (Palmer 2017). Learners at the junior school level must be provided very meticulous guidance for the development of their emotional and intelligence quotients, and this particular approach of Play and Learn through the Arts method has provisions for dedicating efforts to the individual requirements of the learners. It has been concluded by psychologists and researchers specializing in the field of enquiry that concerns itself with the development of pedagogical practices that the creativity and the expressive capabilities of the learners tend to develop when the teachers apply the Play and Learn through the Arts method in the process of teaching. That can be attribute to the fact that the various activities designed tend to encourage the curiosity and the interest of the young learners and the teachers provide the necessary guidance to help out the learners to go about with the activities. The trials that the young learners are made to face also helps to gather the ability to analyze a situation from multiple angles and then arrive at a decision. It has also been observed that being active not only develops the mental health of the learners, but also the physical health (Gregorc and Meško 2016).

Comparison of the Play and Learn through the Arts method with the Emilia Reggio approach

From the above discussion it can be easily deduced that there are quite a lot of linkages between Play and Learn through the Arts method and the multi modal approach of teaching and learning. The multi modal approach in teaching calls for different methods or modes to be employed in teaching. Similarly in the Play and Learn through the Arts method the teacher is expected to design various activities for conducting the process of teaching and learning. The set of activities in the Play and Learn through the Arts method differ not just from time to time for the sake of maintaining the versatility of the mode of teaching, but also from children to children to suit their intellectual capacities. The inclusivity of visual, audible, textual and spatial materials in the process of learning to maneuver the aspect of play and art to employ in teaching for suiting a particular purpose. This is the basis and the most fundamental similarity between the two (Agrawal 2015).

The approach to be used in the process of learning and teaching proposed by Emilia Reggio is another renowned pedagogical method which is considered as appropriate for employing in the process of teaching young learners. The approach of Emilia Reggio aims at the advancement of the capabilities of the children by means of effective pedagogical practices. The role of the teachers had been devoted a position of immense importance as they are supposed to be the one responsible for propelling the academically oriented progress and the sense of responsibility towards the society in the right direction (Edwards and Gandini 2018). For the purpose, the expansion of the horizon of the understanding of academia and the classroom has been provided in the pedagogical practice adequately. The conception of academics and the process of teaching and learning have been equated with projects which seek to provide for the long term benefits of the learners. Hence the teachers are supposed to very minutely monitor the progress of the learners and take necessary steps to strengthen both the weaknesses and the strengths. The core values of Emilia Reggio’s approach of teaching harps on the aspect of participation of both the teachers and the learners in a professionally oriented way. The role of the environment has been considered as quite crucial in shaping the experience of education, which brings about the conception that classroom can be set up anywhere possible depending upon the fact whether the place is congenial for acquiring education or not. Classroom need not necessarily always be the four walled bounded room meant exclusively for the purpose of receiving and disseminating education. This particular approach also lays emphasis upon the family and the community of the learner in order to assess the degree of influence it generates in the development of the personality and the cognitive capabilities of the learner, and that shall also be beneficial to the teacher in documenting the progress update of the student (Biroli et al., 2018). This goes as far as the basic understanding of the fundamentals of the approach propounded by Emilia Reggio.

With regard to the similarities of the approach of Emilia Reggio and Play and Learn through the Arts method, it can be said that both the pedagogical methods are devoted to the betterment of the young children. The approaches can justifiably be called as having similarity with the Montessori mode of learning and teaching (McNally and Slutsky 2017).

However there are certain differences between the two approaches as well. The approach by Emilia Reggio lacks the characteristic feature of being multi modal in adopting the method towards teaching, which is very much present in Play and Learn through the Arts method. The former talks of a unilinear mode of teaching which is quite mechanical and utilitarian in its orientation. While the Play and Learn through the Arts method is quite versatile as it nurtures the overall development of the child, which includes both mental and physical aspects. Emilia Reggio’s approach on the other hand just concentrates on the aspect of academic excellence. Since her approach has empirical and scientific undertone to it, it necessitates collection of the background information about the learner. The motive is to assess the student. The Play and Learn through the Arts method lacks this aspect of empiricism as it recognizes the difference between the children and accordingly tries to cater to their respective needs. There is no scope for assessment of the student as such in the Play and Learn through the Arts method, as it seeks to contribute only to the development of the learner from the point of view that they are quite young to be assessed (Wien 2015).

References

Agrawal, B., 2015. Play-way Methods to Improve Vocabulary. Language in India, p.61.

Aneke, A.O., Ezeudu, F.O., Uzodinma Uchenna, E., Obiageli, N., Chimezie, O., Ibiwari, D., Ibiam, J., Otu, M.S. and Nnamonu, E.I., 2016. Effect of Play Way Method on Achievement of Nigerian Primary School Pupils in Basic Science: Educational and Counselling Implication. Transylvanian Review, (1).

Biroli, P., Del Boca, D., Heckman, J.J., Heckman, L.P., Koh, Y.K., Kuperman, S., Moktan, S., Pronzato, C.D. and Ziff, A.L., 2018. Evaluation of the Reggio approach to early education. Research in Economics, 72(1), pp.1-32.

Di Mitri, D., Schneider, J., Specht, M. and Drachsler, H., 2018. From signals to knowledge: A conceptual model for multimodal learning analytics. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 34(4), pp.338-349.

Edwards, C.P. and Gandini, L., 2018. The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. In Handbook of international perspectives on early childhood education (pp. 365-378). Routledge.

Gregorc, J. and Meško, M., 2016. The Concept “Play–Physical Activity–Development” As A Response To The Contemporary Teaching Methods In Preschool Education. Research in Kinesiology, 44(1), pp.19-25.

Kumar, B., 2016. JOYFUL LEARNING: A WAY OF EDUCATION FOR HAPPINESS. Education for Happiness, p.33.

McNally, S.A. and Slutsky, R., 2017. Key elements of the Reggio Emilia approach and how they are interconnected to create the highly regarded system of early childhood education. Early Child Development and Care, 187(12), pp.1925-1937.

Mroueh, Y., Marcheret, E. and Goel, V., 2015, April. Deep multimodal learning for audio-visual speech recognition. In Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP), 2015 IEEE International Conference on (pp. 2130-2134). IEEE.

Palmer, A., 2017. “A Pleasant Way of Teaching the Little Ones to Recognise Flowers”: Instructional Nature Plays in Early 20th Century Britain. Children’s Literature in Education, 48(4), pp.341-354.

Wien, C.A., 2015. Emergent curriculum in the primary classroom: Interpreting the Reggio Emilia approach in schools. Teachers College Press.

Yamasaki, Y., 2015. Developing citizenship: lessons from British progressives, Dramatic Method of Teaching by H. Finlay-Johnson (1912).