Save Kindergarten!!

When I think back on my education, I can see a difference between my elementary years and my higher education years. The difference between the two? The ability and freedom to play. Now, after going through my preservice and graduate training, I can see now more than ever how critical play is for the developing mind. 

This is what you would hope a kindergarten classroom would look like.

There is a strong push now in education to ensure that students have mastered 21st Century Skills in order to contribute to civilization. Skills such as teamwork, oral communications, creativity, and self-direction (Fadel, 2008) are necessary for children to be successful adults, but yet, they are not taught explicitly through any curriculum program; they are taught through play. This pedagogy is typically delivered in the Kindergarten setting because after this age, students are forced to go through the "information delivery" approach to education (Resnick, n.d., p.51). When students learn through play, they are going through the creative sequence that allows for critical thinking and self-direction. No amount of worksheets can produce this way of thinking. 

Sir Ken Robinson's Ted Talk on how creativity is a necessity in schools.

However, now Kindergarten is under attack. The approach of information delivery is infiltrating the kindergarten classroom. “Kindergarten students are spending more time filling out phonics worksheets and memorizing math flashcards, rather than playing with blocks and finger paint. In short, kindergarten is becoming more like the rest of school” (Resnick, n.d., p.50). This is not the right way to prepare students for the future. “If you think of it, children starting school [in 2006] will be retiring in 2065. Nobody has a clue…what the world will look like in five years’ time. And yet, we’re meant to be educating them for it.” (TED, 2007, 2:17-2:35). If we want students with 21st-century skills to help move society in the right direction, lifelong play is a necessity.

References:

Fadel, C. (2008). 21st Century Skills: How can you prepare students for the new Global Economy?. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. https://www.oecd.org/site/educeri21st/40756908.pdf

Resnick, M. (n.d.). Lifelong Kindergarten. (p.49-52). https://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/CulturesCreativityEssay.pdf 

TED. (2007, Jan 7). Do Schools Kill Creativity | Sir Ken Robinson [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/iG9CE55wbtY

Image Credits:

Livingstone, S. (2015). U.S. Dept. of Education Finds 6 out of 10 Kids Unprepared for Kindergarten. Learning Liftoff. https://www.learningliftoff.com/u-s-dept-of-education-finds-6-of-10-kids-unprepared-for-kindergarten/