Assessment task link to unit learning outcomes:1. understand the importance of play as a pedagogical construct2. critically analyse contemporary theories of play and how these connect to their...

Running Head: Model of Play        1
Model of Play         
ASSESSMENT TASK 2: MODEL OF PLAY
Table of Contents
Introduction    3
Model of Play    3
Theoretical Discussion    4
Play Example    6
Analysis of the Play Example    8
Perspective of the Children    10
Conclusion    10
References    11
Introduction
    It is understood that play has managed to gain an important spot in the learning activities of the children. Play allows children to use their creative skill while being imaginative. Moreover, play has been providing children with physical and emotional strength. Moreover, play has been assisting teachers to develop self-advocacy skills in children and improve their ability to work within a group. From my perspective, play is an essential part of child’s early development.
Model of Play
The model of child play is indicated through various elements. However, I take into consideration two basic elements. There are essentially two elements of children’s play i.e. internal elements and external elements. The internal elements include the child’s own perspective and the influence of the family (Edwards, 2017). These aspects can be considered as the first or the early influencers. The external elements influences the children a little later and includes influences outside the family such as educator’s philosophy and government policies that guides the learning and development of the children. Some of the policies influencing the early development of children are Early Year Learning Framework (EYLF) and National Quality Framework (NQF). The model below presents my personal understanding of children’s play.
Figure 1: Model of Play
Source: Researcher
The blue and the green circles in the above model represent the internal elements of child development during the early stages of child play and the other two circles highlight the external elements of child play in the early stages of child development. The outer circles highlight the pedagogical role.
Theoretical Discussion
Based on the above model of play, I could identify four main ideas associated with the cultural-historical theory. The four main ideas that have been identified are:
· Conceptual Reciprocity
· Sustained Shared Thinking
· Affordances
· Affective Engagement
The cultural-historic theory introduced by Vygotsky. In his earlier studies, he proposed that human beings are deeply affected by the culture they live in. Culture of human beings plays an essential role in development and consciousness of human beings. Culture, in which a human being is born and brought up affects the actions and behaviours of human beings (Edwards, & Cutter-Mackenzie, 2013). In this sense, the social and cultural contexts have decisive impacts in the early childhood education. The main idea of the cultural-historical approach is the social interaction. In the opinion of Ridgway et al. (2015), social relationships of the children with their families, peers and educators provide the children with an opportunity to involve into pedagogical play.
This theory helps to understand the influence of social, political, cultural, aesthetic and historical environment on learning and playful activity in the early childhood. This theory provides enough space to include interpretation and experiments in the early education and development stages of the children. Moreover, it also assist in taking into consideration the relevant government structure, which is one of the external element of child play according to the model discussed above. This theory allows us to think from the perspective that children are clever enough to understand the changes in their internal and external environment.
Another theory that has been deployed to construct this model is constructivism theory. This theory is based on the notion that children are responsible in creating their own understanding of the surrounding and the world around them based on the previous experiences they have gained (Hedges & Cooper, 2018). Children in this case are encouraged to link new information they have gathered with the...