Background: Research has shown the benefits of play for children's learning and development. Play can also be harnessed for pursuing pre-determined learning goals related to school curricula through "guided" play. Aim: The research inquired into the implementation of a pre-service teacher education course on play as pedagogy to evaluate…

Play is one of the most widely used teaching strategies in Foundation Phase. Grade 3 is the exit grade off the Foundation Phase in the South African context. This paper is an output of a Masters' dissertation that explored the use of play when teaching number sense to Grade 3 learners. The dissertation findings encouraged the researchers to…

Background: Early childhood development (ECD) practitioners are encouraged to implement play pedagogies and their views of play as a pedagogy in rural settings have not been captured widely. They are the main role players in implementing play pedagogies for learners' learning and development. The commitment to play can be traced through theory and…

This theoretical article examines the crucial role of play-based learning (PBL) in enhancing the mathematical skills of children in the Early Childhood Phase, referred to as Foundation Phase (Grade R-3) learners, within a South African context. The article argues that the traditional approach to teaching early childhood mathematics, where teachers…

Background: Poetry predates all other genres of literature, and it has been argued that the relationship between poetry and language is inextricable. The ability of African people to articulate their own stories was largely silenced by colonialism. Poems and lyrics have been known to create a bridge between individuals in meaningful words and…

Mathematics is, universally, considered the heartbeat of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematical (STEM) education. Accordingly, the learners must be equipped with strong mathematical proficiency very early in life. This behoves mathematics practitioners to use various impactful pedagogical strategies. The bigger action research from…

Rich play enhances the child's engagement during play, and this improves the potential for learning. This study examines the place of sensory materials focused on visual and tactile stimuli (sensopathic material) during guided play to improve learning in the reception year. Interviews with teachers and observation of the children while playing…

Early educators' perceptions of play and learning influence whether they adopt responsive roles to facilitate learning in play. While studies have investigated perceptions of play as pedagogical practice and its perceived relevance for learning, few have also interrogated educator learning perceptions, and hence compared these perceptions. This…

The author examines guided play among students in a South African classroom using a play-and-write workshop constructed by her and her students. She determines that the workshop displays the characteristics of playful learning, lies on the playful learning spectrum, and fits the criteria for guided play. She concludes that, given the benefits of…

This paper explores Grade R teacher expressions of themselves as teachers of numeracy, and as teachers working in the transition phase of schooling, after their participation in a research-informed numeracy-focused professional development (PD) intervention. The Early Number Fun (ENF) programme had 33 teachers from 17 Eastern Cape schools…

Since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted in-person learning, fears about children's learning loss remain a primary concern for parents, teachers, and policymakers. These concerns, combined with longstanding issues of inequity regarding children's access to learning opportunities have sparked widespread discussion about how to reimagine education.…

Parents of young children are often unaware of the general importance of play in children's development and their own roles in children's play. Lack of leisure, lack of space, the COVID-19 pandemic, Early Childhood Centre teacher communication and use of media and digital toys for children, have affected and reduced children's free play. Drawing…

In South Africa, little is known about the funds of knowledge of young children, and how they use this resource to affirm their agency in early childhood centres to build their childhood experiences. With this article we contribute knowledge through exploring the strategies that young children use to show their agency and thereby their funds of…

In response to the call for papers for this special issue and the questions it poses, the authors show how the ontological posthumanist shift of agential realism does not erase but keeps the child human of colour in play, despite the inclusion of the other-than-(Adult)human in its methodologies. Through a montaging technique, the authors explore…

Research on puppets in Intermediate Phase mathematics is in its infancy. According to Vygotsky, play affords a playful element that can optimise learning opportunities. However, many mathematics teachers are unfamiliar with the integration of pedagogy of play (PoP) (in this case, puppetry). The aim of this paper is to report on one participant's…