Place, Play and the Languages of Science

This unit focuses on play and the agentic child. Through connecting with place, and playing in the space, students will build their knowledge of how play and the languages of maths, science, movement, and technology are articulated in early childhood as a means for young children (and all people) to express themselves as agentic human beings. Students will develop an understanding of the key concepts of each of these languages and how these languages can inspire multi-disciplinary experiences for young children to make meaning of their worlds.

Five (5) days of placement in community play spaces will support students’ investigation into each of these concepts, while considering First Nations perspectives, engaging with place, and the entangled stories they encounter with the human and more-than-human where the environment is the ‘third teacher’. They will also use knowledge of early childhood development, theories, and research to help them understand alternative narratives of health, wellbeing and risk, and how these languages operate in early childhood. By viewing the child as capable, this unit will inspire us to look beyond the traditional notions of these disciplinary/curriculum areas and to consider them as complex, ethical and political, and use hands-on inquiry experiences to build new knowledge.