Abstract
In the literature in recent years, a number of developmental studies have demonstrated the importance of children entering the school environment with a solid foundation of mathematical content knowledge and argued that problem solving, as an important mathematical process, should be acknowledged in early childhood mathematical education. However, there is less research on how children process mathematics information through problem solving in play-based early childhood education settings. This paper draws upon a cultural-historical concept of play, motives and pedagogical process of a playworld approach to investigate how Mathematical Playworld creates the motivating conditions for young children to achieve a meaningful learning experience about repeating patterns? We argue that Mathematical Playworld, as a new pedagogical approach within the worlds of imaginary situations, should be promoted, as it builds the motivating conditions that support meaningful learning of mathematical concepts in the double sense created in children. This study also contributes to understanding young children’s mathematical problem-solving processes in the collective imaginary situation, considering how learning processes become personally meaningful for children and capturing teachers’ role in play for supporting children’s mathematisation.
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Acknowledgements
The study reported in this paper was supported through Monash Unviersity, Faculty of Education Seeding Grant (2019) and Monash Advancing Women's Research Success Grant (2019). Special thanks to the participating teachers and children at the early learning centres, and for the research assistance from Dr Victoria Minson and Ms Xianyu Meng.
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This project was funded by Monash University, faculty of education small grant research and Monash Advancing Women's Research Success Grant (2019).
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Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (Project ID:18835) and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (Project ID: 2019-004013), Victoria, in Australia granted ethic approval for the project.
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Li, L., Disney, L. Young children’s mathematical problem solving and thinking in a playworld. Math Ed Res J 35, 23–44 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-021-00373-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-021-00373-y