Imaginative play and reading development among Grade R learners in KwaZulu-Natal : an ethnographic case study
Date
2018-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS Publishing
Abstract
This article argues that imaginative play can fulfil a valuable role in the development of
reading among pre-school children. It uses Feuerstein’s Mediated Learning Experience as
a theoretical lens and defines the concepts related to imaginative play, focussing particularly
on symbolic and dramatic play. Drawing on an ethnographic case study of the reading
development of four pre-schoolers, aged between 5 and 6, in their home environments in
KwaZulu-Natal, it shows how imaginative play is a generative aspect of early reading in the
home. It is through imaginative play that the children were able to make sense of what they
had read, transfer it to other contexts and explore its implications in a child-centred way.
Imaginative play can take early reading from the realms of print and digital media into those
of movement, dressing-up, role-playing, visual and aural stimulation – holistic and integrative
ways of ‘comprehending’ the text. The article concludes with a discussion of the challenges
and potential pedagogical implications of the research findings.
Description
CITATION: Neha, M. & Rule, P.N. 2018. Imaginative play and reading development among Grade R learners in KwaZulu-Natal: An ethnographic case study. South African Journal of Childhood Education, 8(1), a518, doi:10.4102/sajce.v8i1.518.
The original publication is available at http://www.sajce.co.za/
The original publication is available at http://www.sajce.co.za/
Keywords
Child development -- Imaginative play, Preschool children -- Books and reading -- South Africa, Preschool children -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal, Preschool children -- Imaginative play, Feuerstein, Reuven, Mediated learning experience
Citation
Neha, M. & Rule, P.N. 2018. Imaginative play and reading development among Grade R learners in KwaZulu-Natal: An ethnographic case study. South African Journal of Childhood Education, 8(1), a518, doi:10.4102/sajce.v8i1.518.