DIMENSIONS OF PLAY IN THE 21ST CENTURY PEDAGOGY: LEARNING IMPERATIVE FOR THE NIGERIAN CHILD

Abstract

This paper sets out to clarify the relevance of play which is an offshoot of creative dramatics in the 21st Century Early Childhood Education. The paper thus addresses the problem of dearth of play, a basic teaching methodology for Early Childhood Education, in Nigerian educational system. It investigates the various techniques through which the youngster could benefit from a matured, organised and coordinated play. The study adopts a combination of the historical, sociological and literary methodologies to gather its data; in other words, extant literatures related to the subject-matter were reviewed. It also draws on the personal experience of the researcher as an early childhood teacher for a decade as well as being an educational theatre practitioner. The study reveals the deficiency of play as a teaching methodology and a dearth of play facilities in Nigeria Early Childhood Education sector. Even where such exists, it is not effectively and efficiently practised. The paper therefore establishes different strategies through which teachers could facilitate matured play in an early childhood classroom. It further advocates play as an important tool of learning in the early childhood education curriculum and the need for early childhood teacher and care-giver to imbibe the play stratègies recommended in this paper, to enable the Nigeria youngster get holistic education needed to meet the 21st Century challenges.