Marrying Play Pedagogies with Standardized Curriculum: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

This study explores the realities experienced by first and second grade teachers as they are using play pedagogies to deliver the standardized Curriculum into Classroom (C2C) planning documents in the Central Queensland Mackay Region in Australia. Posited within a curriculum theory framework, the study defines curriculum as a verb, as opposed to a noun. Accepting that realities are constructed through experience with the world, and that multiple realities can exist at any one given point in time, this study strived to understand the realities and experiences of early childhood educators working in a system absorbed in an audit culture. Although the foundational understandings were gathered through a quantitative approach, in order to gain a clear understanding of how teachers are using play pedagogies to deliver standardized curriculum within their early primary classrooms, a mixed-methods approach was utilized. This project provided a platform for these educators to have their voices heard and their stories told. It also discussed successful strategies and barriers they experienced when implementing play pedagogies to deliver standardized curriculum within these grades.