Teaching roles in play and inquiry learning
- Different roles can change over time or within one episode of play and inquiry.
- Each of these roles are of equal value according to the context, and teachers should be flexible in their application of their roles.
Branch one: Manager
Space
- The teacher allocates, organises and manages space inside and outside to support students' play and inquiry learning, for example, floor space, quiet areas, number of chair available at a table, messy play area, investigative areas for exploration, boundaries.
- For example, opportunities for students to organise their own play and learning spaces inside and outside, a sense of belonging and place attachment.
Resources
- The teacher identifies required and relevant resources to further enable play and inquiry learning, such as accessing Reverse Garbage and op shops.
- The teacher considers opportunities for students to access resources independently, such as, on open shelving, allowing student access to storage cupboards
Time
- The teacher understands the need for and allocates blocks of uninterrupted time for students to be engaged in play and inquiry learning inside and outside, allowing play and inquiry activities to carry on over a period of days/weeks to consolidate the students' learning as complex play and inquiry learning projects require sufficient time to develop.
Noticing and guiding: Low interaction
Observer
- The teacher notices students' play, interests, dispositions for learning, activities and behaviour in play and inquiry learning as a basis for planning and assessment.
- Sometimes it is useful to start by observing, while other times you can pull back from an active role in the middle of a learning experience to observe what is happening, for example,
Mediator
- The teacher positioned on the edge of play to help the play run smoothly, such as, resolving conflicts, promoting equity, and, interpreting play cues for some children when necessary.
- This is most effective when teachers first observe before stepping into play.
Facilitating: (supporting and extending learning)
Scaffolder/Tutor
- The teacher provides support through various means such as modelling, organising materials, verbal explanations or prompts to support the students to eventually engage in learning independently.
- Play tutoring involves tutoring individual students or groups in specific play skills to enable them to participate with peers in play and inquiry learning experiences.
Co-constructor
- The teacher and student are jointly involved in an activity to encourage students' agency and confidence to co-construct meaning, for example, creating a book together with pictures and text, exploring micro-organisms in the soil under a tree with scientific equipment.
Reflector and Evaluator
- The teacher engages with students in reflecting and evaluating, supporting the development of metacognitive thinking, for example, documentation can be created to record students' reflections and evaluations of their play and inquiry learning.
Explicit teaching (active and direct teaching)
Demonstrator
- The teacher demonstrates techniques or skills, most effective when accompanied by explanations and opportunities for practice, for example, when introducing new equipment or posing new challenges or problems to be solved.
Director
- The teacher is explicit in directing students' play and inquiry learning activity, such as, when necessary to remind students of procedures or rules for outside learning experiences; or when students need to follow particular steps for successful learning.
- The teacher may act in the director role when they have very specific learning outcomes around complex concepts such as in the integrated teaching and learning of literacy or STEM.
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