Play or Learning?

Jessica King

Crow, S. R. & Robins, J. (2012). Play in the library. Teacher Librarian, 39(5), 36-43.

             

Summary:

         Crow and Robbins (2012) address the decreasing amount of time that schools are giving over to “play” time for students by cutting down recesses and cutting out arts and music lessons. It is their argument that this is detrimental to children because “play is a way for children to make sense of the world they will inherit” (p. 36). The authors then discuss the way in which “play” can be used to engage and teach students and that the library is the perfect place to do this because of the vast amount of resources it has available. There are three ways to allow students to “play” in the library and take control of their learning: inquiry-based learning, storytelling, and questing. Inquiry-based learning is that chance for students to question and explore topics that interest them. Storytelling is reading and listening to stories as well as creating their own stories in their own formats. Questing focuses more on the navigation of the multitude of resources that are available and learning how to find the right resources. About half way through the authors do switch to the term "Learning Commons" when they are referring to the library and reference the book The New Learning Commons. The authors keep the focus on the library perspective and offer examples from activities schools have instigated.