Guided Play and Development in Early Education Settings:
What more can early educators do to leverage play to achieve positive outcomes in all domains? Join Professor, Author, Researcher, and renowned “Playful Learning” Advocate, Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek in an inspiring webinar about the power of Guided Play. Using a backdrop of compelling research, Dr. Hirsh-Pasek will share strategies early educators can use to support curricular goals by presenting a learning goal, and scaffolding the environment while allowing children to maintain a large degree of control over their learning. This approach allows educators to use the best of direct instruction and free play. Participants will:
- Learn more about early brain development and the relationship to play,
- Explore the concept of Guided Play as it relates to cognitive, social-emotions, and physical development;
- Examine strategies they can use to implement Guided Play in their programs.
View the Webinar
Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek is the Stanley and Debra Lefkowitz Faculty Fellow in the Department of Psychology at Temple University where she serves as Director of the Infant Language Laboratory. She is the recipient of the American Psychological Association’s Bronfenbrenner Award for Lifetime Contribution to Developmental Psychology in the Service of Science and Society, the American Psychological Association’s Award for Distinguished Service to Psychological Science, the Association for Psychological Science James McKeen Cattell Award for a lifetime of outstanding contributions to applied psychological research and the Temple University Great Teacher Award and the University Eberman Research Award. She was also a finalist for 2013 Best Professor of the year for the American Academy of Education Arts and Sciences Bammy Awards. Kathy received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Her research in the areas of early language development and infant cognition has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and Human Development, and the Institute of Education Sciences resulting in 11 books and over 200 publications. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society and served as the Associate Editor of Child Development. She also served as treasurer, is on the governing board and is the President Elect of the International Association for Infant Studies.