Using complexity thinking to foster a games of chase curriculum in a New Zealand early childhood setting

Hanin HussainUniversity of Canterbury

Using complexity thinking to foster a games of chase curriculum in a New Zealand early childhood setting

Hanin HussainUniversity of Canterbury

Using complexity thinking to explore

games of chase with children

Research focus

What is complexity thinking?

What happened?

What did the children learn?

What did I learn?

Presentation

What is complexity thinking?

• A discourse or a way of thinking and acting

• Assumptions

• we are complex systems

• we live in an inter-connected (complex)

world

• Feature of a complex world

• On-going interactions and reciprocal

relationships between us and other

systems

• Entangled relationships

What is complexity thinking?

• Using complexity thinking in teaching means

• being conscious and make use of couplings that exist or can exist in our setting

• focusing our thinking and actions on expanding possibilities • in teaching, learning and activities• in ways that are ethical and meaningful

What is complexity thinking?

What happened?

What did the children learn?

What did I learn?

Presentation

RGTag

WITTMWBALA

Run in a group

Safe place

Dodging

Fleeing

Chasing & tagging

Characters

Story Verbal

interactions

If … then logic

Anticipation

Chant

Creeping

Freezing

Run within boundaries

Reading

Bug-related

activities

Museum trip

Creep Up On Granny

Socio-dramatic

play

On-going interactions & co-creating a new game: Big A, Little A

Children Myself Teachers

What is complexity thinking?

What happened?

What did the children learn?

What did I learn?

Presentation

What did the children learn?

• Learnt to play three different games and variations of the games

• Experienced the nature of games

• Contributed to different game designs

• Learnt to distinguish between players and non-players in a shared play area

• Learnt to tag in different ways

What is complexity thinking?

What happened?

What did the children learn?

What did I learn?

Presentation

• Using complexity thinking can foster a games of chase curriculum that is both structured and flexible. • Using a flexible content framework

• Using a decision-making framework that actively encourages on-going interactions among people, ideas and activities

What did I learn as a teacher?

•As a way of thinking and acting, complexity thinking has helped me to

• think creatively and create a rich tapestry of activities and learning for children and myself

• be mindful of how I can benefit the children I work with in different ways

• think continually about the relationships between my teaching, children’s learning and the activities we were engaged in

Final reflections

Acknowledgements

Thanks to

• the children, teachers and families at the Early Childhood Learning Centre for participating and having fun,

• Sport & Recreation New Zealand for the research funding

• Assoc Prof Lindsey Conner & Dr. Elaine Mayo for giving me the freedom to do what I wanted.