Play in Schools for Teachers and Therapists (1 Day ONLINE Workshop)

Thursday 30 November 2023

9:30am – 4:30pm

Presented by Em. Professor Karen Stagnitti and Professor Louise Paatsch 

*Start and end times are in Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra, UTC+11:00

ABOUT 

Play in the classroom is controversial as the link between a child’s play ability and education is not always immediately clear. This workshop combines the expertise of Karen Stagnitti (play) with Louise Paatsch (language and literacy and education) to bring to teachers and therapists ideas and explanations of why and how to embed play in the classroom. This ONLINE workshop will cover why play is relevant to learning and the class-room, how to assess and report on play using the Pretend Play Checklist for Teachers, how to link play ability to language and literacy, and how to embed play in the classroom to extend children’s language and literacy.

Participants will be taken through the Pretend Play Checklist for Teachers (PPC-T) as a criterion referenced assessment for how to assess and report on a child’s play ability. PPC-T Manual and Pack of Assessment Scoring Forms are included in the cost of the workshop and will be sent out with free postage to all registrants before the workshop.

This training will be supported by case studies. The workshop will also incorporate research carried out in mainstream schools where play programs have been carried out or embedded. A separate handout is provided on research into play in specialist/SDS schools.

This one day ONLINE workshop is a very practical and hands on workshop with examples linking play abilities to the Australian curriculum. This workshop would be valuable to professionals who work in schools and are interested in play, language and literacy.

This ONLINE workshop will comprise:

1. Five hours of ONLINE LIVE content will cover the Pretend Play Checklist for Teachers with case study discussion through break-out rooms on Zoom; practical aspects of planning for play in the classroom; the role of the teachers; linking play to the curriculum. This ONLINE workshop will focus on practical applications for the LIVE session using break-out rooms, chatbox, and discussion.

PRESENTER’S PROFILE – KAREN STAGNITTI 

Karen Stagnitti is Emeritus Professor in the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University, Victoria, Australia. She is retired from full time teaching and research but continues to run workshops and write. She graduated with a Bachelor degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of Queensland. For over 40 years she has mainly worked in early childhood intervention programs in community-based settings as part of a specialist paediatric multidisciplinary team. In 2003 she graduated from LaTrobe University with a Doctor of Philosophy. Her area of research is children’s play. Karen has over 150 publications, including journal articles, book chapters, and books. She has developed several play assessments including: Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment, the Pretend Play Enjoyment Developmental Checklist and the Animated Movie Test. From this research, Learn to Play Therapy was developed. Throughout the year, she is still invited by national and international colleagues to contribute to books by writing book chapters or editing .

PRESENTER PROFILE – LOUISE PAATSCH 

Professor Louise Paatsch is the Deputy Director of Deakin University’s Strategic Research Centre in Education – Research for Educational Impact (REDI), and a Chief Investigator at the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. Her research focuses on children’s and young people’s communication, language, pretend play, and literacy development, with a strong focus on metapragmatic and pragmatic language use and the link to social communication. She also investigates teachers’ talk patterns and intentional teaching practices in supporting children’s and young people’s communication, language, and play abilities. Louise also undertakes research that focuses on the communication, spoken language and literacy abilities of deaf and hard-of-hearing children and young people. She also works with teachers, educators and allied health professionals to explore their own practices as reflective researchers to support positive outcomes for children, young people, and their families.