A Game in Education of Primary Schoolchildren: Variability of Implementation Approaches

Abstract

The state of the theory and practice of using a game in the education of primary schoolchildren is summarized; contradictory approaches regarding the expediency of its use in primary classes are characterized. It is determined the semantics of the original concepts: game, game activity; the function of the game, its structure and components are analyzed with specification of the content. A critical and reflexive analysis of developments in the field of pedagogy and psychology of a game allowed us to determine its essential characteristics as a natural form of a child’s life, the need for self-expression and the acquisition of experience in voluntary behavior, its submission to certain rules and requirements. The objective requests of practice for rethinking the functions and possibilities of games of primary schoolchildren for the formation of a full-fledged educational activity in connection with the orientation of education on competence-based results are substantiated. The structure of game activity in education is outlined, the content of each of the components (such as motivational-objective, content, procedural-operational, control-evaluative, and resultative) is specified. The common qualifications of games are characterized: creative and according to the rules set. By subtypes, they are divided into role-playing, constructive-building, dramatization and theatricalization games, games with work elements. Types of games according to the rules are: didactic, mobile, cognitive, entertainment games. The variety of game tools provides wide opportunities for the teacher to choose the game that best suits the purpose of the lesson. A common way to activate students, especially at the initial stages of learning, are the situations of interest. For this purpose, riddles, elements of fairy tales, actions with favorite heroes are used. The conditions for the pedagogically organized use of a game in the educational process with the full implementation of its elements – educational tasks – have been revealed as follows: game plan, game start, game actions, game rules, summary. The content of each of the elements of a game is specified in a variety of possible methodological priorities of the teacher. Recommendations have been developed that ensure the effectiveness of using a game in the educational process: the game task must be consistent with the educational task and meet the goals of the lesson; the portion of game material should decrease as students master the elements of educational activity; to provide for the gradual complication of didactic tasks, the variability of game actions within the framework of one type of games, the creation of situations for the students to reveal volitional efforts, voluntary attention, and concentration.