Embracing Imaginary Play: A Pedagogical Shift in Supporting Children’s Mathematical Transition To School Through the Intervention of Conceptual PlayWorld

Abstract

A growing focus on effective teaching approaches to support children’s mathematics learning during the transition from kindergarten to school has been highlighted in recent literature. This study adapted Fleer’s (2018) Conceptual PlayWorld [CPW] and Li and Disney’s (2021) CPW in mathematics to conduct an educational experiment to support primary school teachers’ mathematics teaching as children transition to school. Video and interview data were collected in an Australian primary school with 20 children (5–6 years old) and one focus teacher. Drawing on the cultural-historical concept of individual and collective imagination, as well as the rules of play, we examined the influences of the CPW in mathematics intervention on a primary school teacher’s mathematical pedagogical practice during children’s transition from kindergarten to school. We observed that the teacher practised a different type of mathematical pedagogy, CPW, to support and deepen children’s mathematics learning. This study contributed to the empirical evidence of the implementation of the CPW approach in supporting teacher’s mathematics teaching practice during children’s transition to school.