Athens is established as the “capital” of new trends in pedagogy and education of very young children as the second international conference Play on Early Educationwas held with great success at the Seraphio of the Municipality of Athens, April 27-30, 2022.
After three years of severe coronavirus restrictions, more than 200 delegates from 16 countries attended – live and online – the second Play on Early Education Conference, which included lectures by distinguished scientists from Sweden to New Zealand. , experiential workshops and lots of play! It is worth noting that a large number of interested parties attended on demand and in the following days the most emblematic speeches.
The seven keynote speakers were the hugely popular British-Swedish educator Suzanne AxelssonThe “Teacher Tom(Aka Tom Hobson) from Seattle who is considered one of the best preschool teachers in the world, the British playworker with 46 years of experience Meynell Walterthe director in the sleep laboratory of Stockholm University John Axelssonthe co-founders of the Women on top support network Stella Kasdagli and Penelope Theodorakakou (because the conquest of gender equality begins in preschool) and the teacher who managed to turn a public school in a mountain village of Crete into an educational model of creative self-management Angelos Patsias.
The keynote speakers were accompanied by 27 other presenters and workshop conductors, all of whom gave their best to show how play can contribute early on to creating independent and autonomous children with confidence, critical thinking and responsibility.
The conference
On the first and fourth day of the Conference, many experiential workshops were held, including by Bosch and Εduk8 / LEGO® Education, and on the second and third days, the program included speeches, presentations, interaction and discussion, as well as music by the African artist Ndioba. Ngom.
The impressions gained by the participants were excellent, as evidenced by the evaluation forms they were asked to fill out.
The beginning of the conference was greeted by the mayor of Athens, Costas Bakogiannisthe Undersecretary of Labor and Social Affairs, responsible for Welfare and Social Solidarity, Domna Michailidouthe Undersecretary of Labor and Social Affairs, responsible for Demographic and Family Policy and Gender Equality, Maria Syregela and the Deputy Regional Head of the Central Sector, George Dimopoulos. The MEP and Vice-President of the European Parliament also addressed the closing of the conference with a video message. Eva Kailis.
The content of the conference was enriched with presentations that highlighted the purpose of the conference, ie the tame, freely chosen, based on the experiences and interests of the children themselves, which has the ability to adapt to a world that is constantly changing.
Examples of educational approaches were also presented with game orientation from many countries of the world and in different environments (eg urban, nature, in an era of social distance).
The leading British-Swedish educator Suzanne Axelsson stressed that play is very important for children because it allows the brain to rest and process all the information it has received throughout the day. He noted that a good teacher is one who is not constantly needed by his students.
THE Tom Hobson from Seattle, known as “Teacher Tom”, perhaps the most famous preschool teacher in the world, noted that what children are most interested in is discovering the world through real objects, even those that perhaps for a large to be “garbage”. As he said, something that seems useless to an adult, for the child can be valuable because it can be the material of a construction that he will have made himself.
A child should not look forward to the weekend, he should have fun and play every day, stressed the British playworker Minel Walter. He noted that play is the best education for the child and explained that adults should not interfere with children’s play unless they are in danger of being hit.
The two co-founders of the Women on top support network Stella Kasdagli and Penelope Theodorakakou , talked about gender equality in the game. They explained that these toys, which are less stereotypical in terms of gender, are toys that are close to nature, while they stressed that children should have the opportunity to choose the game and accept, if for example a boy chooses to play with one doll.
The neuroscientist and director in the sleep laboratory of Stockholm University John Axelsson, who referred to the importance of sleep in the development of children. He noted that sleep helps children to concentrate, to be in a good mood, to be able to control their emotions. On the contrary, lack of sleep increases the risk of allergies, low immunity, obesity, diabetes and hypertension.
Knowledge does not come by itself, there must be a research process, the child must feel that he is a ‘detective’, the teacher stressed ‘Angelos Patsias. He noted that the school needs extroversion actions, the child must be “dirty”, he wants “ritual”, to devote time, he does not want ready-made solutions, he wants to ask.
Organizer of the Conference was the Dorothy Snot Preschool.
Sponsors of the conference were the Metropolitan College, The Why Community and the companies: Bosch, Eduk8 and LEGO® Education, Korpi, Biscuits Papadopoulou, Egreeno, as well as the Seraphio of the Municipality of Athens.
The “Play on Early Education“It is addressed to anyone interested in pre-school education and play-based education, to parents, psychologists, teachers and generally to those who engage in activities for children.
For more information, on demand monitoring, speaker CVs, etc., visit the official website of the Conference www.playonathens.com
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
I have worked in the news industry for over 10 years. I have a vast amount of experience in covering health news. I am also an author at News Bulletin 247. I am highly experienced and knowledgeable in this field. I am a hard worker and always deliver quality work. I am a reliable source of information and always provide accurate information.
