How important is it for children to enjoy learning?

I was involved in a lot of imaginative play through my early and middle childhood years. I’m thankful that my parents were well off and fortunate enough to send me to preschool for 2 years before kindergarten. I was excelling in school and I looked forward to attending class every day. When I was 12 and entering the 6th grade, The No Child Left Behind law was passed. Being on the tail end of middle childhood, I had a great basis of play that made me enjoy learning. Of course at my age, I didn’t really know the details of this law, but I did remember hearing adults talk about it. Just the name “No Child Left Behind” sounded like a great plan to me in my still-developing mind. However, there was a huge shift in my teacher’s goals once the law passed and I recall becoming very burnt out and tired of school. I wanted to use this reflection paper to sort out some of my reactions to the No Child Left Behind law and how it impacted child development. I also wanted to touch on the current administration and how their actions have affected child development.

“In recent educational policy and practice, play has been devalued. During the administration of President George W. Bush (2001-2009), the No Child Left Behind Law mandated a focus on early development of literacy and mathematics skills through rote learning and adult-directed lessons, whose effectiveness is measured by standardized tests.” (Davies, 2011, p. 270). Looking back on the decision to pass this law after taking this class, I believe the Bush Administration was being ignorant in their intent, rather than malicious. It is likely that a person uneducated in child development would believe testing well on the subjects of reading and math in elementary school would sound like an ideal solution to the country’s problems. Enforcing this mandate would lead Bush to believe that children of any background could come to school and get the best education. However, I believe they overlooked two fundamental pieces of the puzzle regarding learning in children: child intellectual development science and the consideration of American citizens who are not white and middle-class.

It is in my opinion that the Bush administration did not take science into consideration. It is proven that “more sociodramatic play is equal to more general intellectual development. Make-believe play strengthens memory, logical reasoning, language, imagination, creativity, and ability to take another’s perspective” (Chamberlain, 2018, slide 18) I have observed a trend over the last several years that science has been treated less as fact and more as opinion in politics. It has been leveraged in partisan issues, even though certain findings have been supported by peer reviews. Bruce Perry explains the science of child development and learning in a very clear way by saying, “So what you want to do is make an association, a connection for the child between learning and fun. And the best way to do that is the first time they are introduced to formal learning, that it is enjoyable. And all of those things lead to a sense of accomplishment and a sense of joy in learning that will be much more important in the long run than the fact that they were able to identify a rectangle versus a triangle when they were four.” (Perry, 2009).

 I believe their goal with the No Child Left Behind law was extremely short-sighted. The lawmakers did not consider what would developmentally happen to these kids if standardized tests were prioritized over playtime and fun. Not only would their intellectual development be stunted, but they would learn to hate school for the long term. Something I have observed in my personal life is that the generation younger than me is experiencing higher levels of burnout after high school and college. I have seen my sister and brother in laws (who were in kindergarten when the law passed) experience higher levels of stress and burnout after higher schooling than I did. I believe that there could be a correlation between these two things. If standardizes tests were pushed on them starting in kindergarten, they would not have had a love for school that would last long term, as Bruce Perry stated.  

As for creating laws that benefit children of many different cultural backgrounds, I think our government has a lot of catching up to do. Only in 2019 has our Congress become slightly more diverse. Therefore, when No Child Left Behind was passed, I believe the government was not looking for the input of other cultural experiences when creating it. Instead, this law put more pressure on schools that were already struggling in poorer neighborhoods. This law also actively discriminated against children who learned English as their second language. “The Bilingual Education Act of 1994 was repealed when the No Child Left Behind law was passed in 2002 and resulted in a de-emphasis on bilingual education. This change in education policy was influenced by anti-immigrant prejudice in politically important groups in the United States.” (Davies, 2011, p. 347). Creating a law that only encompasses only one cultural perspective will not yield better intelligence to children across the entire country. Through cooperation can the best results be achieved, and in this case, doing right by all children.

The current administration in the White House has backtracked even further than the Bush presidency. Even though President Barack Obama “renewed emphasis on increasing funding for Early Head Start and other preschool programs.” (Davies, 2011, p.331), there have been major budget cuts proposed that would put children at an even greater disadvantage. For example, as of a week ago, Betsy Devos wanted to cut all federal funding for the Special Olympics. I have volunteered at the Special Olympics in the past and it is a truly amazing event. Children with special needs are able to play, compete, and make friends all while having a great time. Most adults working at the event were very understanding of all the kid’s needs and were very attentive to their difficulties. After learning about how important play is in middle childhood, and how much kids with special needs require caring and supportive caregivers to positively develop,  I think it is absolutely appalling and inconsiderate to make those types of budget cuts. 

I think it is important to reflect on our society and find places to improve when raising children. It makes the jobs of therapists working with children a double-edged sword. On one side, I could see it being very rewarding to instruct parents and children with quality tools to improve their lives and relationships. On the other side, however, I can see how frustrating it would be to see our government passing laws that actively undermine the quality of child education. I’m a bit of an optimist, so I hope that things will move in the right direction. But, it will take a lot of effort from therapists, scientists, and like-minded political figures alike to keep us moving forward.