Play-Exploration-Art (PEA)

Overview

An ethics-approved (Project #38616) teaching–research project that provides a space for imaginative experimentation for babies and young children (0–3 years old).

Third-year Bachelor of Education pre-service teachers at Monash University, enrolled in EDF3074 - Contemporary approaches to learning for infants and toddlers: Theories and practices - Monash University undertake a Play–Exploration–Art (PEA) project as part of this unit. Through this project, they design and implement place-based experiences for young children in different early learning centres.

As part of their assessment, students plan a place-based experience, present their ideas, seek feedback from centre directors and educators, and refine their projects for implementation in outdoor environments for young children.

Layers of Engagement. The conceptual diagram in Figure 2, created by Geraldine in dialogue with Gloria, offers a visual representation of these interconnected layers of practice and inquiry.

Layers of Engagement. The conceptual diagram created by Geraldine in dialogue with Gloria, offers a visual representation of these interconnected layers of practice and inquiry.

Gloria Introducing the Learning Environment.

Participants

Centered on young children, the project involved collaborative participation from educators in various roles: pre-service teachers, university lecturers, a centre director, and early childhood educators.

Researchers

Playful Gloria Quiñones and artful Geraldine Burke lecturers, we engaged in inquiry through visual production, seeking new forms of knowledge and possibilities for place-based experiences.

The project aims to:

To gain deeper understanding about pre-service teacher's perspectives of play-exploration-art learning experiences planned for young children.
To reflect with early childhood leaders about their learning about supporting pre-service teachers about their play-exploration-art (PEA) projects.

Publications

Quinones, G. & Burke, G. (2026). Visual pedagogy for young children. Collective experimentation through play-exploration-art. In J. White, F. Westbrook, G. Quinones and S. S. Madsen (Eds).. Visual Pedagogies for the Early Years: Presence, Potential and Possibility. Brill.