ASSESSMENT 1
ASSESSMENT OVERVIEW
Key Assessment Information
Overview Length or Duration
This assessment involves analysing a play-based
artefact through the lens of historical and philosophical
underpinnings of Early Childhood Education.
500 words or 1 page
PURPOSE
The purpose of this assessment task is to:
Consider how play expresses or challenges social norms, and how it
tells us about the world we live in
Apply your knowledge and understanding of historical
and philosophical underpinnings of ECE to a play-based artefact
The unit learning outcome(s) assessed is/are:
LO 1: Elucidate and apply knowledge and understanding of both the
historical and philosophical underpinnings of early childhood education.
LO 2: Critically review formal and informal engagements with place,
drawing from diverse theoretical scholarship to work towards a
reconciled and respectful practice.
ASSESSMENT STRUCTURE
This assessment task explores historical and philosophical
perspectives of a play-based artefact. You can choose what item to use
as your visual representation. It might be a doll, a stick or anything that
children engage in ‘play’ with.
Once you have your item, you will critically reflect on it in order to
understand this object and its use in play from a variety of perspectives.
This assessment task is a question and answer style assessment. You
will have five sections as per below, each with a subheading. An
introduction and conclusion are not required.
1. Briefly describe the object and how or why children use it. Include an
image.
2. Describe any context or connections this object has to place.
3. Lens 1 – What do you see when considering this object with
a cultural, historical, social or political lens (Choose one). Use at
least two references. Do not rely on manufacturer or marketing
information.
4. Lens 2 – Choose a lens. Choose one from developmental, socio-
behaviorist, socio-cultural, critical, post-structuralist, feminist, or
post-humanist theories, Foucault, Deleuze, or Freire, whichever is
the most interesting for your object. What do you see when
considering this object from this particular perspective? Use at
least one reference from the unit material.
5. Lens 3 – Choose a lens. Choose one from the list in point 4 above,
whichever is the most interesting for your object. Use at least one
reference from the unit material.
PLEASE NOTE:
There are supplementary assessment resources available in the
Assessment Information module. These do not replace the
assessment instructions but are additional materials that may help
with your work.
INSTRUCTIONS
To get started on your assessment task, please follow the
instructions below;
1. Identify your play-based artefact.
2. Start thinking about your chosen artefact from a variety of
perspectives. To assist you, consider:
1. What do you see?
2. How do you think children might play or interact with it?
3. What might this artefact teach children? – remember to consider
culture as well as their development.
4. Describe how play with this object expresses or challenges social
norms, and how it tells us about the world we live in.
5. What is the context of it? i.e. is it designed for a certain audience, is it
accessible, where does it come from, where is it most often found? Is
there a reason?
6. Interaction with place – where does it come from? When did it
emerge/when was it designed as a play object? Is it connected to a
particular place or time? Is it used universally, if so, did it travel
across the globe? How? Is it placed somewhere for a reason? How
does it affect ‘play’? Are Indigenous ways of being, knowing and
doing useful to help you interpret this object?
7. What are the implications of this artefact? i.e. the political
implications of the object, the historical implications of the object?
3. Identify 3 lenses to help you view the object from different
perspectives. You will choose:
1. one from: cultural, historical, social and political viewpoints,
whichever is the most interesting for your object, and
2. two from: developmental, socio-behaviourist, socio-cultural, critical,
post-structuralist, feminist, or post-humanist theories, Aristotle, Kant,
Neichze, Socrates, Plato, Foucault, Deleuze, or Freire, whichever is
the most interesting for your object.
4. Choose readings from the unit and the VU library or online (do not rely
solely on websites) that will help you understand these perspectives.
Read them, and take note of ideas that you could use to help you
think about your chosen artefact.
5. Write up your analysis:
1. Briefly describe the object and how or why children use it. Include an
image.
2. Describe any context, or connections this object has to place.
3. Lens 1 – What do you see when considering this object with a cultural,
historical, social or political lens (Choose one). Use at least two
references. Do not rely on manufacturer or marketing information.
4. Lens 2 – Choose a lens. Choose one from developmental, socio-
behaviourist, socio-cultural, critical, post-structuralist, feminist, or
post-humanist theories, Aristotle, Kant, Neichze, Socrates, Plato,
Foucault, Deleuze, or Freire, whichever is the most interesting for
your object. What do you see when considering this object from this
particular perspective? Use at least one reference from the unit
material.
5. Lens 3 – Choose a lens. Choose one from the list in point 4 above,
whichever is the most interesting for your object. Use at least one
reference from the unit material.
6. Submit analysis to the Assessment 1 Dropbox
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
The following levels of criteria will be used to grade this
assessment task:
Criterion 1: Critical reflection
a. What ideas of the world children are absorbing by playing with
artefacts?
b. Discussions about/engagement with place, environments children play
in
Criterion 2: Identified paradigms of thinking
a. 3 or more perspectives chosen.
b. Demonstrated understanding of chosen paradigms
c. Articulating/communicating paradigms specific to artefact
Criterion 3: Clarity of ideas – Concise, distillation of ideas into short
format, developed ideas
Criterion 4: Referencing as appropriate
a. Appropriate use of references
b. Correct referencing
Access the Assessment 1 rubric for the full marking criteria.
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
Please submit your completed assessment electronically via the
Dropbox: Assessment 1 – Play-based artefact Dropbox. window You will
receive written feedback on this assignment within 2 days via
Assessment Dropbox. Please look out for an announcement around this
time alerting you to feedback on your assessment.
We will also be discussing generalized feedback on this assessment in
class during Session 5.
If you have further general queries regarding Assessment 1, please post
them to the discussion forum. Look out for questions your peers have
already asked and read through responses to see if your question has
already been answered
