Just who does Phillip Smith think he is and where has he been for the last seven years while the rest of us have been actively involved in developing the Playwork Principles, the National Occupational Standards and revising and developing appropriate qualifications for the field?
He says the qualifications are very weak and draws particular attention to aspects of child and adolescent development. He further comments that the level required to pass them is low. A Level 2 and Level 3 qualification in playwork must reflect the same Level 2 and Level 3 standards expected elsewhere.
As for the qualification being weak, perhaps Mr Smith should be employing better playwork trainers. It is unfortunate that awarding bodies cannot dictate or regulate who delivers the training, but a playwork qualification delivered by an early years expert, or indeed delivered by a playworker and playwork trainer, whose only experience of playwork is in an after-school club or holiday play scheme, is not sufficient.
Any taught playwork qualification is only as good as the person teaching. A good teacher will extend the breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding of their students well beyond the level required for assessment.
If, as Mr Smith says, playworkers are going to call themselves experts in their own right, it is not just the quality of play qualifications that needs to be improved. The quality of those people contracting play qualifications, who ensure that those delivering play qualifications are already recognised experts in their own field, needs to be improved also.
As for a mandatory unit about children's play, Mr Smith needs to understand that the definition of children's play differs across the sectors. In playwork we have a specific understanding that children's play is freely chosen, personally directed and intrinsically motivated. Play has no outcomes. Play is for its own sake.
Finally, Mr Smith needs to be quite clear that the Occupational Standards for children's care, learning and development, which are coming online in November, are not appropriate for those involved in playwork. Playwork is a unique and special provision which has its own set of standards - the National Occupational Standards in Playwork - and its own set of qualifications At Meynell Games all our trainers have experience in many different forms of play settings and knowledge of different countries' approaches to playwork. We constantly read and study to update ourselves and are committed to ensuring that those playworkers with whom we come into contact as students, are inspired, motivated, challenged, but above all extended to the best of their ability.
Meynell Walter of Meynell Games
