Differences in practitioners’ understanding of play and how this influences pedagogy and children’s perceptions of play (original) (raw)
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Understanding Play: The Perceptions of Children, Adolescents, Parents and Teachers
Play of Individuals and Societies, 2014
Play as a concept is complex and often contested 1 despite the fact that it is claimed that we know play when we see it. 2 There have been considerable attempts by theorists to define play such as by: category, 3 typology, 4 criteria, 5 and continuum. 6 However, it has been stated that it is difficult to have a common conceptualisation or definition of play. 7 Whilst there is a considerable body of literature on defining play by theorists, there is far less literature on understanding play from the perspectives of different professionals, parents, adolescents, and children. There is a growing research base of early years practitioners' understanding of play and how this relates to practice; 8 however, there is a lack of research on the understanding of play from the perspective of other professionals. There is also limited research on parents' and adolescents' perspectives of play. There is, however, an emerging literature on children's perspectives of play but it is not yet known how their perspectives differ from the perceptions of adults. It is important to have a shared understanding of play for three reasons: so that there is a common language with which to talk about play, 9 so that the same phenomenon is investigated by researchers, 10 and so that there is clarity in relation to play practice. This chapter draws on a series of case studies which have employed a range of methodologies including: questionnaires, interviews and experiments to identify perceptions of play in relation to the aforementioned groups. As well as identifying similarities and differences in perceptions of play across the different groups, the implications for practice and future research are identified.
Children’s play, learning and development
2016
Play in humans, especially in human children, has been written about extensively by psychologists and anthropologists. Play forms are primarily exercise play, rough-and-tumble play, object play, pretend and sociodramatic play. Play behavior can take up an appreciable part of the time budget. There is a spectrum of views on the importance of play in human development, amongst theorists and amongst human societies generally. Different views can be found both historically and cross-culturally, from Spencer’s (1898) description of play as “superfluous and useless exercise”, through to Gaskins, Haight and Lancy (2007), who describe three types of societies with differing prevailing attitudes to play, which they call ‘culturally cultivated play’, ‘culturally accepted play’, and ‘culturally curtailed play’. The ‘play ethos’ (Smith, 1988), or “the realisation that play is essential for normal development has slowly but surely permeated our cultural heritage” (Department of Environment Repor...
Children's Play and Development
Early Childhood Education From an Intercultural and Bilingual Perspective
Play expresses that human beings use activity as the most natural and adaptive way to be in the world. However, children's play had not been a subject of study and theoretical reflection until the beginning of the last century. Fortunately, the spread of developmental and educational psychology has been little by little sensitive to this extraordinary and original activity and the observation, study, and analysis of play have advanced a lot; the scientific development on play advances through the creation of very interesting theories based on the psychodevelopmental nature of play. In addition, in the last decades, an important number of authors stand up for a critical look at the general interpretation according to which children's play is just an enjoyable and relaxing activity: an activity of interest, per se, that plays an essential role in children's cognitive development and creative thinking. Both interpretations are considered in this chapter.
The teacher's role in supporting young children's level of play engagement
Early Child Development and Care, 2013
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Conceptual split? Parents' and experts' perceptions of play in the 21st century
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 2008
Two studies examined U.S. mothers' (N = 1130) and child development professionals' (N = 99) beliefs about the relationship between play and learning. Study 1 investigated relationships among maternal conceptualizations of play, perceived learning value, and frequency of children's play behaviors. All Play mothers viewed activities ranging from unstructured, imaginary behaviors to structured, goal-oriented activities as play, Traditional mothers viewed unstructured activities as playful and Uncertain mothers seemed less clear about what constituted play. While mothers ascribed more learning value to structured activities, amount of value varied in relation to their conceptualizations of play. Frequency in which children play in these activities also varied in relation to mother's "play-learning" beliefs. Study 2 revealed that professionals and mothers differed in their play beliefs. Professionals rated structured activities as nonplay, associating less learning value with these activities compared to unstructured activities. Implications concerning societal trends towards structured learning environments for children are discussed in light of Irving Sigel's work.
The purpose of this article is to analyze the state of modern research on children's play, approaches to its study, as well as existing methods of its evaluation. The relevance of the topic is due to the leading role of the play in preschool childhood and the complexity of this phenomenon. Play is actively studied, and play interventions are often used. However, the analysis of the literature shows confusion and uncertainty of terminology due to a large spread of theoretical positions and methodological approaches to the study of play. This creates great difficulties in planning and conducting research, and affects their results. The article deals with the issues of defining and classifying play, understanding its structure and development. The main trends of modern research and their connection with classical game theories, the role of cultural-historical approach and the contribution of E.O. Smirnova to the study of play are shown.
Play and development : evolutionary, sociocultural, and functional perspectives
2006
Contents: Preface. Part I: Introduction. A. Goncu, S. Gaskins, An Integrative Perspective on Play and Development. Part II: Biological/Ethological Perspectives of Play and Development. P.K. Smith, Evolutionary Foundations and Functions of Play: An Overview. R.W. Mitchell, Pretense in Animals: The Continuing Relevance of Children's Pretense. A.D. Pellegrini, The Development and Function of Rough-and-Tumble Play in Childhood and Adolescence: A Sexual Selection Theory Perspective. Part III: Social/Cultural Perspectives of Play and Development. M.H. Bornstein, On the Significance of Social Relationships in the Development of Children's Earliest Symbolic Play: An Ecological Perspective. A. Lillard, Guided Participation: How Mothers Structure and Children Understand Pretend Play. A. Goncu, J. Jain, U. Tuermer, Children's Play as Cultural Interpretation. S. Gaskins, W. Haight, D.F. Lancy, The Cultural Construction of Play. Part IV: Applied Perspectives of Play and Development. ...