A diverse perspective: How teachers and children view educational play in kindergarten

Abstract

This paper presents research of the phenomenon of play and toys for preschool children in the kindergarten environment. The importance of play in the life of preschool children is traditionally formulated in relation to many areas in which the child is developed through parental upbringing and teacher's education. Many studies focus on a teacher who, in the day-to-day educational process in kindergarten, is the child's supposed partner in the play at all stages -from preparation to implementation. However, the teacher's perspective is not the only aspect we can reflect. The interest of researchers is increasingly focused on the children's perspective. The aim of this study is to present the "children's voices" in order to better understand the learning process through their experiences in kindergarten environment ([1], [2]). Therefore, the child becomes an active participant in the research process itself. The presented study is based on qualitative research design. The data were gathered by in-depth interviews with 12 preschool teachers and 82 preschool children (aged 2 to 6 years) in four standard kindergartens in the Czech Republic. The results indicate that teachers 'perspective differs from children's perspective on the play. In teachers' description, the play is considered an activity in which the teacher does not participate. They also do not reflect the play-based approach or development of children's play competences. The authors discuss also limited possibilities for children to choose a preferred toy in the kindergarten. The research suggests that teachers should improve the integration of play-based learning strategies and reflect children's perspective when it comes to toys with which they want to play. The study partially focuses on kindergarten teachers' perceived experience with the need of two-year-old children to play.