The Toronto International Film Festival Group (tiff.) is the latest addition to an existing array of spectacles offered in Entertainment District of Toronto. Spectacles remove us from reality, surprise us, connect us with others, and allow us to participate as a part of a community. However, their extraordinary nature can be so enticing that they put us into a trance that can leave us vulnerable to political and economic influences. This thesis uses Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopias, or ‘other places’, to shed light on the values, characteristics and functions of spaces dedicated to these spectacles. These spaces exist in the grey zone between the political-public domain and the economic-private property. They are sanctuaries for events, activities and illusions that deviate from those of the commonplace. The Entertainment District is a heterotopia that reflects and fosters Toronto’s enjoyment and fascination with spectacles. This thesis looks at how the district can further its role as a heterotopia of spectacle by juxtaposing the existing experiences with a variety of contemporary experiences such as free play and film-related events introduced through John Street’s use of the concept of shared space and the introduction of a new home for tiff. Portions of John Street are transformed into continuous ground surfaces that encourage pedestrian circulation within the district, as well as the introduction of new spectacles. The new tiff. building situates itself along this continuous ground surface and extends up to the building’s edge and through laneways to an internal courtyard. The building reads as an incompatible cluster of skewed volumes with their own distinct function stacked on top of one another. The agitated and fragmented geometry of the building is developed through a series of governing lines and curves which sets themselves within the Cartesian grid of the city at irregular angles. These volumes are wrapped in a variety of opaque, transparent and translucent materials that frame views of events on the street, in the neighbourhood, and in the city. This thesis of discourse and design will be of interest to all those wishing to understand heterotopias or ‘other places’ dedicated to spectacles.

The Toronto International Film Festival Group (tiff.) is the latest addition to an existing array of spectacles offered in Entertainment District of Toronto. Spectacles remove us from reality, surprise us, connect us with others, and allow us to participate as a part of a community. However, their extraordinary nature can be so enticing that they put us into a trance that can leave us vulnerable to political and economic influences. This thesis uses Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopias, or ‘other places’, to shed light on the values, characteristics and functions of spaces dedicated to these spectacles. These spaces exist in the grey zone between the political-public domain and the economic-private property. They are sanctuaries for events, activities and illusions that deviate from those of the commonplace. The Entertainment District is a heterotopia that reflects and fosters Toronto’s enjoyment and fascination with spectacles. This thesis looks at how the district can further its role as a heterotopia of spectacle by juxtaposing the existing experiences with a variety of contemporary experiences such as free play and film-related events introduced through John Street’s use of the concept of shared space and the introduction of a new home for tiff. Portions of John Street are transformed into continuous ground surfaces that encourage pedestrian circulation within the district, as well as the introduction of new spectacles. The new tiff. building situates itself along this continuous ground surface and extends up to the building’s edge and through laneways to an internal courtyard. The building reads as an incompatible cluster of skewed volumes with their own distinct function stacked on top of one another. The agitated and fragmented geometry of the building is developed through a series of governing lines and curves which sets themselves within the Cartesian grid of the city at irregular angles. These volumes are wrapped in a variety of opaque, transparent and translucent materials that frame views of events on the street, in the neighbourhood, and in the city. This thesis of discourse and design will be of interest to all those wishing to understand heterotopias or ‘other places’ dedicated to spectacles.

The aim of the study is to describe how toddlers at pre-school interact with each other during the free play. The following research-questions have been chosen: In which ways are made visible when toddlers interact with each other during the free play? Which repeated patterns are there in toddler’s interaction with each other? The method that was used was observation. Implementing of observations happened during five days on a pre-school. Observations show that the interaction makes visible in various ways when it comes to toddlers, for example through observing, laughing and using the verbal communication. Repeated patterns that are shown are for example eye contact and smile occurs when toddlers interact with each other

If there are to be more and improved recreational facilities for the handicapped, recreation planners, landscape architects, and architects must collect, analyze, and project pertinent data into comprehensive criteria for facility development. To develop the criteria, personal notes from site investigations and project developments were correlated with information from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; the National Therapeutic Recreation Association; the American Association on Mental Deficiency; and the National Recreation and Park Association.

This study examined the mathematics talk that children engage in during free play in their non-parental, family child care environments. Audio tapes of children during free play were transcribed and coded for different types of mathematical references using a coding scheme. Types of math talk included: (a) classification, (b) magnitude, (c) enumeration, (d) patterns and shapes, (e) spatial reasons, and (f) part/whole. Results showed that children used spatial relations more than other types of mathematical references. Children‘s math talk was compared based on their gender and age. Results showed that, on average, children who were older than 40 months referenced mathematics more often than younger children. Also, males were more likely to reference math during free play than were females. Children‘s math talk was also analyzed in comparison to provider education and experience. It showed that when providers had CDA or 2-year degrees, children under their care referenced math more frequently. (78 pages)

Detta examensarbete ämnar att få ta del av pedagogers egna tankar och förhållningsätt kring barn som har svårt att delta i den fria leken. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att genom intervjustudier återge pedagogers beskrivningar av lekens betydelse och hur de ser på sin egen roll inför barns oförmåga att leka i den fria leken. I vår studie har vi utfört kvalitativa intervjuer med sju pedagoger i både förskola och försko-leklass. Det är den sociokulturella teorin grundad av Lev Vygotskij och Donald Woods Winnicots begrepp mellanområde samt Corsaros begrepp tolkande reproduktion som vi har förhållit oss till för att kunna tolka vår empiri. Intervjuerna har vi sedan tolkat och analyserat samt delat in i olika kategorier.Studiens resultat visar att pedagoger i förskolan uppfattar den fria leken nödvändig och ger relativt stort utrymme för denna. Det är i förskoleklass som den fria leken är mer begränsad. De intervjuade pedagogerna har en likartad bild om vad det är som gör att barn i olika sam-manhang har svårt att delta in den fria leken. Studien visar också att det kan finnas flera or-saker till leksvårigheter. Det kan handla om mognad, brist på förståelse, miljö eller att barnet inte har knäckt de sociala koderna. I studien framgår att pedagogers viktigaste analytiska redskap är observationer. En intressant aspekt som blev synlig i vår studie är att barn med sociala problem och leksvårigheter kan bli påverkade av svåra situationer i hemmet.

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The purpose of this study is to examine the ways in which preschool teachers’ organization of the physical and social environment both restrict and enable children's free play. Specifically, we want to understand how these forms of organization has an impact on children’s agency. To reach this aim we conducted a case study to examine the organization of the physical environment in preschool rooms where free play takes place, and the actions children take in these rooms. We focused in particular on the teacher’s role in this organization. The study is based on observations and interviews of teachers from a rural preschool with 14 children aged 3-4 years. Interview transcripts and field notes were subjected to a content analysis. We found that the teachers have a vision that the environment should be in constant change and therefore want a diversity and variation in the material. It also became apparent that teachers distinguish between “good” and “bad” forms of play, and that these distinctions play a role in how the teachers evaluate children’s free play and the organization of free play spaces. In addition, it became evident that certain rooms and material were conducive to certain types of play. The results showed for example, that teacher´s ideas of good play and the use of closed doors and gates became an infringement on children´s agency. Conclusions of this study were that through the environment the teachers have designed and the materials they have chosen, their control of free play and children´s agency is always present.

The overall purpose of this study was to investigate the child's perspective on the free play in the youth recreation center. The closer intention of the study has been to investigate what children themselves express as meaningful aspects of free play in the youth recreation center and what various opportunities children highlight when it comes to identity formation and social training in the free play. To answer the purpose three focus groups discussions were conducted with children of mixed ages from grade one to three. The results of the study were analyzed from a symbolic interactionist perspective. Meaningful aspects of free play that the children were describing is that the free play is fun, it's good because then they decide for themselves, they can be with their "friends" and it's good that they get moving. A social skill they get to practice on is to negotiate with each other about what game they are playing, the hearing takes place primarily through various voting methods. The children also develop empathy in free play and create and maintain social relationships. Furthermore, the study shows that choice of game is an important part of the children's identity process. Finally, an important conclusion of the study is that free play is as important as other guided activities in the youth recreation center.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka den fysiska miljöns förutsättningar för den fria lekens betydelse i förskolan. Det är en kvalitativ studie med inspiration från fenomenografin där vi har använt oss av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Sex förskollärare i sex olika förskolor på fyra olika orter intervjuades, alla hade en viss arbetslivserfarenhet inom förskolan. Resultatet visar att pedagogerna organiserar miljön så att den ska erbjuda många sorters lekar samt att de regelbundet ändrar miljön. Huruvida barnen har fri tillgång till material och rum styrs av den fysiska miljön samt organisering av tiden. Pedagogerna i studien anser att det bör finnas en mångfald av material där barnen kan välja efter eget intresse, men samtidigt uppger pedagogerna att allt material inte alltid är tillgängligt för barnen. Studien visar också att barnen gärna leker både i närheten av vuxna i förskolans centrum och i rum som barnen själva har skapat där pedagoger inte kan styra och ha kontroll. Samtliga pedagoger i studien uppfattar den fria leken som lek initierad av barnen själva vilket är i enlighet med vad tidigare forskning i bakgrunden säger. Lekar som ses som mindre lämpliga, såsom springlekar och krigslekar regleras av pedagogerna. Slutsatsen är att pedagogers planering av den fysiska miljön har stor betydelse för barns fria lek och att miljön kan utgöra både möjligheter och begränsningar samt påverka vad barnen leker. Det går även att utläsa att den fria leken inte alltid är så fri som den kan verka. / <p>Godkännande datum: 2019-06-07</p>