Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 281-299).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 448-460). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Play is viewed as essential to learning and development in early years education and underpins curriculum guidance despite there being limited empirical evidence to support this viewpoint. Play is traditionally defined from an adult perspective which focuses on the observable act of play. However, the research in this thesis draws on children’s perspectives of play which also gives insight into playfulness, the approach or attitude taken to an activity and it is this which is thought to facilitate learning. It has been shown that children use cues to define an activity as play and three of the studies employed experimental methodology to utilise these cues and create different practice conditions for children to carry out a convergent problem solving task. Results from these studies showed that children assigned to playful practice conditions exhibited superior performance when solving a task and behaviours conducive to learning compared to children in formal practice conditions. Furthermore, the cue of adult presence was shown to be critical in facilitating improved performance and learning behaviours although this seemed dependent upon whether individual children used the cue of adult presence in making play and not play distinctions. The final study sought to identify how the cue of adult presence might develop through examining adult-child interactions in the classroom environment. In addition, practitioners were interviewed about their understandings of play and learning to see how this might affect their interactions with children. Findings from this study showed that practitioners who were confident in their understanding of play and learning were more likely to provide children with choice and control in their activities and engage with children as play partners. Overall, the findings from this research contribute to the literature in this field by providing empirical evidence for the benefits of playful practice and have implications for practice in early years settings.

In the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, with the exception of England, each county has their own Government play policy or strategy. Each document identifies the importance of children’s play in all areas of their lives. These policies and strategies are based on a definition of play being freely-chosen by the child. This is an adult generated definition of play, based on rhetoric with little research from a child’s perspective as to whether being freely chosen is a defining characteristic. The social construction of childhood stresses the importance of children as co-constructors of their lives; however children’s voices and views are not always represented accurately in policy development and policy implementation. There is already conflict in policy development and subsequent implementation of policy by practitioners in other areas of children’s lives, for example in early years education. This conflict may emerge in implementing play policies and strategies based on adult generated definitions around choice rather than a child’s perception of whether and in what ways, choice is important. This thesis investigated children’s levels of perceived choice in their free play when playing at home, in the school playground and the out of school club. The aims of the research were: What do children choose to play at home, in the school playground and the out of school club? How much choice do children perceive in these self-defined play activities? Does children’s perception of choice differ across context? Does children’s perception of choice differ in relation to social context? This thesis adopted a critical realism approach within an ecosystemic theoretical framework using a mixed-method sequential two study process. Study 1 was quantitative and involved the development a self-administered questionnaire, the Play Detective Diary. The Play Detective Diary allowed children to record who they played with and who made decisions in the play. Study 2 was both quantitative and qualitative where an experimental procedure was developed, the Manipulation of Affordance Scenario Task (MAST). This pictorial based task manipulated the structural, functional and social affordances of children’s play and children’s responses about choice were recorded through interviews. The results from both studies found that children’s perception of choice varied across context (home, school playground and out of school club) and the variation in choice was strongly influenced by who children were playing with. When the structural, social and functional affordances were manipulated there was a reduction in choice as a result of; other people controlling the play (being told what to do and takes over play); the play activity being inhibited (play being distracted and lack of resources) and; the play space being limiting (play space too small and play space specific to the play activity). When playing with other children or with adults there was an increase in the perceived level of choice in relation to social affordances only. Children described this as being due to their play being enhanced (more variety and provides support) or the child feeling as though they were able to dominate the play (tell others what to do). The reasons children gave for changes in their perceived level of choice most often related to functional-social affordance reasons; this is a combination of the activity and the people involved in the activity.The investigation of choice in children’s play showed children perceived a variation in perceived choice in relation to context and who is involved in their play. Children do not need to have all the choice on what, how, who, when and where they play. Children have to exercise and negotiate choice in their play, and this aspect is important with respect to play policy and strategy development, and subsequent implementation through professional practice. The social construction of childhood revolves around participation, decision making and children being active agents in the process. By providing children a voice and allowing their perceptions to be explored, this can aid in policy development, and in turn support professional practice and reduce potential conflict between policy development and implementation. This is discussed in relation to children’s rights, play theory and play policy and practice across children’s services. A choice continuum is proposed to support children’s play across different professional contexts.

Thesis (EdD)--Open University.

In this research, concept of play and types of outdoor playgrounds were explored in the light of the relevant literature. A field study was conducted in order to determine the attributes of traditional type playground equipment in children&amp / #8217 / s developmental needs. KurtuluS Park of Ankara was determined as the research area whereas, 70 children, aged between 6 to 12, were randomly selected and observed. Data on age, sex, favourite type of playground equipment and play behaviour of the child were collected by means of an observation sheet. A short interview with the child was also conducted after the observation session. Collected data were encoded, analyzed and interpretted by using Pearson&amp / #8217 / s Chi-square Test and Fisher&amp / #8217 / s Exact Chi-square Test with 95% ( &amp / #945 / = 0.05 ) confidence intervals. The results of the field study revealed that today&amp / #8217 / s playgrounds have little value in terms of play. Limitations of fixed playground equipment directly affect children&amp / #8217 / s developmental needs. The findings of the research study indicates that traditional type play structures support physical and social development of the child to a certain extent. However, this kind of equipment do not foster cognitive and emotional development of children.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisor: Stuart Reifel. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2008. / Directed by Novem Mason; submitted to the Dept. of Interior Architecture. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Sep. 3, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 88-91).

No description available.