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.

To determine if home economics child development education affected disciplinary techniques used by parents of kindergarten children, 298 parents of kindergarten children completed an eleven-part questionnaire. Comparisons were made of disciplinary techniques used, five categories of child development education, and five levels of education. Educational level appeared to affect parental disciplinary techniques more than child development education. As educational level increased, the use of punitive and reasoning techniques, the use of sources for learned disciplinary techniques, and parental reaction to stress concerning discipline all increased. It is suggested that parental expectations increased as educational level increased. Frustration with disciplining increased punitiveness and reaction to stress. Educational skills encouraged adoption of disciplinary sources.

Thesis (D. Phil.(Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2002. / Summary in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references.

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This thesis deals with the breaktime at the first grade of primary school, especially at the first class. The work is divided into two main parts. The theoretical part is devoted to the basic characteristics of school and education, develoments peculiarity of childs under school age, and finally the principal topic of the breaktime. The second part contains the braketime research of primary school in Liberec. The research includes methods of a structured observation of the first class pupils supplemented by interviews with pupils and their class teacher. The aim of this thesis is to present the current proces of breaketime and also to make comparison the first and 5th class and show the possibilities which are applicable to change the current proces.

Practitioners working with children under three are often marginalised; both in terms of group settings and in terms of being a focus of research (see Manning-Morton, 2006; McDowell-Clark and Baylis, 2012). This research prioritizes the practitioner’s voice by exploring the subject area of personal theory. In this thesis, personal theory is conceptualised as a composite of understandings and experiences including policy, organisational procedures, Early Years literature, training and Continuing Professional Development as well as personal and professional experiences, beliefs, and values. As Stephen and Brown (2004) indicate, particular constructions of care, learning, and children shape what is considered desirable educational practice. Drawing on Aristotle’s intellectual virtue of phronesis, this research’s aim is to understand how practitioners’ personal and professional experiences and understandings contribute to practitioners’ construction of personal theory. Research questions focus on: 1) understanding which relationships are particularly influential, 2) understanding which experiences are particularly influential and 3) identifying key features of practitioners’ personal theories. Case study methodology frames the research design. The research demonstrates that although personal theory is tacit, linking to specific instances of practice enables practitioners to articulate personal constructions of care, learning and children. Findings relate to six key characteristics of practitioners’ personal theories: practice as an ‘Ethic of Care’, practice as pedagogy, practice as ‘subsitute mothering’, practice as distinctive for children aged birth to three years, practice as rooted in experience and practice as emotional activity. Joan Tronto’s (1993, 2013) ‘Ethic of Care’ affords further consideration of personal theory; particularly the contradiction between personal theory that shapes engagements with young children as an ‘Ethic of Care’ and that which shapes engagements as ‘substitute mothering’. The thesis’ discussion highlights how the articulation and discussion of personal theory enables a richer construction of Early Years professionalism and professional identity within Birth to Three settings.