This study intends to investigate Greek preschool teachers' perspectives about play in the schoolyard. Ten preschool teachers were interviewed using a semi-structured interview approach to gather data. Results were coded and analyzed using thematic analysis. The themes that were brought up revealed that Greek preschool teachers value play in the schoolyard. This study found that the teachers think there is a relation between play in the schoolyard and learning since they believe playing outside is a type of experiential learning. Moreover, they think that this relation can be more potent if teachers get involved more by organizing activities, and if the sense of place is increased to students. Furthermore, the Greek preschool teachers agree that play in the schoolyard has only positive effects on children's wellbeing. The barriers to facilitate outdoor play appear to be the schoolyard since they describe it as unsafe, empty, without any green elements, and missing pedagogical corners. Considering the Greek educational context that predominantly focus on the traditional inside the classroom teaching, the possitve attitudes that the preschool teachers showed for outdoor play are remarkable. These attitudes are a little step for further implementation of outdoor play in preschool education.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-179104 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Loti, Angeliki |
| Publisher | Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för beteendevetenskap och lärande |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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