Date of Award
5-22-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Education (MAEd)
Department
Teacher Education
First Advisor
Dawn Mollenkopf
Committee Members
Carrie Kracl; Marisa Macy; Phu Vu; Toni Hill
Keywords
child development;curriculum;early childhood education;loss of play;play;standardization
Abstract
Play is a fundamental aspect of early childhood development, facilitating the acquisition of crucial skills such as social-emotional competence, cognition, and language. Despite its recognized importance, literature points to the decline in the implementation of play due to social and political factors (e.g. screen time, push for standards/academics). To evaluate how teachers respond to this, this study utilized surveys and interviews to address teachers’ understanding of the value of play in development and learning as well as any barriers they identify that made play more difficult to implement. Findings showed that teachers understand the value of play and believe they are doing well implementing play-based learning, but they believe screen time challenges and high expectations for academics are barriers. To evaluate how teachers are implementing play, this study used a series of observations to determine the amount of time children played. Finally, the quality and developmental appropriateness of the play, development, and learning was evaluated using the ECERS-3 and CLASS assessments. The results of these assessments showed that teachers were not reaching an appropriate amount of play time and there was an association between this loss of play time and an increase in challenging behaviors. There is an ever-growing need to advocate for high quality play experiences in early childhood classrooms and support teachers to be able to successfully implement play-based learning.
Recommended Citation
Burke, Kelcie L., "Teacher Perceptions of Play In Early Childhood Education" (2024). Teacher Education Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity. 1.
https://openspaces.unk.edu/te-etd/1