Katarina Rengel

Preschool teachers in
child play
Katarina Rengel, teaching assistant
Department of Pedagogy
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
University of J.J. Strossmayer in Osijek
Croatia

Aim of the paper
The aim of this paper was to review recent
theoretical and empirical literature on the
roles of preschool teachers in child play
More specifically, the aim was to determine
dominant understandings of the roles of
preschool teachers in child play

Play as an educational tool
Dominant discourses of preschool teachers
roles’ in child play
Opponents of preschool teachers’ involvement
in play
Building bridges between the perspectives of
adults and children’s s perspectives

Play as an educational tool
In the reviewed literature, play is defined as an
intrinsically motivated, expressive, transformational,
process-oriented, oriented, free, independent activity.
?
On the other hand, in literature about play, ”learning
through play” is a commonly found phrase.

The separation of play
and learning is
artificial and does not
exist in free play
(Babić, Irović, , 2004).
Play and learning
are interwoven.
learning derives from
the nature of play
Play is a critical scaffold
that enables children
to advance to higher
ability levels in
all developing areas
(Isenberg,
Jalongo, , 1997).
learning tool placed
in the context of play

What is a preschool teacher in child play?
What is the purpose of preschool teachers’ involvement?
Roles/ways and levels of involvement?
If we are considering roles of preschool teachers in child
play, whose perspective is our starting point i.e. whose
perspective are we advocating:
• perspective of adults
• children’s perspective
• perspective of adults and children’s perspective?
What are roles of preschool teachers in child play from
the perspective of adults and what from the children’s
perspective?

Dominant discourses of preschool
teachers roles’ in child play
Preschool teachers’ involvement in child play
is advocated from the perspective of adults:
Best practice mandates teachers’ involvement
in play (with respective roles on different
levels) so that it can have a maximum impact
on children’s learning and development.

One of the justifications for preschool teachers’
involvement in child play:
Preschool teachers’ involvement in child play
is related to learning, development and taking
responsibility for own learning i.e.
development meta-learning skills.

Or specifically, Johnson et al. (1999) suggest
other advantages of teachers’ involvement in
play:
• letting children know play is valuable
• attachment to the adults playing with them
• increased attention span
• increased peer interaction
• longer and more elaborate play episodes
In the reviewed literature, the issue was not so
much if preschool teachers should be involved
in child play, but how they should be involved
in child play.

Two types of preschool teachers’
involvement
The two extremes can empower each other or go
further apart, separating from children’s deeply
rooted way of learning and becoming didactic
(Miller, Almon, 2009).

Guidance of play (1)
Preschool teachers dominating play and employing
inappropriate interventions:
• being too demanding
• directing play
• excessively interfering
• not knowing how to
pretend
• over-structuring play
• reducing children’s
opportunities for
discovery, critical
thinking, peer interaction
etc.
• interrupting play to teach
academic skills and
knowledge
• always playing the way
with the same material
• redirecting children’s
behaviour: direct
suggestions, veiled ‘orders’,
direct physical involvement
(e.g. physical relocation)

Guidance of play (2)
Guided, directed play does not require the
same level of skills, initiative and decision-
making, and therefore does not offer the
same learning experience. It results in:
• less constructive play
• more non-play time
• repetitive pretend behaviour
• negatively affecting the social dimension of play
…

Support of play (1)
Preschool teachers with an active and subtle presence,
minimally intervening, supporting the planning of
play and unobtrusively building on children’s
interests.
Bodrova, Leong (2006) distinguish between direct
(modelling
ways of playing with a toy, taking turns,
settling disputes, verbalizing what is happening…)
and indirect (observing, setting the environment,
choosing materials, encouraging children, providing
experiences that inspire children…) ) roles preschool
teachers take, which support play.

Support of play (2)
The specific role of preschool teachers depends
on the age and play stage of the child, but
also on the abilities of other children.
Indicators of preschool teachers’ involvement
that supports play could be children’s
competency and participation in play.

Opponents of preschool teachers’
involvement in play
Opponents claim that preschool teachers’
involvement can disrupt and overpower
children’s s play activities resulting in reduced
learning and discovery opportunities.
Smith (2010) claims play can be used by adults
to manipulate children in the interests of
adults (e.g. to keep children out of way or
encourage them to play with sophisticated
toys).

Guidance, support or non-involvement:
empirical evidence (1)
Research suggest that in ECE reality preschool
teachers do not get sufficiently involved in
child play or are involved in a way that guides
and corrects play.

Guidance, support or non-involvement:
Possible reasons:
empirical evidence (2)
• pressure for academic readiness
• outcomes of learning through play are not as
transparent as outcomes of direct instruction
• organizational, program burdens i.e. overscheduling
• preschool teachers not being able to follow the logic
of child play
• preschool teacher’s implicit/personal theory about
play

To conclude…
Despite advocacy of the supporting role of preschool
teachers in child play, empirical research suggests that
guidance or non-involvement of preschool teachers in
play are more prominent in ECE reality.
In the reviewed literature, preschool teacher’s
involvement and roles in child play are
considered from the perspective of adults (in
terms of e.g. learning outcomes, developmental
benefits…).

Children’s perspective
• There have been attempts to “capture” the children’s
perspective in ECE research (Sandberg, Pramling-Samuelsson,
2005; Einarsdottir, 2005; Kernan, 2007; Stamatoglou, 2004…),
emphasizing the significance of the perspectives of all the
stakeholders in the ECE reality.
• The results of these research suggest that:
• children describe preschool teachers as those who prefer calm and quiet
play; those who organize, control and teach
• children value being able to choose what to do, playing with their peers,
free time, spontaneity, freedom
• children’s ideas about preschool teachers contribution to play are: help
during conflicts, help when children cannot find a play-mate, for safety
• children’s view of the way preschool teachers “should” get involved is
by assuming certain roles or by offering suggestions

Building bridges between the perspectives
of adults and children’s s perspectives
The social-cultural context of children’s lives calls for
a balance between the perspective of adults and
children’s perspective.
In the reviewed literature, the elaborated benefits of
play come from the perspective of adults and
therefore raise the question concerning the
benefits of play from the children’s s perspective,
which needs to be brought to consciousness in
preschool teachers’ personal theories.