Discourses of outdoor play at new modern preschools

• This study is part of a larger research project with the aim with to study how the outdoor environment and playgrounds affects children's physical activities and relational encounters with nature and peers. Previous research has shown the benefits of children's outdoor play in domains like; health, environmental engagement and care, as well as learning and meaning making. Preschool policy and practice is constantly balancing and combining school-like concepts and play (Pramling Samuelsson & Johansson, 2007). This study uses John Dewey's holistic and pragmatic perspective to study and analyse different notions of relational and experiential learning activities outdoors. In this particular study we have analyzed the interviews with teachers from 21 new and old preschools. A discourse analysis was carried out to uncover the different notions within different domains of outdoor play. The study is ethically motivated since it contributes knowledge about childrens' conditions in preschool in a time of change. The project has ethical approval for all steps of research. The findings show how the new preschool playgrounds has changed the use of the outdoor environments, the view on the preschool practice, and children in itself. There are more regulations on what children can or cannot do, as well as a strengthened focus on targeted learning in programmed areas. Potential risky-play are eliminated, and natural green areas are replaced either with artificial material or garden-like plants. The analyses open up for a critical discussion on what these changes in the modern preschools might mean for children of today.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

preschool

outdoor environment

playgrounds

learning

risk

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)