Greek kindergarten teachers' and parents' views about changes in play since their own childhood

Abstract

Play is both a right of children and a learning method for preschoolers and school aged children. It is influenced by all forms of social change on a local and global level. The rapid pace of life and the competitive modern lifestyle, particularly in western societies, are leading to a decrease in spontaneous play and to its replacement by more structured activities at home and in school. Furthermore, apart from the lack of leisure, there is also a lack of space where children can play, especially in big cities. Children's and parents' free time has been reduced to a minimum by multiple everyday tasks. Also, the major influence exerted by the media over the last decade has affected and reduced children's free play. In order to find out whether those changes in children's play have also occurred in Greece, we have conducted similar research; we examined kindergarten teachers' and parents' views on how play has changed since their own childhood. The results of this study are presented in this paper.ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Spiel ist zweierleiein Kinderrecht und eine Lernmethode für Kinder im Vorschul-oder Schulalter. Es unterliegt allen Arten sozialer Veränderung auf lokaler und globaler Ebene. Das rasante Tempo des Lebens und der Konkurrenzdruck des modernen Lifestyles, besonders in den westlichen Gesellschaften, führen zu einer Abnahme von spontanem Spiel und zu dessen Ersatz durch stärker strukturierte Aktivitäten zu Hause und in der Schule. Darüber hinaus ist neben der fehlenden Freizeit vor allem in großen Städten auch ein Mangel an Spielfläche für Kinder zu konstatieren. Die freie Zeit von Kindern und Eltern ist durch zahlreiche Alltagsaufgaben auf ein Minimum reduziert. Außerdem haben die immensen Auswirkungen der Medien während puntos de vista de los padres sobre cómo el juego ha cambiado desde su propia infancia. Los resultados de este estudio se presentan en este documento.

An Exploration of Pre-Service Teachers' Experiences in Outdoor ‘Places’ and Intentions for Teaching in the Outdoors

“…The consequences of nature-deficit disorder, as suggested by Louv, are a lack of intimacy and experience with nature and the outdoors, which may lead to physical and psychological difficulties. While some blame the current fast-paced lifestyle to which humans adhere for decreasing outdoor activities and increasing structured activities at home and at school (Doliopoulou & Rizou, 2012), it has also been proposed that this decline may be a result of increased indoor interactions with technologies, such as television, computers, and video games (Shultis, 2012). While recent research has suggested that children today may be spending less time outdoors, it is less clear if today's pre-service teachers are part of the 'nature-deficit disorder' generation.…”

“We Enjoyed Our Childhood to The Fullest”: Early Childhood Teachers’ Risky Play Memories and Risky Play Managements

“…Studies examining the childhood plays of teachers and parents revealed that there was a perception about time-dependent changes in play, in terms of space and time. Parents and teachers think they were given more opportunities for outdoor play during their childhood (Doliopoulou and Rizou, 2012;Valentine and McKendrick, 1997). In this context, it will be meaningful to examine the extent of outdoor areas where risky play opportunities exist and to which extent, they meet the demand.…”

“…Accordingly, in the analysis of chronological changes in child play in micro level, comparison of child plays of early childhood teachers' and child plays of present children can present an important analysis. In a study for realizing this analysis (Doliopoulou and Rizou, 2012), majority of teachers indicate that there are no changes between their childhood plays and current child plays of children attending their classes. Besides, it is established that teachers, who believe there are changes in child play due to time, justify lack of time and space as a reason for these changes.…”

Η Επιδραση Του Κοινωνικου Status Των Νηπιων Στην Αναπτυξη Κοινωνικου Παιχνιδιου

“…Το παιχνίδι αποτελεί μια δραστηριότητα που ξεκινάει από τους πρώτους κιόλας μήνες ζωής του παιδιού και εξελίσσεται καθώς το παιδί μεγαλώνει. Με το πέρασμα του χρόνου το παιχνίδι γίνεται όλο και πιο περίπλοκο, εφόσον συνδέεται άμεσα με τη ανάπτυξη των γνωστικών λειτουργιών του παιδιού, αλλά και της συμμετοχής του σε διάφορα κοινωνικά δρώμενα (Doliopoulou & Rizou, 2012). Στη νηπιακή ηλικία είναι πιθανό να συναντήσουμε με μεγαλύτερη συχνότητα συμβολικό παιχνίδι, παιχνίδια φαντασίας και πρόσληψης, φανταστικό και δραματικό παιχνίδι, σκληρό αλλά και κινητικό παιχνίδι (Μπότσογλου, 2010).…”