Outdoor play activities and outdoor environment of early childhood education in Turkey: a qualitative meta-synthesis

Öztürk, Yasin; Ozer, Zeliha

doi:10.1080/03004430.2021.1932865

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…In practice, during outdoor free play, teachers gained valuable and authentic insights into what children needed, what they wanted to learn, and how to engage in the learning process more effectively. This aligns with Ozturk and Ozer's (2022) emphasis on teachers focusing on various outdoor activities. In this school, teachers demonstrated a more facilitative teaching style and actively participated in children's play and exploration whenever they were invited.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Such spaces encourage children to initiate interaction with adults about their surroundings, which might interest them, excite them, and prompt them to seek answers to their questions (Waters & Maynard, 2010). In this way, children have a chance to interact with nature, enabling them to understand better themselves and their peers (Ozturk & Ozer, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In previous research, teachers were aware of the increasing importance of nature in children's lives, _____________ so they started revising their approach to teaching outdoors as well as improving school gardens (Askerlund et al, 2022). For this, most teachers have some outdoor activities such as free play activities, inspection of nature, storytelling, and math with natural materials (Ozturk & Ozer, 2022). Innovative approaches in the field of OPL pay attention to place and time in the form of place-responsive pedagogy (Mannion et al, 2013) and slow pedagogy (Payne & Wattchow, 2009), which require teachers to be flexible and creative and can recognize differences in ecological and social domains, respond to place and its entities through the facilitation of pupils' first-hand experiences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Outdoor play and learning practices from a comparative case study perspective

Gessiou,

Mart

2023

J Child Edu Soc

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Outdoor play and learning (OPL) is emphasised differently across countries, and cultural aspects influence these practices. There are ongoing debates around outdoor learning in early years, and the communication of the value, effectiveness, and applicability of OPL across schools has encountered obstacles due to various factors. The diversity of implementations within different cultures is obvious, and there are even some variations within the same country in terms of practices and understanding of the philosophy of OPL. The current case study contributes to the gap in mapping OPL practices using a comparative approach in two types of case schools in three countries: England, Greece, and Türkiye. This study offers insights from both teachers’ and head teachers’ perspectives in addition to considering observation notes. Several themes emerged from the analysis, including ‘components of schools’ daily life outdoors, forest trips and excursions, from break time to their time, and the question of training’. In conclusion, school culture and the selected educational philosophy appear to have a more significant impact on OPL practices than environmental features alone. However, the findings indicate that schools lack a strategic and systematic approach to the deployment of OPL into the school philosophy. In terms of focusing more on the outdoors, personal values play a significant role, as does the support of stakeholders. The practical similarities and differences highlighted in this study can support the development of OPL practices and inform stakeholders in the early years to reconsider their contexts and potentially introduce transformative changes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Outdoor play and learning practices from a comparative case study perspective

Gessiou,

Mart

2023

J Child Edu Soc

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“…According to research findings, children's activities are more focused on a structured environment. The playground environment in schools also encourages children to develop creativity and problem-solving skills when playing (Ozturk & Ozer, 2021). On the other hand, when a playground or open field for kids in early childhood education is inadequate, teachers will find it difficult to promote kids' motor development.…”

Section: Facilities and Infrastructure In The Schoolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early childhood educators' beliefs on increasing fundamental motor skills by playing games in a physical education context: The contradictory belief

Friskawati,

Ma’mun,

Mahendra

2023

Edu Sportivo: Indonesian j. of Physical Education

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The development of fundamental motor skills (FMS) is crucial and should begin in early childhood. As of now, several early childhood educators in Indonesia, particularly in West Java, think that incorporating playground games into the classroom curriculum is the best course of action for raising children’s FMS. This study aimed to present statistics on FMS findings for early childhood who have incorporated physical activity into the curriculum and to demonstrate that these results are still in conflict with teachers’ beliefs. Ex post facto research was applied to one of the early childhood education pilot programs in West Java, Indonesia, including a total of 30 kids. This school’s long-standing intervention involves giving children 30 minutes of structured playtime and 30 minutes of unstructured playtime at the start of each learning period. The Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2) was used to measure FMS. The study’s findings showed that both boys’ and girls’ FMS in both locomotor and manipulating components of the movement were very lacking and inversely proportional to teachers’ belief who believe that this activity will improve children’s motor skills. It is recommended that physical education specialists accompany both structured and unstructured play programs conducted on school playgrounds so that the early childhood education curriculum's programs are properly validated to raise children's FMS following Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP).

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Degrees of freedom: reflections on perceived barriers to outdoor learning practice for early education in England and Turkey

Mart

Waite

2021

Early Years

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Outdoor play activities and outdoor environment of early childhood education in Turkey: a qualitative meta-synthesis

Cited by 6 publications

References 38 publications

Outdoor play and learning practices from a comparative case study perspective

Outdoor play and learning practices from a comparative case study perspective

Early childhood educators' beliefs on increasing fundamental motor skills by playing games in a physical education context: The contradictory belief

Degrees of freedom: reflections on perceived barriers to outdoor learning practice for early education in England and Turkey

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