Preschool Teachers' Conceptualizations and Uses of Play Across Eight Countries

The purpose is to investigate and compare conceptualisations and use of play among kindergarten employees in Denmark, Turkey, Cyprus, Italy, Estonia, Spain, Greece and the United States. The study also seeks to shed light on similarities and differences in the different countries regarding kindergarten employees’ perceptions, and to discuss the significance of the findings in relation to how cultural aspects influence definitions and the use of play. The authors want to help broaden the discourse on play, both in the countries concerned and internationally.

The analysis shows both universal and non-universal characteristics of play. Despite the existence of universal characteristics, the analysis indicates variations in their prevalence across the countries. Conceptualisations of play are found to be culture-specific and inseparably linked to the play’s status in each of the countries. At the same time, the associations between definitions and the use of play seem to be complex. The authors believe that the results suggest that there is a widespread ‘ethos of play’ in some countries, while schoolification prevails in others. This results in conflicting attitudes towards play and leaves kindergarten employees struggling to achieve an appropriate position for play within different childhood contexts.

The data collection consists of a survey involving 30 questions, eight of which focus on the respondents’ demographic information, while the remaining 22 questions were a mixture of closed-ended and open-ended questions about the respondents’ definitions of, use of and attitudes to play. The analysis is based on five of the open-ended and closed-ended questions. The total number of respondents is 212.

Rentzou, K., Slutsky, R., Tuul, M., Gol-Guven, M., Kragh-Müller, G., Foerch, D. F. & Paz-Albo, J. (2019). "Preschool Teachers' Conceptualizations and Uses of Play Across Eight Countries". Early Childhood Education Journal, 47(1):1-14.