A look ‘through the windows’ at ABC Play School: 45 years in a changing media landscape

Abstract

The children's television programme Play School has been a regular weekday viewing for Australian children and their families for over 45 years. This paper invites the reader to take a look behind the scenes or ‘through the windows’ at Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Play School. It provides insight into the beginnings of Play School and development of a series and identifies some of the changes that have occurred since the first screening in 1966. The team at Play School continues to extend and refine the programme in response to new directions in the nature of early childhood experience for Australian children and their families, the diversity of the community and the developments in media technology and marketing. The commitment to engaging with contemporary society and exploring new directions in information and communication technologies provides ongoing challenges as well as new possibilities for the programme.