Abstract
The educator’s personal role in understanding children’s play is a key factor in planning organization of educational process in kindergarten. An educator´s personal paradigm is assumed to be an experiential and educational construct. This research examines the possible correlation of educators’ personal paradigms (N = 291) and contextual factors in the region of Dalmatia (Croatia). A questionnaire Q-EOCP (α = 0.78) was designed for this research. Research findings suggest that most educators are reluctant to introduce information and communication technology /ICT into the educational process (M = 2.25; SD = 1.02) or work with children with disabilities (M = 2.03; SD = 1.33). There was a slightly positive correlation between the educator’s professional work experience and the view that children with disabilities /CWD should be taught how to play (r = 0.35; p ≤ 0.05). Work experience is slightly negatively correlated with the opinion that natural materials encourage creative play in children more than the didactic toys (r = −0.29; p ≤ 0.05) and with the assessment of daily play in nature (r = −0.21; p ≤ 0.05). The research measured the correlation of assessments of daily play in nature and the educators’ level of education (F = 3.47; p ≤ 0.05). Findings suggest that early childhood and preschool educators need additional education on children’s play and the possibilities of augmentative technology.
Highlights
Play is the fundamental activity of early childhood and preschool children, which justifies the interest of numerous interdisciplinary research studies in this phenomenon
Based on the data obtained in this research, it can be concluded that the educators assessed that in play situations, children express dichotomous behaviors ranging from high autonomy to requests for intervention of the educator/mediator
The findings of this research are consistent with certain research [61], which emphasizes the importance of educators’ formal education as well as the need for their additional education
Summary
Play is the fundamental activity of early childhood and preschool children, which justifies the interest of numerous interdisciplinary research studies in this phenomenon. From a pedagogical point of view, play has outstanding educational importance associated with children’s development and interactive relationships between children and adults [2,3,4,5]. This indicates the importance of the role of parents and educators. It is justified to assume the adult’s (parents and educators) personal paradigms are the motivators and regulators of their behavior. They affect the development of children’s independence, creativity, communication, learning strategies, problem-solving techniques, and distribution of authority. This paper examines educators’ understanding of children’s play and the possible correlation of educators’ personal paradigms and contextual conditions
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