Early childhood education and care practitioners' perceptions of children's risky play; examining the influence of personality and gender

Abstract

While there is a growing interest in children's risk-taking behaviours and their safety when at play, there is also a focus on the need to balance the hazards of risks with the benefits of risk. This is also a growing concern among researchers of early childhood education and care (ECEC). The research conducted thus far on ECEC practitioners' perceptions of children's risky play has been qualitative. The aim of this study takes a quantitative approach to ECEC practitioners' perceptions of children's risky play with an aim to reveal how the perception is related to the practitioner's age, gender, and personality. Questionnaires, including a personality test, were administered to 116 Norwegian ECEC practitioners (20% male practitioners). The results indicate that male practitioners score higher on excitement-seeking scales than female practitioners, have a more liberal attitude towards children's risky play, and allow children to engage in greater risky play than women.