Trainee teachers’ perspectives on play characteristics and their role in children's play: an international comparative study amongst trainees in the Netherlands, Wales, Germany and Finland

Abstract

An international comparative research project was carried out in the Netherlands, Wales, Germany and Finland to understand how trainee teachers reflect upon play. Data was collected among 31 Dutch, 37 Welsh, 40 German and 19 Finnish teacher trainees. They watched four videotaped sequences of preschoolers engaged in an activity. Next, they answered four open ended questions to elicit reflections upon the clips. The data were analysed to answer two questions. The first was to compare reflections on the presence of play characteristics. The second question considered whether responses differed with regard to appreciation of the preschool teacher's role in the activity. Using Chi-Square analyses significant differences were found between countries with regard to both research questions. The article discusses that the differences between countries might be explained in terms of differences in teacher education. It raises questions about teacher training curriculum with regard to play since it appears to influence viewpoints on play as well as on classroom practice.