Children's Responses Toward Teachers' Roles During Free Play Time in Preschool Classrooms

• In Event: Roundtable Session 48
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding and Facilitating Children's Play in Early Childhood Classrooms

Abstract

The present qualitative study uses secondary data from videos of eleven teachers in community childcare settings to explore the different roles that teachers use to facilitate play, and the way children respond to teachers’ behaviors within these roles. Results suggest that specific teacher behaviors within the roles they adopt elicit three types of children’s responses: ignore/reject, resistance, and acceptance behaviors. The co-player and play leader role were often associated with children’s acceptance behaviors, allowing teachers to scaffold children’s play to reach higher levels of complexity.

Authors

• Juana Gaviria, Univeristy of Delaware

• Myae Han, University of Delaware

• Jennifer A. Vu, University of Delaware

• Jason Hustedt, University of Delaware