Symbolisch Spel in de Kinderopvang, Participatie van de Pedagogisch Medewerkster/Leidster bij het Spel van twee- en driejarigen

Abstract

In this study the amount in which the teacher supports pretend play of children, aged two- and three years going to childcare centers, was investigated. Sixty children of different Dutch childcare centers were involved in the study and were videotaped during free play time. The pretend play moments were transcribed and the verbal and non-verbal utterances of the children and the teachers were coded. The amount of teacher involvement in children's pretend play and the level of play complexity were examined. Three dimensions of complexity were measured. The first was the amount of transformation. The second was the use of metalanguage; in which way the child and the teacher talked about the play. The third was story composition; the way in which the pretend play was a logical sequence of actions. The difference of children's play complexity between the moments with teacher involvement and the moments without teacher involvement, was examined. The amount of transformations was significant lower in moments with teacher involvement than in moments without teacher involvement. The difference of play complexity between children and teacher's was also examined. Teachers used in this study significant more metalanguage than children. Studying the quality of the symbolic play moments, gives the insight that the teacher provided the two years old children with more play suggestions than the three years old children.