Teacher Participation in Young Children's Dramatic Play

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Teacher Participation in Young Children's Dramatic Play
Language: English
Authors: Sarah Young (ORCID 0000-0001-9515-4982), Susan Edwards (ORCID 0000-0002-5945-0597), Joce Nuttall
Source: Journal of Early Childhood Research. 2024 22(4):598-611.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 14
Publication Date: 2024
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Elementary Education
Kindergarten
Primary Education
Descriptors: Drama, Play, Early Childhood Education, Imagination, Teacher Role, Teacher Student Relationship, Kindergarten, Creative Activities, Foreign Countries
Geographic Terms: Australia
DOI: 10.1177/1476718X241258604
ISSN: 1476-718X
1741-2927
Abstract: Socio-dramatic play is an everyday occurrence in early childhood education as children create narratives together in shared imagined worlds. The teacher's role in this type of play is less clear and this paper draws on a study using Lindqvist's "playworlds" approach to gain insight into how teachers participate in children's play. In applying Kravtsov and Kravtsova's concept of children's "double subjectivity" in dramatic play, the paper argues that teachers can also maintain dual affect roles--those of teacher outside the play, and co-player within the play--to co-create with children in their dramatic play narratives. In this study, four teachers in Melbourne, Australia participated in weekly playworlds with the researcher in their kindergarten rooms, resulting in identification of a third affect role for teachers--that of "public performer." This third affect was found to hinder teachers' capacity to maintain simultaneous subject positions of themselves as teacher and a co-player, thereby minimizing the improvised narrative trajectory and potential of the dramatic play. We argue this third affect should be acknowledged to support teacher participation in children's play.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2024
Accession Number: EJ1446975
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:Socio-dramatic play is an everyday occurrence in early childhood education as children create narratives together in shared imagined worlds. The teacher's role in this type of play is less clear and this paper draws on a study using Lindqvist's "playworlds" approach to gain insight into how teachers participate in children's play. In applying Kravtsov and Kravtsova's concept of children's "double subjectivity" in dramatic play, the paper argues that teachers can also maintain dual affect roles--those of teacher outside the play, and co-player within the play--to co-create with children in their dramatic play narratives. In this study, four teachers in Melbourne, Australia participated in weekly playworlds with the researcher in their kindergarten rooms, resulting in identification of a third affect role for teachers--that of "public performer." This third affect was found to hinder teachers' capacity to maintain simultaneous subject positions of themselves as teacher and a co-player, thereby minimizing the improvised narrative trajectory and potential of the dramatic play. We argue this third affect should be acknowledged to support teacher participation in children's play.
ISSN:1476-718X
1741-2927
DOI:10.1177/1476718X241258604