Play-based kindergarten in an era of academic rigor: A case study of one teaching team’s experience

The purpose of this qualitative research was to investigate the processes teachers went through as they integrated play with their kindergarten curriculum by studying their individual and collaborative processes of implementation. Based on strategic sampling, this study was conducted with kindergarten teachers who reported that time for play was a part of their daily schedule. The case study method was a good fit as the data were bound by the experiences of educators and children at one early childhood school. I observed in the naturalistic environment of the teachers’ classrooms and collaborative spaces and explored two focal participants’ daily interactions with children and decision-making practices with regard to curriculum enactment to capture their processes of integrating play with their kindergarten program. Interview, observation, and artifact collection were the primary data collection methods. Ongoing work with the data included transcription of audio recordings, peer debriefing, member checking, and analytic memo writing. Constant comparison method, a priori coding, content analysis, and thematic analysis served as the analytic processes. In response to the body of research indicating that five-year-old children are experiencing stress in many classrooms as an emphasis on academic rigor in kindergarten has become more prevalent, this study contributed to the need for research that illustrates how play-based practices can be meaningfully integrated with current kindergarten programs. The participants in this study facilitated various types of play and relied on multiple curricular resources when integrating play and curriculum. They were agents of the kindergarten curriculum, often stepping outside of the district-prescribed sources to ensure playful learning opportunities for children. Implications for practice include the need for preservice and in-service programs to include more attention to collecting and using many forms of assessment evidence to document children’s play-based learning. Teachers who are working to implement a play-based program may also benefit from professional learning to support their understandings of play and play-based pedagogy. Implications for research include the continued need for investigations regarding the role of play as a component of the curriculum, including (1) research that seeks to uncover ways that children’s play-based learning can be evidenced, and (2) research that explores relationships between play and stress in classrooms. Scholars working to articulate the definition of play and play-based learning should consider not only academic and developmental integration (Danniels & Pyle, 2018), but also play-based learning as a multi-, inter-, or trans-disciplinary approach. The factors of child agency and teacher facilitation should also be considered as central.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Curriculum and Instruction

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2021

Author dc:creator

• Lyons, Mary Elizabeth

Contributors dc:contributor

• Sanders-Smith, Stephanie C.
• McCarthey, Sarah J.
• Mercier, Emma
• Ostrosky, Michaelene

• kindergarten
• play-based learning
• teacher learning

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2020 Mary Lyons

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/109553

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/109553