A Study On The Outdoor Free Play Of Children Aged 5-6 From The Perspectives Of Teachers And Children

"Understanding children" should be the true meaning of early childhood education.Nowadays,as free play is becoming more and more important,what are the views of teachers and young children about outdoor free play?In order to promote the communication between teachers and children,it is necessary to research the outdoor free play from teachers' perspectives and children's perspectives.This study used the method of qualitative research.,regarded 7 teachers in higher grades and 23 children aged 5-6 as subjects for a 2 months of video recording in HS kindergarten.The researcher took 80 effective videos of children's outdoor free play and picked out 4 of them which represented children's individual play and cooperative play as stimulus materials presented to teachers and children for in-depth interviews.The study centered on the teachers' and children's views of outdoor free play,the behavior in outdoor free play and the environment of outdoor free play.Through the analysis and comparison of interview data,there were 2 differences between teachers' views and children's views.First,teachers regarded play as learning while children considered that there was no connection between play and learning.Second,teachers could only understand the reasons of children's behavior but could not understand the real meaning of children's behavior in outdoor free play.Besides,there was a common point between teachers and children.It was that both children and teachers considered that the environment of outdoor free play should be open-up and natural.According to the research,there are 6 suggestions to meet the needs of children:First,care about children's needs through "the fusion of the two horizons";Second,use"gaming courses" to meet the demand of children's exploration;Third,use "zone of proximal development" to pay a close attention to children's exploration needs;Forth,base on the sense of safety to carry out the outdoor free play;Fifth,connect the indoor play with the outdoor play;Sixth,offer chances to children to choose the outdoor playgrounds independently.