A comparison of teachers' and children's perceptions of play and the implications for early years classroom practice

Play is renowned as a difficult and complex concept to define and there are theorists who state that defining it is impossible (Moyles, 1989). Attempts have been made to define play by category (e.g. Piaget, 1951), criteria (e.g. Rubin, Fein, and Vandenberg, 1983) and type (e.g. Hughes, 2006) however all these definitions have been based on an adult definition of play based on the observable activity. There have also been attempts to define play according to children's perspectives of play (e.g. Keating, Fabian, Jordan, Mavers, and Roberts, 2000; Wing, 1995). However, many of the studies looking at children's perceptions of play have utilised methodologies which may not always be appropriate, especially for very young children, such as interview methodology. Comparison of adults' and children's definitions of play have highlighted some similarities and differences however due to a lack of comparability in methodology this has not be researched extensively. The Activity Apperception Story Procedure (AASP) (Howard, 2002) is a child-friendly, experimental procedure which has been used to elicit children's perceptions of play. This study utilised this same methodology with both children and teachers in three Welsh schools to provide a clear comparison of children's and teachers' perceptions of play. The similarities and differences highlighted have direct implications for the delivery of a play-based curriculum in early years classrooms.