"Risky play in early learning centres: Insights from parents’ and teachers’ perspectives"
| Dublin Core | PKP Metadata Items | Metadata for this Document | |
| 1. | Title | Title of document | Risky play in early learning centres: Insights from parents’ and teachers’ perspectives |
| 2. | Creator | Author's name, affiliation, country | Lorette Pretorius; Akademie Reformatoriese Opleiding en Studies, Pretoria, South Africa; South Africa |
| 2. | Creator | Author's name, affiliation, country | Tessa De Wet; Optentia Research Focus Area, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa, and Integrated Development & Employment Alliances, Pretoria, South Africa; South Africa |
| 3. | Subject | Discipline(s) | |
| 3. | Subject | Keyword(s) | child/children; constraints; development; early learning centre; experiences; fear; parents; play environment; risky play; teachers |
| 4. | Description | Abstract | Risky play (RP) is a critical component to develop children’s capacity to function optimally throughout their lives. Children’s development depends on parents’ and teachers’ willingness to inculcate opportunities to engage in RP. Discouraging RP negatively impacts a child’s development, inhibiting their ability to function well in school and the future. In this study we examined parents’ and teachers’ views of RP and how the home and early learning centre (ELC) environments provide opportunities for RP. The qualitative multiple-case study included teachers and parents from 3 ELCs, utilising semi structured teacher group interviews, observations of children’s outdoor play, field notes, and document analysis to generate data at ELCs. Electronic semi-structured individual interview schedules were used to generate comprehensive information from parents. Observations indicate that opportunities for RP were provided in ELCs, although only 4 of 6 RP categories were visible at the ELCs during outdoor play. The interviews indicate that parents acquiesced and teachers were in favour of RP within certain conditions. Various influencing factors seemed to be partly shaped by teachers’ and parents’ own childhood experiences, their knowledge of the perceived benefits of RP, as well as the perceived risks of engaging children in RP. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v45n2a2500 ORCiD iDs of authors: Lorette Pretorius - https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7046-3738 Tessa De Wet - https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8513-7609 |
| 5. | Publisher | Organizing agency, location | Education Association of South Africa |
| 6. | Contributor | Sponsor(s) | The author(s) received no financial support for the research or authorship of this article. Partial funding for publication was received from the Akademie Reformatoriese Opleiding en Studies (AROS) and from the North-West University. |
| 7. | Date | (YYYY-MM-DD) | 2025-06-13 |
| 8. | Type | Status & genre | Peer-reviewed Article |
| 8. | Type | Type | |
| 9. | Format | File format | |
| 10. | Identifier | Universal Resource Indicator | https://www.sajournalofeducation.co.za/index.php/saje/article/view/2500 |
| 11. | Source | Journal/conference title; vol., no. (year) | SA Journal of Education; Vol 45, No 2 (2025) |
| 12. | Language | English=en | en |
| 13. | Relation | Supp. Files | |
| 14. | Coverage | Geo-spatial location, chronological period, research sample (gender, age, etc.) | |
| 15. | Rights | Copyright and permissions | If the article is accepted for publication, copyright of this article will be vested in the Education Association of South Africa. All articles published in this journal are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, unless otherwise stated. |