The Influence of Educators on the Development of a Child Symbolic Play

Vrbić, Iva. (2019). The Influence of Educators on the Development of a Child Symbolic Play. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Pedagogy. [mentor Šagud, Mirjana].

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Abstract

The theoretical part of the paper is focused on several areas: today's perspective of a child in the context of a humanist-oriented curriculum, play as an indispensable segment of childhood with an emphasis on the symbolic play as the bearer of the critical or golden age of the child's life and the role of the educator as a professional who will know how to use their skills in the best interest of the child. The empirical basis of the paper aimed to find out how the educators influence the development of a symbolic play, whether the complexity and development of a symbolic play are being promoted, which method they use and whether they are aware of the importance of a symbolic play. A qualitative method with quantitative elements was used in the research. Therefore, systematic observation in educator's usual context without any special suggestion. As a measuring instrument, a tutorial monitoring protocol was used with predefined categories of possible behaviors of educators. The inspiration derives from the study by Mirjana Šagud, described in the book Educator in the Children's Play ( 2002), but it was made up in it's own dicretion, as unique. The second protocol followed the theme or play role that children chose, the duration of the game, the number of children involed, the presence of educators and communication during the game. Subsequently, a survey was conducted with the aim of gaining insight into the awarness of the educator about the importance of the symbolic play. However, findings show that in practice there are different styles of educator's work that greatly affect the symbolic play, positive or negative. With active participation in children's play, stimulating issues, new materials, involving other children and giving new ideas, educators have raised the complexity of the play to a higher level. Thus, the actions were more dynamic, more children had their part in the game, they included and used new material and communication was characterized by features such as openness, fuidity and naturalness and asking open and stimulating issues. In cases where the educators were hindering the development of child's play, they used the directivity and procedures such as correcting a child, rejection of a child's idea, excessive insistence on discipline, silence and order, or they were too passive and uninviting. Educators are mostly aware of the importance of a symbolic play and it's benefit for a child, but their unconsciousness of their actions opens up space for further work. Action research that would emphasize the relationship between action and reflection would allow educators to „see“ and understand their actions.

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