An Investigation of Preschool Teachers’ Role During Playtime

For young children, play is part of their lives and the benefits of it for children of all ages have been recognized by many studies. By simply spending time playing, children have the opportunity to take part in activities that help them to improve their imagination, problem solving, creativity, and memory. With the first-hand experience of the world around them, children explore and make sense of life as well as express their feelings freely. During play, children also experience and work through several feelings helping them to regulate their emotional states. It is, therefore, necessary for teachers not only give children a plenty of time to play during the day but also being involved in their play when necessary. In this research, the aim is to examine the preschool teacher’s role via conducting semi-structured interviews with the teachers and the observations of their behaviours during playtime. The questions in the interviews aim to investigate the value given to playtime in ...