Developing Children: Developmental Discourses Underpinning Physical Education at Three Scottish Preschool Settings

Autor/inn/en	McEvilly, Nollaig; Atencio, Matthew; Verheul, Martine
Titel	Developing Children: Developmental Discourses Underpinning Physical Education at Three Scottish Preschool Settings
Quelle	In: Sport, Education and Society, 22 (2017) 8, S.943-957 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1357-3322
DOI	10.1080/13573322.2015.1114917
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Discourse Analysis; Physical Education; Preschool Children; Preschool Teachers; Teacher Attitudes; Semi Structured Interviews; Child Development; Learning Activities; Physical Activities; Play; Freedom; Learning Theories; United Kingdom (Scotland) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Diskursanalyse; Körpererziehung; Sportunterricht; Pre-school age; Preschool age; Child; Children; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Vorschulalter; Kind; Kinder; Vorschulkind; Vorschulkinder; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Erzieher; Erzieherin; Kindergärtnerin; Lehrerverhalten; Kindesentwicklung; Lernaktivität; Spiel; Freiheit; Learning theory; Lerntheorie
Abstract	This paper reports on one aspect of a study that investigated the place and meaning of "physical education" to practitioners and children at three preschool settings in Scotland. We employed a poststructural type of discourse analysis to examine the developmental discourses the 14 participating practitioners drew on when talking about "physical education" at preschools, during semi-structured interviews. Three main discourses around the notion of developmentalism were identified during analysis of the adults' interview data: (1) preschool children learn and develop through play; (2) preschool children should have choices and freedom and (3) sometimes more structured activities are needed. The practitioners were heavily invested in developmental "truths" about how preschool children learn and develop. They were in agreement that play is a vital element of preschool education, and that, consequently, children should be provided with opportunities for exploration and making choices. However, they also talked about sometimes "needing" to restrict children's freedom and provide more adult-led activities. Our findings illustrate the strength of developmental discourses at the three settings. We suggest that preschool practitioners, as well as policy-makers and researchers, should critically reflect on the effects of taken-for-granted developmental discourses and move beyond thinking in terms of binaries such as "physical education versus play" or "structure versus freedom." (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01