Teacher as player : Co-creating with children in play

A foundational aspect of early childhood education is children’s play. Traditionally early childhood education has privileged the child’s free play and teacher roles are predominantly as observers and supporters. Socio-dramatic play is a central play mode with preschool children, though the teacher entering this play can be a contentious issue. This has meant the role of player, which includes entry into the imaginary field, has been the child’s domain. My own interest is to understand a shared imagined space when the teacher and children meet in play’s imaginary field.

Theoretically this thesis is grounded in a cultural-historical paradigm theorising play, imagination and aesthetic education. In play children makes use of dual roles as they move fluidly between being themselves and being a character in an imagined world, and this is where creativity first emerges. Therefore, the research for this thesis wanted to understand how the teacher performs these dual roles with the children.

Methodologically this work was underpinned by a qualitative research design to engage with an in-depth inquiry. The participants of this research consisted of four teachers, in four different preschools and the children in their program. A central methodological and conceptual component was drama-based fieldwork in the form of playworlds-as-method that created an experience for the teacher, children and researcher to collaborate with the aim of understanding the teacher’s performed roles. Data were generated over five-months in written, audio and video formats and this formed the basis of the deductive and inductive analysis.

The main findings indicate that the teacher performed roles influence the shared creative process in various ways. The focal theory of this thesis has established that these performed roles have implications for teaching practice in early childhood play-based settings. Firstly, the ability to value and use children’s contributions to build a collaborative environment. Secondly, the teacher’s interplay with form and improvisation allows an experience to flourish. Finally, attention to the environment as a place that supports teacher’s experimentation in the creative process. The research implications suggest this contemporary theorising of the teacher as player can open up understandings and possibilities for early childhood teaching practice when co-creating with children in play.