Education Commons^™

Child Development Just Outside The Front Door: Neighbourhood Play Project, Hyahno Moser

International Journal of Playwork Practice

This project examines the nature of contemporary childhood with a focus on changing rates of play in Queensland’s urban neighbourhoods. The Neighbourhood Play Project is a pilot project funded by the Queensland Government Department of Sport & Recreation. The purpose of the project was to examine and record the prevalence of local children’s existing play networks in urban Queensland neighbourhoods and to quantify their influence on children's physical activity and outdoor play levels. The recorded decline of Queensland children’s activity levels and physical literacy over the last 30 years – and its direct negative correlation with children’s increasing screen usage …

How Have Adventure Playgrounds In The United Kingdom Adapted Post-March Lockdown In 2020?, Pete King

International Journal of Playwork Practice

Adventure playgrounds have been a feature in the United Kingdom since the 1950s. Their growth and development was underpinned by ‘thinking together’, a concept in the Communities of Practice (CoP) approach. In March 2020, the United Kingdom (UK) went into lockdown. This study aimed to find out how adventure playgrounds responded to the Covid-19 situation when they reopened in July 2020. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 18 adventure playground staff from 14 adventure playgrounds. Thematic analysis of the data constructed themes and sub-themes within four main headings: preparation for opening; reduction; targeted service and play behaviour. The results showed how …

Play Spaces As Heterotopia: Seeking New Ways To Trouble The Discourses And Enactments Of Playwork, Linda J. Shaw

International Journal of Playwork Practice

In 1966 Foucault broadcasted a talk on French radio about “heterotopia.” These, he claimed, were institutional spaces that could be identified as being part of society, but at the same time outside contemporary social and political norms in their structure, discourses and iconography. The discourses and enactments of playwork frequently occur in shared spaces, in which they come up against powerful counter-discourses, particularly those generated by educational institutions. A (re)turning to data collected in three primary schools, their partner nursery and out-of-school provision revealed tensions and opportunities for playwork and playworkers during school play times and before and after school …