Play's relation to health and well-being in preschool and kindergarten

A Waldorf (Steiner) education perspective

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4944161
AutoresE J Sobo (0000-0002-7711-9873, San Diego State University, autor correspondente)
Ano2014
Volume3
Fascículo1
Páginas9-23
Data de publicação2014-01-02
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoInternational Journal of Play (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2159-4937 • E-ISSN: 2159-4953
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/21594937.2014.886102
OpenAlexW2031615727
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas8
Referências citadas20

In most US pre-k/kindergartens play is justified as serving academic goals. However, Waldorf education, an independent alternative to public schooling, leverages play to promote child health and well-being. This paper examines Waldorf education's approach to play with reference to the underlying cultural model of/for child development that Waldorf teachers subscribe to. It describes how teachers orchestrated play in four pre-k/kindergarten classrooms and examines, from the teacher perspective, how keeping children 'in movement' both physically and spiritually encourages healthful sensory-motor integration while nourishing children's 'will forces' and ensuring good health and flexible thinking in adulthood. In addition to providing insight into how we might foster more play in non-Waldorf settings and informing the theoretical construction of play-as-mood, the findings indicate that Waldorf education is not immune to the work-play opposition common to US educational discourse; accordingly, the pedagogic and pediatric work done by play becomes a selling point for the system

Developmental psychology · Pedagogy · Political science · Politics · Children's Rights and Participation · Early Childhood Education and Development · Education Methods and Practices · Psychology