The design, realisation, and evaluation of an educational programme: Promoting play in kindergarten

Abstract

A prototype educational programme for children of preschool age was planned, realised, and evaluated in a Kindergarten that promotes socio-dramatic play as a dynamic framework for the children's learning and development. The research was conducted with 40 children, aged 4.5 to 6.5, attending two Kindergartens in Volos. All children came from a middle-class socioeconomic level. A part of this paper is the exploration of differences that emerged from children's responses during interviews and their drawings after the implementation of teaching interventions. The tools used for research include interviews of children attending Kindergarten, before and after the teaching intervention stage (pre-test and post-test); a teaching intervention; drawings and paintings by children before and after the experimental intervention stage that help identify the play they choose. The teaching intervention uses play as its central axis and gives educators the opportunity to play different roles (observing the children, playing with them, supporting and extending learning). For the teaching intervention, we took account of the New Kindergarten Curriculum (2011) being implemented in Greece on a pilot basis. This curriculum recognises the significance of play as one of the most important learning frameworks intersecting with learning areas; it is considered a major activity for children's development and learning.