Understanding teachers' beliefs of young children's play in naturalized learning environments.

Abstract

Recent research in the field of early childhood education has increasingly focused on children's connections with natural environments. However, there has yet to be a study that investigates teachers' perceptions of teaching young children and the impact on their learning utilizing natural environments during early childhood, which is precisely the aim of this research. Such a study is needed to attain authentic information about possible connections between teachers' personal experiences, their perspectives and their practices regarding teaching and learning in naturalized environments. This qualitative research study is composed of two major components: in-depth teacher interviews and an outdoor and indoor environment checklist. The in-depth teacher interviews document teachers' personal play histories, their ways of implementing children's play in naturalistic settings, and their beliefs about the value of children's play in naturalized environments. The environment checklist is used to examine the enriched naturalized environments that are provided indoors and outdoors to help children interact with the natural world. Four major themes were identified and several conclusions were drawn from the data. First, teachers' beliefs about naturalized environments are consistent with their teaching practice in those environments. Second, teachers who are teaching in naturalistic environment schools value the natural environment. Third, teachers' personal life experiences influence their perceptions of teaching and learning in naturalized environments. Fourth, teachers' perceptions regarding the value of naturalistic environments for children's learning were that creative thinking, problem solving, and more in-depth learning occurred.