Children, mothers, and preschool teachers’ perceptions of play: Findings from Turkey and Norway

Abstract

This cross-cultural study aims to explore children’s, mothers’, and teachers’ currentperceptions of play in Turkish and Norwegian cultures by using the Cultural Historical Action Theoryframework as an analytical tool. The participants included 40 children enrolled in preschools, 39mothers, and 10 teachers. In this cross cultural comparative study, structured interviews were used tocollect the data. The results revealed one common theme across the participants’ definitions of play, thefeelings related to play. All three groups expressed play as a way of having fun. Another common themefor the adults from both countries were the ideas that, play is important for children’s learning anddevelopment and, it is impossible to think of an alternative to play. Both Norwegian and Turkishchildren defined play as different examples, such as cars, bicycles and balls. While Norwegian teachersdefined play as a context in which children make their own decisions, both Norwegian and Turkishteachers considered play socialize with friends and to be a way of communication. The concept of adultsas the community of play and children as the actors of play deserve more attention