Cultures of Play in Early Childhood Education and Care

Abstract

Abstract This chapter considers questions concerning how pedagogues in Swedish preschool settings conceive of and act with respect to play in early childhood. It surveys part of the history and research on the role of preschool pedagogues in children’s play, situating this history in relation to recent Swedish policy and research debates about if and how adults should understand and be involved in play in preschool. As an illustrative case, the survey is grounded in a discussion of the practice and research on playworlds, an early childhood play pedagogy developed by Swedish preschool education researcher Gunilla Lindqvist. The chapter concludes by discussing preliminary observations from an ongoing case-based research project characterizing the perspectives and practices of preschool pedagogues in Sweden as they voluntarily integrate the playworld approach into their everyday preschool activities. The data reveal the complexities and contradictions that Swedish pedagogues are negotiating as they define and work with the concepts of play, teaching, education, and bildung.