Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand and analyze teacher's attitudes towards play, with an emphasis on free play, and the free play opportunities which are available to children in free play at six Montreal based child-care centres. The study also attempted to examine whether or not teacher's attitudes have an impact on children's free play opportunities. The measure used to rate teacher's behaviours was the Teacher's Practical Observational Scale and teachers were observed for 2-thirty minute observations during their free play periods. Teachers were also interviewed using a questionnaire designed to elicit their attitudes towards free play. The quality of the child care environments was measured using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (1998). Analyses did not support the hypotheses, however exploratory analyses revealed interesting findings. The results indicated that teacher's language and the emotional climate of the classroom were positively correlated. Another key finding of this thesis is that teacher's presence with children in an activity setting does extend children's participation in the play activity. Findings were discussed in relation to current ideas about curriculum.