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The importance of curiosity and participation for developing positive risk-taking behaviour and ability in outdoor play
Örebro University, School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8107-7717
2023 (English)In: 31st EECERA ANNUAL CONFERENCE: CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS: Book of Abstracts, 2023, p. 242-243Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

The aim of this ethnographic study is to examine children’s risk-taking decisions and actions in exploratory and physical plays in green public playscapes. Although research shows that play that involves risk-taking elements and actions are essential for children’s development, adults hesitate to let children participate in such plays due to fear of injury (Brussoni et al. 2021, Sando et al. 2021). The study is drawing on John Dewey’s (1938) concepts of experience and growth and theories of risky play (Sandsæter et al. 2021). The methods used are participation observation and informal conversations with twenty-one children and three preschool teachers as a part of an ethnographic approach. The data consists of field notes, audio recordings and photographs. The data analysis is conducted as a theme analysis within the paradigm of childhood sociology.The children’s guardians gave their informed consent. The long field study contributed to the establishment of close relationships, and the researcher was often invited into the children’s play. Any sign of unwillingness to participate during observations, was fully respected. The participant’s names are replaced with pseudonyms.The results show that the preschool teachers allow children to explore potential risks in the outdoor environment and make independent decisions, rather than imposing rules to eliminate the exposure of risky situations. The children co-operate around risk-taking, supporting each other physically and emotionally to overcome fear and calculate risks. The study has implications for practice by demonstrating how children can develop responsible risk-managing behaviors when given the opportunity to face different challenges. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2023. p. 242-243
Keywords [en]
risky play, playground safety, outdoor play, risk management, children's perspective
National Category
Pedagogy
Research subject
Education
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-108588OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-108588DiVA, id: diva2:1800682
Conference
31st European Early Childhood Education Research Association Annual Conference (EECERA 2023), "Children’s Curiosity, Agency, and Participation. Challenges for Professional Action and Development", Lisbon, Portugal, August 30 - September 2, 2023
Available from: 2023-09-27 Created: 2023-09-27 Last updated: 2024-01-17Bibliographically approved

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Frödén, Sara

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CiteExportLink to record
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Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
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More languages
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  • asciidoc
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