Attitudes of Primary School Teachers towards Outdoor Risky Play in the Netherlands

Pósta, Ildikó (2023) Attitudes of Primary School Teachers towards Outdoor Risky Play in the Netherlands. Master thesis, Pedagogical and Educational Sciences.

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Abstract

Allowing children to engage in risk during outdoor play is a contentious issue among professionals working with children. Teachers often experience a tension between societal expectations to keep children safe and children’s need to engage in risky play. Researching teachers’ attitude towards risky play is important because it determines the opportunities children have for risky play at (pre)schools. This study explored primary school teachers’ attitudes towards risky play in the Netherlands and the ways they navigate social pressures. Additionally, it identified a number of social factors that influence the attitudes of groups of teachers differently within the Netherlands. This study seeks to add to the existing literature on risky play in the Dutch context, which, to date, has been given little scientific attention. Furthermore, this study highlights that variations exist in teachers’ attitudes within a country. This is a largely ignored issue in the literature on risky play. This study employed a mixed-method design, using survey with 142 teachers working with children aged 4-8 and semi-structured interviews with ten survey participants. Quantitative data from the survey was analysed using SPSS. Qualitative data from the interviews was analysed using content analysis. Results of this study indicate that teachers have a positive attitude towards risky play activities that might lead to minor injuries. However, most teachers have a negative attitude towards activities potentially leading to more serious injuries. Findings suggests that social pressures to keep children safe play only a limited role in teachers attitudes. They developed strategies to resist social pressures. Furthermore, avoiding serious injuries for children is often their own personal preference. Gender, age, religion and location of school has been found to play a role in teachers’ attitudes towards risky play.

Item Type:	Thesis (Master)
Supervisor name:	Haaften, L.W. van
Degree programme:	Pedagogical and Educational Sciences
Differentiation route:	Ethics and Education: philosophy, history and law [Master Pedagogical and Educational Sciences]
Date Deposited:	25 Aug 2023 10:54
Last Modified:	25 Aug 2023 10:54
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/2797

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