ABSTRACT

The role of unstructured nature-based play in children’s wellbeing, health and learning is a significant focus in research into child development and is increasingly a concern for schools and early childhood settings. There is a groundswell of interest in redesigning children’s outdoor playspaces to better support diverse, nature-based play experiences. Additionally, broad interest in promoting children’s rights and perspectives in matters that concern them has stimulated efforts to involve children in this redesign. This paper reports a case study of a playspace redevelopment project in an Australian primary school, aiming to support greater play diversity in the school grounds. The redevelopment project was led by a teacher who actively involved students in designing and building the space. We consider the extent to which the children were able to define an institutionalised playspace, discussing the complexity of child agency as it relates to the curricularisation and regulation of learning and play. Our analysis suggests the children’s engagements with the playspace were complex and multiform, involving both their agentic definition and inhabitation of the space and their interpellation into adult worlds. Implications are identified for practitioners and researchers interested in child agency and voice in outdoor school playspace redesign.

摘要

基于自然的非结构化游戏在儿童福祉、健康和学习中的作用是儿童发展研究的一个重要重点，并且越来越受到学校和幼儿环境的关注。人们对重新设计儿童户外游戏空间以更好地支持多样化、基于自然的游戏体验产生了浓厚的兴趣。此外，对促进儿童权利和对与他们有关的问题的看法的广泛兴趣激发了让儿童参与这一重新设计的努力。本文报告了澳大利亚一所小学游戏空间重建项目的案例研究，旨在支持校园内更大的游戏多样性。重建项目由一位老师领导，他积极让学生参与空间的设计和建造。我们考虑了孩子们能够在多大程度上定义一个制度化的游戏空间，讨论了儿童能动性的复杂性，因为它与学习和游戏的课程化和监管有关。我们的分析表明，儿童对游戏空间的参与是复杂和多种形式的，包括他们对空间的主动定义和居住，以及他们对成人世界的质询。确定了对户外学校游戏空间重新设计中对儿童能动性和声音感兴趣的从业者和研究人员的影响。涉及他们对空间的代理定义和居住以及他们对成人世界的质询。确定了对户外学校游戏空间重新设计中对儿童能动性和声音感兴趣的从业者和研究人员的影响。涉及他们对空间的代理定义和居住以及他们对成人世界的质询。确定了对户外学校游戏空间重新设计中对儿童能动性和声音感兴趣的从业者和研究人员的影响。