{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.022598870056497175, 'fraction_numerical': 0.003766478342749529, 'mean_word_length': 5.252941176470588, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Adult Roles in Support of Early Childhood Play, Encouraging Sensitivity to the Individual and Reflexive Approaches

This paper builds upon an ethnographical doctoral study that explored how adults
exercise power over children. Anchored in the worlds of children’s lived
experiences, it explores whether play can be deeper, richer and more meaningful
when children are beyond the watchful eye of adults. It focuses on children’s play
within the spaces they occupied prior to, and after, their transition from nursery to
primary school. Participants included children aged between 3.7 – 4.7 years of age,
as well as Early Year Practitioners (EYPs) and visitors to the setting. The
interactions and behaviours of the participants were observed, ensuring that
children were not ‘objectified’ in the process. Vignettes of play episodes highlight
complexities surrounding adult understanding of children’s play. In particular the
need for adults to be more reflexive in using knowledge from practice to support
play and resist assigning false purpose to play episodes.