| Description |
Play is viewed as one of the best ways to teach young children the skills needed to be academically successful, and in recent years, a great deal of research has demonstrated that play-based environments can help build these skills. Child development experts believe that the pressure children currently feel to meet unrealistic and inappropriate academic expectations causes stress, behavioral problems, and feelings of failure and disengagement. The present study represents the first phase of a larger research project that will develop and assess a parental education program designed to help parents recognize the importance of play for human development. This phase of the overall project assessed attitudes about play in parents of children in Montessori and non-Montessori early childhood programs (n = 204). Two research questions were pursued in the present study. First, do parents who select Montessori programs have a more positive view of the role of play in child development? Second, regardless of the early childhood program selected, do parents who have more personal experience with intrinsic motivation through flow experiences (i.e., play-like states of deep absorption) have a more positive view of the role of play? Very few differences were found between parents of children in Montessori programs and those in non-Montessori programs on measures related to play. Results supported the hypothesis that parents who were more actively engaged in flow experiences in their current lives would have a more positive view of play. Contrasts between high and low flow parents showed significant differences on three of the eight play scales (frequency of unstructured play, play support, and play importance), and nonsignificant trends in the predicted direction on two others (play perceptions of unstructured play, and academic value of unstructured play). Finally, parents categorized as high flow were found to be more supportive of play and less controlling toward their children on the new scenario-based measure. The results from the present study support the need for the parent education program planned for the next phase of this project. |
