Children’s and mothers’ understanding of play and learning: Repertoires across five cultures

• Published in: Learning and instruction Vol. 94; p. 101981
• Main Authors: Bugallo, Lucía, Mukherjee, Sarah Jane, Scheuer, Nora, Cremin, Teresa, Montoro, Virginia, Golinkoff, Roberta, Preston, Marcia, Wah Cheng, Doris Pui, Popp, Jill
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2024
• Subjects: Childhood; Conceptions; Daily activities; Learning; Mothers; Playfulness; Socio-cultural practices; Learning; Conceptions; Socio-cultural practices; Playfulness; Childhood; Mothers; Daily activities
• ISSN: 0959-4752
• DOI: 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.101981

Multiple tensions pervade the relationship between play and learning. Children's perceptions of this relationship are rarely analysed or placed alongside their parents' views. Literature has focused on predominant themes ignoring intra and inter-cultural variability. We aimed to capture the different ways in which children and mothers in different cultural contexts conceive children's daily activities as instances of play and of learning. Participants were 392 children (aged 5 and 7) and 192 mothers from Argentina, Denmark, China, England, United States. Through a semi-structured interview, two closing questions were analysed: ‘Do you think it's possible to play and learn at the same time? Playing and learning, what's the difference between them?‘Lexicometry was applied to participants' responses. Qualitative analysis of local results was carried out to build a cross-cultural repertoire. A wide range of understandings emerged ranging from an impossibility of co-occurrence (characteristic of children) to a beneficial co-occurrence (characteristic of mothers). For many children play and learning constitute separate realms of activity and only among children is there evidence that learning is necessary to play. For all mothers, daily activities are opportunities for learning. Intra age-group heterogeneity varied across sites. Learning in play was conceived by the children, but play in learning was restricted to academic learning. Hegemonic conceptions of education influenced participants' perceptions. The mothers expressed discrepancies between ‘ideal’ situations of co-occurrence between play and learning, and daily situations of not co-occurrence. A deep understanding of the synergies between these practices can unlock their mutual enrichment. •Children and mothers in five countries reflected on the play-learning relationship.•We identified a ‘connectedness and enrichment’ gradient in their understandings.•For mothers across sites any activity is an opportunity for children's learning.•For some children across sites play and learning are incompatible.•Learning as a requisite for play is an original idea of children in most sites.