Journal article 20649 views
What Is the Purpose of Playwork?
Child Care in Practice, Volume: 30, Issue: 3, Pages: 261 - 273
Swansea University Author:
Peter King
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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/13575279.2021.1958752
Abstract
Playwork is a recognised profession in the United Kingdom (UK) and is currently a growing area of interest internationally. However, debates about the nature and purpose of playwork have raged in the playwork field since the profession was invented in the early adventure playgrounds. This study is t...
| Published in: | Child Care in Practice |
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| ISSN: | 1357-5279 1476-489X |
| Published: |
Informa UK Limited
2021
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60790 |
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| Abstract: |
Playwork is a recognised profession in the United Kingdom (UK) and is currently a growing area of interest internationally. However, debates about the nature and purpose of playwork have raged in the playwork field since the profession was invented in the early adventure playgrounds. This study is the first to capture data about what the now international playwork workforce understands to be the purpose of playwork. The International Playwork Census (IPC) was an online survey which asked participants from 19 different countries about their knowledge and experience of playwork. This paper reports on one question from the IPC: what is the purpose of playwork? A thematic analysis was undertaken from 193 responses on what was considered “the purpose of playwork” and three themes emerged: Facilitate and Provide for children’s play; Support and Advocate. This paper describes how these three themes reflect both the historical change in understandings of the purpose of playwork and how different understandings of playwork are developed through the experience of practitioners working in range of different contexts. |
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| Keywords: |
Playwork; play; professionalism; purpose; practice |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Issue: |
3 |
| Start Page: |
261 |
| End Page: |
273 |