What Is Make-Believe Play?: Preschool Teachers' Perspectives Joanna Jennifer Cemore Iowa State University
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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2005 What is make-believe play?: preschool teachers' perspectives Joanna Jennifer Cemore Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, and the Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education Commons Recommended Citation Cemore, Joanna Jennifer, "What is make-believe play?: preschool teachers' perspectives " (2005). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 1718. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/1718 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. What is make-believe play? Preschool teachers' perspectives by Joanna Jennifer Cemore A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Human Development and Family Studies (Child Development) and (Early Childhood Education) Program of Study Committee: Sedahlia Jasper Crase (Major Professor) Michael K. Godfrey Cathy Hockaday Gayle Joanne Luze Mack C. Shelley II Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2005 UMI Number: 3200405 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3200405 Copyright 2006 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ii Graduate College Iowa State University This is to certify that the doctoral dissertation of Joanna Jennifer Cemore has met the dissertation requirements of Iowa State University Signature was redacted for privacy. Committee Member Signature was redacted for privacy. Committee Member Signature was redacted for privacy. Committee Member Signature was redacted for privacy. Committee Member Signature was redacted for privacy. Major F ofe or Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Major P gram iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ABSTRACT vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 3 The Problem of Defining Play 3 Play 4 Play as a disposition 6 Intrinsically motivated 6 Attention to means 7 "What can I do with this object?" 7 Relation to instrumental behaviors 7 Freedom from externally imposed rules 7 Actively engaged 8 Play as observable behavior 8 Play as context 9 Make-believe Play 9 Definitions of make-believe play 9 Play Theorists 11 Piaget 11 Vygotsky 13 Psychoanalysts 16 Sigmund Freud 16 Lili Peller 16 Anna Freud 17 Erik Erikson 17 Advantages of Play and Make-believe Play 17 FLOW 18 Theory of mind 18 Physical development 19 Cognitive development 19 Language development 20 Social-emotional development 21 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY 24 Why Qualitative Research? 24 Phenomenology 25 Researcher as Instrument 26 Interview Construction 30 Informants 38 iv Teacher participant descriptions 39 Faculty participant descriptions 41 Procedures 42 Analysis of Qualitative Data 43 Establishing trustworthiness and authenticity 43 Analysis 46 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 47 Composite Description of the Phenomenon of Preschool Teachers' 55 Understanding of Play and Make-believe Play Play 55 Theme 1 : Play is active engagement 56 Theme 2: Children use play to practice 57 Theme 3: Play is diverse 57 Theme 4: Play is pretense 58 Theme 5: Play is exploration guided by the question "What can I do 58 with this object?" Theme 6: Play is fun 59 Theme 7: Play is social 60 Theme 8: Play is intrinsically motivated 60 Theme 9: Play is how children learn 61 Theme 10: Play is therapeutic 62 Statement of play for teachers 63 Make-believe play 63 Theme 1 : Make-believe play is a mode of learning 63 Theme 2: Make-believe play is contextual 64 Theme 3: Make-believe play is pretense (creative expression, imitative, 64 and fantasy) Theme 4: Make-believe play is exploration guided by the question 67 "What can I do with this object?" Theme 5 : Make-believe play is intrinsically motivated 67 Theme 6: Make-believe play is fun 67 Theme 7: Make-believe play is social 68 Theme 8: Make-believe play is therapeutic 69 Statement of make-believe play for teachers 69 Composite Description of the Phenomenon of Faculty Members' 69 Understanding of Play and Make-believe Play Play 69 Theme 1 : Play is active engagement 70 Theme 2: Play is pretense 70 Theme 3: Play is exploration guided by the question "What can I do 71 with this object?" Theme 4: Play is fun 71 Theme 5: Play is intrinsically motivated 72 Theme 6: Play is how children learn 73 V Theme 7: Play is attention to means - process-oriented 74 Statement of play for faculty members 74 Make-believe play 74 Theme 1 : Make-believe play is a mode of learning 75 Theme 2: Make-believe play is pretense (creative expression, imitative, 76 and fantasy) Theme 3: Make-believe play is exploration guided by the question 77 "What can I do with this object?" Theme 4: Make-believe play is intrinsically motivated 77 Statement of make-believe play for faculty members 78 How are Play and Make-believe Play Differentiated - Analysis of Vignettes 78 Vignette 1 : Child with blocks and cars 79 Vignette 2: Child drawing at easel 80 Vignette 3: Child sitting and talking with prop 82 Vignette 4: Child sitting and talking without prop 83 Vignette 5: Child in housekeeping 83 Vignette 6: Child with puppets 84 Limitations of this Research 85 Conclusion 85 APPENDIX A: TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE FROM CEMORE THESIS 88 (2001) APPENDIX B: LETTERS OF INVITATION/INFORMED CONSENT FOR 91 CHILD APPENDIX C: ORIGINAL AND AMENDED LETTERS OF APPROVAL 95 FROM HUMAN SUBJECTS REVIEW BOARD APPENDIX D: LETTERS OF INVITATION/INFORMED CONSENT FOR 104 TEACHERS/MEMBER CHECK APPENDIX E: TEACHER INTERVIEW PROTOCOL/QUESTIONS 109 APPENDIX F: LETTERS OF INVITATION/INFORMED CONSENT FOR 113 FACULTY/MEMBER CHECK APPENDIX G: FACULTY INTERVIEW PROTOCOL/QUESTIONS 118 REFERENCES 121 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 132 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Comparison of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods 25 Table 2. Initial Analysis of Play Words with All Participants 49 Table 3. Initial Analysis of Make-believe Play Words with All Participants 50 Table 4. Play Words by Teachers and Collapsed into Themes 51 Table 5. Distribution of Emerging Play Themes by Teachers 51 Table 6. Make-believe Play Words by Teachers and Collapsed into Themes 52 Table 7. Distribution of Emerging Make-believe Themes by Teachers 53 Table 8. Play Words by Faculty and Collapsed into Themes 54 Table 9. Distribution of Emerging Play Themes by Faculty 54 Table 10. Make-believe Play Words by Faculty and Collapsed into Themes 55 Table 11. Distribution of Emerging Make-believe Play Themes by Faculty 55 Table 12. Themes Outlining the Phenomenon of Play for a Preschool 56 Teacher Table 13. Themes Outlining the Phenomenon of Make-believe Play for a Preschool 63 Teacher Table 14. Themes Outlining the Phenomenon of Play for a Faculty Member 70 Table 15. Comparison of Play Themes by Teachers and Faculty 72 Table 16. Themes Outlining the Phenomenon of Make-believe Play for a Faculty 75 Member Table 17. Comparison of Make-believe Play Themes by Teachers and Faculty 75 Table 18. Percentage Agreeing that Vignette Showed Child Engaged in Make- 79 believe Play The purpose of this research was to explore preschool teachers' understanding of make- believe play in order to aid understanding and enhance further use of teachers as informants in research on children's play. Participants included preschool teachers (« = 10) and faculty members (n = 3) who teach early childhood educators. Their descriptions of play and make- believe play were examined through qualitative research methods, including individual interviews. In-depth analysis of the emergent themes used to describe play and make-believe play were conducted. Preschool teachers defined make-believe play as representational play that is intrinsically motivated. This report includes examination of definitions, comparisons between teachers' and faculty members' responses, and responses to video vignettes. Limitations of the current study as well as ideas for future research are discussed. 1 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Teachers are commonly used as informants for children's classroom behavior in research. Although this procedure is used often, how reliable is the information obtained from teachers? This question came up when I was analyzing data from my thesis, which examined the relationship between time spent in make-believe play and delay of gratification. One source of data was a questionnaire completed by the child's teacher for each child. In that study I defined make-believe play as "Only if the child gives to the activity 'as if status" then it is make-believe play" (Cemore, 2001). I included the definition on the teacher questionnaire and emphasized the definition by pointing at it with my finger and reading the definition out loud to each teacher when physically handing them the questionnaire. Included with the definition were examples of make-believe play: "A child is engaged in make-believe play when they are acting 'as if something is something else (either themselves or inanimate objects such as blocks, Legos, dolls, a piece of paper)" (see Appendix A).