A Case Study of Jamaican Children\u27s Lived Play Experiences

Although research on children\u27s play is abundant and considerable advances have been made in young children\u27s play, the majority of these studies have been based in western developed countries and written from adults\u27 perspectives rather than with children. Additionally, very little research has been done on children\u27s play with active participants from smaller developing countries. The voices of society\u27s youngest members have been lost or are only marginally represented. The purpose of this qualitative research is to explore, understand, and describe young Jamaican children\u27s lived play experiences as related through their eyes. The theoretical frameworks used to guide this study are sociocultural theory and narrative case study. Narrative case study focuses on a particular phenomenon and, through rich description, each participant\u27s story relates the complexities of this phenomenon. Sociocultural theory is related to the social, cultural, and historical theory of a people and is constructed as they participate in culturally pertinent activities. The examined literature, which draws on diverse theoretical frameworks, including Vygotsky and Rogoff\u27s sociocultural theory and Bronfenbrenner\u27s work on socioecological theory, discusses types of play, the relationship between play and children\u27s development, indoor and outdoor play at school, and play as perceived by children. A key theme in this literature is children\u27s beliefs and values observed through a cultural filter. The three 5-year-old children, their teacher, and parents were purposefully selected for this single-bounded case study. The methods of data collection include video-cued interviews (VCI), a researcher\u27s journal, and observation and field-notes. An understanding of the history of Jamaican education and its people is essential to the successful implementation of the play-based curriculum. The importance of knowing how children view their play and its manifestations and meanings is compelling to the Jamaican people and will help inform teachers, teacher education programs, parents, national and international funders, and other stakeholders as they try to fuse Jamaican culture with global elements of young children education