Naslov
Children’s symbolic play during the transition to school

Autori
Somolanji Tokić, Ida ; Borovac, Tijana

Izvornik
International Journal of Early Years Education (0966-9760) 29 (2020); 232-245

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
Academic skills ; image of a child ; sociocultural perspective ; symbolic play ; transition to school

Sažetak
Grounded in the sociocultural perspective, this paper analyses current Croatian theory and practice on the transition to school and addresses the importance of fostering a play- based pedagogy and symbolic play in particular. Despite the contemporary theoretical background on early childhood and children’s transition to school, the mainstream readiness discourse is still dominant in practice, building a gap between theory and practice. In Croatia, the preschool year of kindergarten is strongly influenced by school-like activities as opposed to play-based pedagogy in the earlier years of kindergarten. The symbolic play, referred to as the queen of activities (Slunjski and Ljubetić, 2014. “Play and its Pedagogical Potential in a Preschool Institution.” Croatian Journal of Education 16 (1): 127–141. https://hrcak.srce.hr/117857), is repressed by the academic activities. The activities characterised and overly influenced by an adult’s direct pedagogical approach pose an endangerment to the basic principles of play. This paper highlights the significance of fostering children’s symbolic play in the year preceding primary school as an alternative to the prevailing practice of developing exclusively academic skills.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Pedagogija, Obrazovne znanosti (psihologija odgoja i obrazovanja, sociologija obrazovanja, politologija obrazovanja, ekonomika obrazovanja, antropologija obrazovanja, neuroznanost i rano učenje, pedagoške discipline)

POVEZANOST RADA