The Concept of the Play and Its Types in Class: The Viewpoints of Kindergarten and Pre-Schools Teachers in Tehran

The play, an integral part of the life of children, is a dynamic and complex concept, which becomes an unknown concept and action due to its ambiguous definitions, especially when it comes in the class. Having a true understanding of the nature of play and its types will make the instructors of pre-school and kindergarten courses provide a creative and constructive environment for children to grow comprehensively. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the concept of play from the viewpoint of preschool and kindergartens teachers in Tehran. The research method was qualitative using the phenomenological approach. For this purpose, 23 kindergarten and pre-school teachers who had the required conditions were interviewed using semi-structured interview and explorations with two main questions. Data were collected, recorded, coded, and classified into main categories. Content analysis of teachers’ perception of the play concept led to the identification of 256 primary codes, 16 sub-themes and 5 main themes of imagination (symbolic activities, imagery, dreaming); active involvement (physical and psychological involvement in the play, cooperation between players); exciting ( pleasure, joy and happiness, fun, pleasure, hope, relaxation); regulatory fluidity (specific, but flexible and changeable rules, manipulating the rules and how to play), and the learning process (purposefulness, social and cognitive and emotional development, discovery and creations). Also, analyzing the content of the perception of teachers from classroom plays led to the identification of 52 initial codes, 6 sub-themes, and 2 main themes of unstructured plays (student-centered, without prior planning) and structured plays (coaching, goal-oriented, emphasis on learning).