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A
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF OUT-DOOR PLAY ENVIRONMENT IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC PRE-SCHOOL
SETTINGS
ABSTRACT
This study
attempted to carry out a comparative study of outdoor play environment in
private and public preschool settings in Ikeja Local Government Area of Lagos
State. In this study, some relevant and related literature review was carried
out under subheadings. The descriptive research survey was used in the
assessment of respondents opinions with the aid of questionnaire and the
sampling technique. One hundred (100) teachers were selected as sample for this
study which represented the entire population of the study. Also, four (4)
hypotheses were formulated and tested using the independent t-test and pearson
product moment statistical tools at 0.05 level of significance. At the end of
the data analyses, the following results emerged that:there is a significant
difference between the learning outcomes of children in public and private
schools due to the use of out-door play method, there is a significant relationship
between the use of out-door play method and other methods of teaching children
in pre-primary schools, there is a significant difference between the learning
outcomes of children in schools where out-door play equipment are available and
those in schools where they are not and there is no significant difference
between the learning outcome of children taught with appropriate teaching
styles and those taught with inappropriate teaching styles at the early
childhood education. Based on the findings of this study, the researcher
recommends the following: the National Policy on Education should be reviewed
to include among others the education of the Nigerian child from 0 – 2 years
and teachers who teach at the early child schools/institutions, should of
necessity, adopt appropriate teaching styles that are child-learning oriented.
Outdoor plays should be compulsory for the teaching and learning processes.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Background
to the Study
Play has
been the natural phenomenon with children. According to Aziza (2000), children
who are healthy and not disabled (physically challenged), cannot do without
playing in their natural environments. In some climes, play has been denoted as
a veritable mark of a healthy and vibrant child. This is because, play makes a
child to be active and occupied.
Historically,
the artifacts and documents have proved the fact that children have been in the
natural habits of playing since the earliest times. For instance, toys have
been found in the ruins of the ancient China, Egypt, Babylonia and other early
civilizations. According to Encyclopedia Americana (1980), play is recreation
or any activity done for amusement. It includes everything from playing with
toys to participating in sports, to watching the television. Play is different
from other kinds of human behaviour. In primitive cultures, play occasions were
often regarded as sacred. Games were sometimes played in order to gain a
decision from the gods about the future of a dead man’s soul or a tribe’s
future affairs etc (Aldis, 2005).
Even today,
games of chance are played most often by those members of modern society who
have the least control over their affairs and the least scope for personal
initiative. A game of chance brings the play an opportunity that life usually
does not, as the example of the modern lottery illustrates. Games of strategy
which emerged in human culture with the appearance of social classes and
specialized military groups appear to have been developed as ways of training
for diplomacy and warfare etc (Singer, 2003).
Modern-day
children with their innumerable toys, practice the manipulative control of
objects, just as their parents manipulate autos, thermostats, diswashers and
computers. Both adults and children live in a world where the control of
machines is critical to survival. In general however, children’s play today
focuses on mental rather than physical activities. This mental activity is
typically modeled in a great variety of types of make-believe play, the
socio-dramatic play with other children, or the constructive play with toys or
with arts and crafts materials (Butler and George, 2001).
According to
Almonde (2000), an environment is the overall surrounding of a place. He
claimed that, for any out-door play to be effective and result-oriented, the
environment in which play is carried out ought to be well prepared. This,
according to him, is because, the prepared play environment focuses on an
organized and co-ordinated set of materials and equipment calculated towards
achieving a significant learning in the child.
As Adamson
(1999) puts it, the environment on which play is done, should be prepared based
on the child’s need. The environment for out-door play ought to be well ordered
physically and conceptually to give meaning and relevance to the child’s world.
The Montessori house is part of the prepared play environment and includes a
set for rooms each for intellectual work, and there are shelters for individual
play or sleep. A recreation room for games or music, a dining room, a dressing
room, and a garden. These are conceived as part of the set-up to teach the
child self-care and care of property (Ebele, 1999).
Montessori
held that the most characteristic feature of system is the prepared play
environment. Since the child absorbs from the environment, it logically follows
that the environment should be prepared in order to ensure that what is
absorbed is wholesome. Therefore, the following should be put in place within
the prepared environment before out-door play effectively is used as a teaching
method in early childhood education:
(a) Freedom of movement: Everything is
tailed to the child’s size, needs and interests to enhance movement. These will
ensure self motivation and activities. Learning ought to be focused towards
independence.
(b) Order of Structure: This is as regards
arrangement and atmosphere (environment). The learning materials, for instance,
have to be well ordered, well kept and presented in such a way to lead to
greater refinement and control.
(c) Reality and Nature: The young child
should be free to explore nature and to observe the harmony and order revealed
in nature. Reality is practicalised with the use of tools and other equipment
by children in their daily classroom activities (Amos, 2000).
Maduewesi
(1994), observes that one of the most basic principles of modern teaching is
that the teacher should find and use the most attractive approaches to help the
learner to learn. Since the teacher cannot plaster the necessary skills,
attitudes and processes on the child, as the masson will plaster the cement on
the walls, the teacher has to resort to devicing methods sufficiently
motivating to persuade the learner to learn what is necessary. According to
Uzor (2000), in the case of young children, play is known to be their most natural
activity. So natural is playing to children that they instinctively play
without being taught or even specially motivated. Play is therefore
self-motivated. It thus, follows that this natural activity is the best and
most wonderful and sensible way to teach children, for as they play, they learn
also.
There are
various theories explaining the meaning and significance of play in human
culture and human society. They include the surplus energy, which takes the
position that man plays in order to get rid of surplus energy. Another view
point is that, in out-door play, the man continuously recreates the society in
which it takes place. Some sociologists such as Enoh et al (1990), posit that
play is a symbolic process which has special significance for preparing the
young to participate later in adult activities; thus, to this group, play is a
preparation or rehearsal for adult roles. These and many other explanations
have been given as to why almost from birth, all children in all cultures play
spontaneously without prompting (Sutton-Smith, 2001).
In Nigeria,
there seems to be high quality out-door environment in the private schools than
the public ones. According to Adekoya (2002), the quality of out-door
environment determines to a great extent, the effectiveness in teaching and
learning process in the school setting. He opined that children learn more in
schools where there is provision for quality out-door environment and
materials. Alimi (2003) is of the opinion that, there is no functional out-door
availability of equipment in most public schools in Nigeria, especially in
Lagos State. Whereas, virtually all the private schools, especially the
Montessori-based schools, have functional, qualitative equipment and out-door
facilities/materials, put in place in a conducive play environment that
warrants effective teaching and learning outcomes of children.
In his
observation, Uzodinma (2005), studied ten (10) schools, five public and five
private nursery schools located in Lagos State to see if there is a relationship
between out-door play and learning achievement of children. The outcome of the
study indicated tat a significant relationship exists between out-door play and
learning achievement of children. Further observation that children from the
private schools where out-door equipment and materials are available, coupled
with the decent environment, out-perform those from the public schools where
there exists no out-door equipment and materials to teach children through
play. With this result, Uzodinma concluded that children perform well when they
are taught with the out-door play methods with practical experiences. And that
children learn by practical experiences than theories
1.2Statement
of the Problem
The problems
inherent in the non-inclusion of out-door play as a veritable method of
teaching and learning in the early childhood education cannot be
overemphasized. Also, the problem of where outdoor play is done is another
headache that has worried educationists, researchers and other educational stakeholders.
For instance, in Nigeria as a developing country, children between ages 2 to 6
years are educated in both the privately owned schools and the public ones.
Suffice to say that these schools lack the appropriate and conducive
environment where outdoor play is ought to be carried. Many private and public
schools in Nigeria, and Lagos State in particular, lack spaces or play grounds,
and those that have spaces, do not have the wherewithal to prepare the
environment for unhindered play.
Not only the
unwholesome play environment in many schools, there is the problem of lack of,
or none availability of play materials such as walking and running materials,
materials or equipment that allow children to jump, climb, hop, skip, slid,
tricycle freely. Other equipment that schools lack are those that help children
to throw, catch, kick, strike, bend, stretch, bounce, twist, swing and so on.
Without this equipment being put in place by owners of both the public and
private schools, it will be impossible for children to learn through the
out-door play.
The above
problems gave rise to the examination of a comparative study of out-door play
environment in private and public schools in Lagos State.
1.3Purpose
of the Study
The main
purpose of this study is to investigate a comparative study of out-door play
environment in private and public schools in Lagos State. Other specific objectives of this study include to:
(1) Assess whether there is difference
between the learning achievement of children in public and private schools due
to application of out-door play method.
(2) Examine if there is relationship
between out-door play method of teaching and other methods of teaching
children.
(3) Investigate if teachers who teach using
the out-door play method produce better pupils than those who use other
methods.
(4) Ascertain whether the learning
outcomes of children in schools where there are equipment for out-door plays
differ from those who do not.
(5) Find out whether there is gender
difference in learning outcomes due to the application of out-door play method.
1.4 Research Questions
The
following questions will be asked in this study:
(1) Is there any difference between the
learning achievement of children in public and private schools?
(2) Is there any relationship between
out-door play method and other methods of teaching and learning?
(3) Do teachers who teach with the
out-door play method produce better children in school than those who do not?
(4) What extent can we ascertain whether
there is difference in learning outcomes of children in public and those in
private schools using out-door plays?
(5) Is there gender difference in learning
of children due to the application of out-door play methods?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The
following research hypotheses will be formulated and tested:
(1) There is no significant difference
between the learning outcomes of children in public and private schools due to
the use of out-door play method.
(2) There will be no significant
relationship between the use of out-door play method and other methods of
teaching children in pre-primary schools.
(3) There will be no significant
difference between the learning outcomes of children in schools where out-door
play equipment are available and those in schools where they are not.
(4) There will be no significant gender
difference in the learning outcomes of children due to the use of out-door play
method.
1.6Significance
of the Study
The study
will be benefited to the following:
(1) Children will no doubt, benefit from
the conduct of this study and its outcomes. This is because, the
findings/recommendations of this study, will enable care-givers to learn
probably, new method of teaching the child and keeping him busy through
out-door plays.
(2) Parents would also find the outcomes
and recommendations of this study very imperative as they would be able to
understand through this study, that children ought to be taught play. With this
sense of teaching the child, parents would be able also to learn the kind of
playing materials and equipment suitable for the teaching of the child.
(3) Teachers as the surrogate parents to
the child, would find this study very important to his/her teaching method.
With the information disseminated in this study, the experienced and
non-experienced teachers would be able to understand vividly the out-door play
teaching method as the veritable teaching method of coaching the children at
their early stages of learning, especially at the pre-primary schools.
(4) The school authorities would also be
beneficiaries of this study because the findings and recommendations of the
study would enable them to discover out-door play as a good teaching method
which is beneficial to the child’s learning at the early stage of his/her
learning process.
(5) No doubt, the society and researchers
will see the outcomes of this study as important as it should be. Not only
that, the public will appreciate the use of out-door play method of teaching
the child as one of the best and profitable teaching methods in the early
childhood education.
(6) Researchers, scholars and students
would find this study a very good reference material to further their students
in similar circumstances.
1.7Scope of
the Study
The study
attempted to examine a comparative study of out-door play environment in public
and private schools, in Ikeja Local Government Area of Lagos State.
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