I den fria leken får vi göra vad vi vill! : En kvalitativ studie om den fria lekens innebörd för barnen, med betoning på lärande och pedagogens deltagande i den fria leken

Sammanfattning: This study focuses on children’s perception on free play in relation to their learning and how they perceive the presence of a pedagogue and its role in the play. To answer the study's research questions, we conducted a qualitative study in which interviews were used as a data collection method. A total of 17 children in grade 3 were interviewed. Results from the study show that play for children is mainly associated with something that they do in interaction with others. Play is something that they themselves get to decide and most importantly something that is fun. Furthermore, the study shows that children have a broad definition of what play can include in comparison with how adults define play. One example where children and adults have a difference in their definition is when it comes to drawing, where children can call that to play while adults might not. Another outcome of the study is that children don't play to learn, but rather because it’s fun and can see a learning situation as play. Most important learning situation in conjunction with play for the children is when rules and new games are introduced. Almost all associations that the children make about learning are thus linked to play. Furthermore, according to the interviewed children the play gives their life a meaning and is therefore something very important. Play is also, according to the children, of great value as a method to get new friends. Finally, the results from this study show that the children have double perceptions about the pedagogue’s involvement in the play. On the one hand, they see pedagogues as guardians of some kind whose presence is needed to protect the game. The guardian’s role is to make sure that no one cheats, does harm or is disturbing. On the other hand the pedagogues are described as disturbing, because of the rules they create that the children have to follow. The children see it as if the pedagogue is forcing their rules, games, or participants on the play, which removes the free part in free play. That gives the children dissatisfaction about the play as their play is being destroyed.