Teachers’ views on psychosocial development in children from 4 to 6 years of age

Psychosocial well-being is an important area of attention in early childhood care and education because when psychosocial problems appear, they can often persist past childhood.

Based on their working experience with many different children, teachers of young children are aware that they make important contributions to the healthy social and emotional development. The aim of this study is to explore the views of experienced teachers in facilitating the psychosocial development of children from 4 to 6 years of age.

Twenty teams of teachers, amounting in total to 52 teachers, were interviewed during small group sessions. The transcribed interviews were analysed qualitatively with a framework based on theories of play and psychosocial development. The findings were summarised according to particular themes.

As a result of the study the following themes appeared. Teachers described play as an integral part of the psychosocial development of children in which the conditions for play, the unique development of the child and the role of the teacher are included. Moreover, teachers found that especially ‘pretend play’, in which children can express themselves in their own way, contributes to communication skills and social cognition.

The findings may contribute to the growing discussion in early childhood education and care about the significance of play and the time provided for playing.