Developmental Trends in Preschool Play as a Function of Classroom Program and Child Gender

JOHNSON, JAMES E., and ERSHLER, JOAN. Developmental Trends in Preschool Play as a Function of Classroom Program and Child Gender. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1981, 52, 995-1004. A 16month longitudinal study of the cognitive and social components of play behavior was undertaken using 2 groups of preschoolers attending 2 university-based programs. 1 class (formal education), comprised of 15 children (7 boys, 8 girls), was derived from Ausubel's learning theory, while the other class (discovery), composed of 11 children (6 boys, 5 girls), was derived from Piaget's theory. Analysis revealed that, over time and across classes, dramatic interactive play and transformational behavior increased, while constructive play decreased. When looking at each classroom, however, this finding was moderated, with the formal education program changing from predominately constructive play to dramatic play over time, and the discovery program changing from functional to constructive play. Whereas few gender differences occurred in the formal program, in the discovery classroom boys engaged in more dramatic interactive and less constructive parallel play than girls did. Results suggest that the educational program in classrooms can influence play development and that programs may differentially affect boys and girls.