The educator, play and the teaching-learning process: Case study in an Early Childhood Education Centre

The aim of this study was to investigate the use of play as a tool for the teaching-learning process of students, by Early Childhood Education teachers in an Early Childhood Education Centre. It also sought to observe the importance of play and the perception that teachers and parents have of it. At first, the assumption was made that the teachers' initial training was deficient and that they were therefore using play only to pass the time or keep the children occupied and/or quiet. This hypothesis did not materialise, as the teachers are all pedagogues and have postgraduate degrees, but it was noticed that none of them had taken a course on this subject during their undergraduate studies, and in their continuing education, most of them had never taken a specific course on play in Early Childhood Education. It was possible to conclude that the teachers make use of play in early childhood education and that both they and the parents have a good perception of the importance of these activities for children's development. However, it is known that playfulness is a very broad field that deserves more attention from educators.