Abstract/Summary

Outdoor play’s multiple benefits for children’s health, development, learning, and wellbeing depend upon the environment where it occurs, accentuating the responsibility of preschools, especially in light of restricted outdoor play opportunities. Despite growing interest into these issues in other countries, the topic remains under-researched in Greece and its ecological examination is limited. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to address this knowledge gap and examine the way the interrelationship between the organisational, human, and physical elements of the environment facilitates preschool outdoor play provision in Greece. A sequential two-phase mixed methods design was used. The first phase combined desk research with a survey of educators from around Greece (n=662), whilst the second employed a mixed methods multiple embedded case study design, examining three institutions, non-profit, private play-based, and public. Data collection methods included interviews with preschool managers (n=3) and educators (n=6), questionnaires (n=36), physical environment and play observations (n=18, n=12), educator diaries (n=6), and document examination. Following the integrated analysis of findings, the main barriers and enablers for the environmental supportiveness for outdoor play identified were: cultural perceptions; policy; pedagogical framing; staff training; staff engagement in planning, outdoor play, and reflective practice; physical environment’s use; presence of loose parts, water, and messy materials; and time. The Environmental Supportiveness for Outdoor Play in Preschool (ESOPP) model, introduced and further developed within this study, is proposed to offer a novel ecological conceptual framework to help explore preschool outdoor play provision in Greece. It is hoped that the study findings will inform theory, policy, and practice development, educator training, environmental design, and future research.