Bateman2013a

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Bateman2013a
BibType ARTICLE
Key Bateman2013a
Author(s) Amanda Bateman, Susan Danby, Justine Howard
Title Living in a broken world: how young children's well-being is supported through playing out their earthquake experiences
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, Christchurch earthquake, pretend play, conversation analysis, well-being, Te Whariki, preschool
Publisher
Year 2013
Language English
City
Month
Journal International Journal of Play
Volume 2
Number 3
Pages 202–219
URL Link
DOI 10.1080/21594937.2013.860270
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

The therapeutic value of play can be shown in spontaneous play situations following children's experiences of traumatic events. Following the events of the Christchurch earthquakes in New Zealand in 2010 and 2011, an investigation was conducted of how children used the earthquake event as a catalyst in pretend play with peers and in discussions with teachers. Supporting children's well-being is a focus area in New Zealand early childhood education, as it is a strand of the national curriculum Te Whariki [Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whariki. He whariki matauranga monga mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media]. In this article, children are observed engaging in pretend play episodes, and with personalized Learning Story books, to explore personal reflections of the earthquake, prompting the children to make reference to things being ‘broken’ and needing ‘fixing’. Analysis shows how the content of the pretend play experiences helped the children to come to terms with their experiences. Affording children time and interactional opportunities to play out and discuss traumatic experiences contributes to the psychological well-being of participants following a traumatic event.

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