Inclusive playgrounds: insights into play and inclusion from the perspectives of users and providers
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Date
2023
Authors
Wenger, Ines
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Volume Title
Publisher
University College Cork
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Abstract
Play for play's sake is an important part of a child's life. In this sense, play is also enshrined as a child's right and understood from an occupational therapy and occupational science perspective as a central occupation in children's lives. Children report that outdoor environments, such as playgrounds, are some of their favourite places to play. However, studies also show that children’s experiences of play occupation in playgrounds can be limited by barriers related to the physical, social and political environment, especially for children with disabilities. To address these barriers, so-called inclusive playgrounds have been developed and implemented. The aim of such playgrounds is to provide play and social experiences for all children to foster a sense of belonging and inclusion.
Inclusive playgrounds could therefore be considered places created by playground providers for children where situational elements of the physical, social and political environment converge with children's play occupation. The Transactional Model of Occupation (TMO) was chosen as the theoretical underpinning of the thesis, providing a framework for interpreting playground users’ and playground providers’ perspectives in relation to the intertwined nature of the situational elements from an occupational and child-centred perspective. Furthermore, the TMO was found to be useful in integrating other concepts related to inclusive playgrounds and their transactions with situational elements, such as play value, affordances, place-making, inclusion and Universal Design (UD).
The overall aim of the thesis was to gain a deeper understanding of play and inclusion on inclusive playgrounds from the perspectives of playground users (children with and without disabilities and advocates of children with disabilities) and playground providers (including experts in UD).
The thesis was informed by four studies. Study I and Study III looked at the children’s perspectives; Study II at the perspectives of playground providers and advocates of children with disabilities; and Study IV at the perspectives of experts in UD. Study I explored the experiences of children with (n=18) and children without (n=14) disabilities of playing on inclusive playgrounds through the use of interviews and observations. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Study III aimed to expand current knowledge from a child-centred perspective of how environmental characteristics influence play value and inclusion for all children in outdoor playgrounds. The study was conducted as a meta-ethnography and included 17 studies. Study II explored the design and use of inclusive playgrounds with a particular focus on how design supports or hinders inclusion from the perspective of people involved in designing (n=14) or advocating for children with disabilities (n=12). Data consisted of focus group interviews and were analysed with thematic analysis. Study IV aimed to advance the understanding and use of UD in inclusive playground provision by identifying expert’s (n=6) strategies and experiences of applying UD in playgrounds. Data consisted of expert interviews conducted using a go-along method of walk and talk interviews and analysed using qualitative content analysis.
The synthesis of the findings provided insights into three areas; firstly, children’s experience of participation in play occupation and play value on inclusive playgrounds; secondly, how play value emerges from transactions of the situational elements; and, thirdly, what UD adds to playground design to create a welcoming atmosphere and make playgrounds inclusive.
Children’s experiences of play value were found to emerge from transactions of the play occupation and the physical and social environmental elements, and sociocultural, and geopolitical elements. These experiences created a sense of belonging. A sense of belonging was found to be associated with inclusion from the perspective of children and advocates of children with disabilities, and from the perspective of experts in UD. Thus, children’s perspectives on play value and participation in play occupation were found to contribute to an understanding of what makes a playground inclusive from a child's perspective. Furthermore, findings suggest that UD may be a useful design approach to ensure inclusion in playgrounds. Thus, for the UD experts, the social environmental elements and the sociocultural and geopolitical elements were pivotal at the beginning of the design process and guided the design of the physical environmental elements accordingly. This focus is also reflected in four strategies identified from the synthesis of the findings for designing playgrounds to promote a sense of belonging. To further explore play occupation and inclusion in playgrounds, it may be useful to focus on the social aspect by perspectives that encompass communities rather than individuals, such as communal or collective occupations.
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Keywords
Inclusive playground , Play occupation , Children , Playground provision , Universal design , Belonging , Place-making
Citation
Wenger, I. 2023. Inclusive playgrounds: insights into play and inclusion from the perspectives of users and providers. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.