Investigating early years educators' understandings of, beliefs about and practices of active play in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Investigating early years educators' understandings of, beliefs about and practices of active play in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Significant research shows that physical activity habits provided early in life have a positive trajectory into future health and developmental benefits. Yet, despite the known benefits, research points to concerns over young children not being as active as they should be according to guidelines on physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB). This study contributes to the body of literature that explores the current active play practices employed by early childhood educators within the context of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and investigates educators’ beliefs, understandings and practices translated into active play practices within early childhood settings (educational environments catering to three to five-year-old children). The study adds significant insights to the current debate on how context and lived experiences impact on values, understandings, and practices. The employed and adapted social-ecological model, the Educator Micro Context (EMC) model, then helped to explore the contextual nuances in each early childhood setting (Stokols, 1996). The EMC model was also effective in helping to understand and appreciate the pervasiveness of those factors impacting on the facilitation of and support for active play in these settings.

These insights are critical to children’s exposure to active play experiences in the early years and their future physical activity behaviours, health and wellbeing that track throughout adolescence and into adulthood.

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