It is child’s play: Caregiver and playworker perspectives on a community park-based unstructured play program
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Unstructured play is characterized as play that is child initiated and determined, allowing children the freedom and flexibility to engage in activities, including taking risks, without adult intervention. However, playworkers and caregivers are important mediators of children's unstructured play. Studies have investigated playworker and caregiver perspectives regarding play, yet few have done so within the context of community based unstructured play interventions. Our qualitative study explored knowledge, attitudes and perspectives regarding play among playworkers ("play ambassadors") and caregivers exposed to a community based unstructured play intervention implemented in Calgary, Canada. The intervention aimed to encourage unstructured and risky play in local parks via loose parts. Between August and October 2020, ten caregivers and four play ambassadors completed individual semi-structured interviews. Using thematic analysis, we identified four overarching themes. The importance of play (theme 1) reflected play ambassador and caregiver perspectives about how unstructured and risky play promoted health and development and offered opportunities for enjoyment, exploration, and social interaction. Perceptions of the play environment (theme 2) reflected play ambassador and caregiver experiences of the play hubs including the role of loose parts in shaping play. Challenges and triumphs in promoting play (theme 3) reflected play ambassador experiences in facilitating play as well as interactions between caregivers and play ambassadors. Play hub impacts on the community (theme 4) reflected play ambassador and caregiver perspectives on the role of the play hubs in facilitating social interactions and community engagement. Play Ambassadors and caregivers shared common beliefs about the benefits of unstructured and risky play and about the play hubs affects on facilitating social interactions. Community based unstructured play interventions may support play and promote a sense of community.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.005 | 0.008 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.010 | 0.004 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.003 | 0.002 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.005 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.003 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".