Search results for: risk-taking

Authors: Karen D'Souza, Laurie Ford

Abstract:

Risky play, involving activities such as climbing, high-speed movement, and rough-and-tumble interactions, is a complex and dynamic part of early childhood experience. While its developmental value is widely discussed, the specific relationship between risky play and the growth of social competencies in young children is less clearly defined, especially as opportunities for such play are increasingly limited by safety concerns and changing family practices. This scoping review systematically mapped empirical research examining how risky play relates to social competence in children aged 2–12. Studies were identified through comprehensive searches of four academic databases and included if they focused on risky play and measured social competence outcomes. The review covered research published from 1988 to 2025, with a concentration on studies from the past decade and a broad international scope. The findings show that risky play is positively associated with the development of social competencies, such as cooperation, negotiation, emotional regulation, and conflict resolution. Several moderating factors were identified, including the design of play environments, children’s physical health, educator and parent attitudes, and neighborhood safety. The review also found considerable variation in how risky play is defined and studied, with most research concentrating on outdoor settings and activities involving elements of uncertainty or mild danger. Implications for practice include the need for clearer definitions of risky play, expanded research in non-Western contexts, and targeted training for educators and parents to support healthy risktaking. There is a need to reconsider safety guidelines to better balance protection with opportunities for growth and social learning. Future research should prioritize longitudinal studies to clarify causal relationships and long-term outcomes.

Keywords: early childhood, outdoor play, risky play, social competence

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Authors: Massy Guillaume

Abstract:

Introduction: The implementation of creativity in educational policies or curricula raises several issues, including the evaluation of creativity and the means to do so. This doctoral research focuses on the appropriation and transposition of creativity assessment models by future teachers. Our objective is to identify the elements of the models that are most transferable to practice in order to improve their implementation in the students' curriculum while seeking to create a new model for assessing creativity in the school environment. Methods: In order to meet our objective, this preliminary quantitative exploratory study by questionnaire was conducted at two points in the participants' training: at the beginning of the training module and throughout the practical work. The population is composed of 40 people of diverse origins with an average age of 26 (s:8,623) years. In order to be as close as possible to our research objective and to test our questionnaires, we set up a pre-test phase during the spring semester of 2022. Results: The results presented focus on aspects of the OECD Creative Competencies Assessment Model. Overall, 72% of participants support the model's focus on skill levels as appropriate for the school context. More specifically, the data indicate that the separation of production and process in the rubric facilitates observation by the assessor. From the point of view of transposing the grid into teaching practice, the participants emphasised that production is easier to plan and observe in students than in the process. This difference is reinforced by a lack of knowledge about certain concepts such as innovation or risktaking in schools. Finally, the qualitative results indicate that the addition of multiple levels of competencies to the OECD rubric would allow for better implementation in the classroom. Conclusion: The identification by the students of the elements allowing the evaluation of creativity in the school environment generates an innovative approach to the training contents. These first data, from the test phase of our research, demonstrate the difficulty that exists between the implementation of an evaluation model in a training program and its potential transposition by future teachers.

Keywords: creativity, evaluation, schooling, training

Procedia PDF Downloads 117