The thesis entitled "The involvement of children in the design of play corners in the classroom by the educator" consists of a theoretical and an empirical part. In the theoretical part of the thesis I have dealt with the space and organization of space in the kindergarten, with play corners in the kindergarten and with the role of children in the design of play corners. I introduced the classroom and gave guidelines for its design. I examined the importance of play corners in the classroom, defined and described different play corners that children can design in kindergarten, and focused on the guidelines and process of designing play corners and the role of the educator in this process. I concluded the theoretical section with a description of children's participation and briefly outlined the levels of participation as well as the challenges, dilemmas, and risks associated with children's participation.
The main objectives of the empirical part were to find out how educators design the classroom, how educators involve children in the process of designing play corners in kindergarten, and the importance that educators attach to involving children in spatial planning. I was interested in finding out how kindergarten teachers design play corners, how kindergarten teachers involve children in the process of designing play corners, and what opinions kindergarten teachers have about the importance of involving children in the design of play corners.
Based on the results, I found that educators design play corners based on predetermined themes, while some consider children's interests and the spatial arrangement of play corners. I discovered that educators use different elements (movable walls, shelves, tables, etc.) and materials (artificial materials, natural materials, etc.) when designing play corners. During the research process, I found that educators involve children in discussions, planning, implementation, and evaluation. I found that the roles of the educators vary from one educator to another. All roles are critical as they involve and guide the children in the safe process of creating the play corner. The results show that involving children in the design of the play corner is very important as it enhances children's learning, self-esteem, imagination, etc. However, challenges may arise in designing the play corner in the classroom, which can be overcome or mitigated through perseverance, knowledge, creativity, and determination.
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