Outdoor Time, Space, and Restrictions Imposed on Children’s Play in Australian Early Childhood Education and Care Settings during the COVID Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey from Educators’ Perspective
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- Was there a change in the amount of time children spent outdoors?
- Was there a change in the ECEC space provided for outdoor activity?
- Did educators change their restrictions on outdoor play?
- Were any changes in time, space, and restrictions related to educator characteristics or quality indicators (staff qualifications, professional development, tolerance of risk, and staff–child ratios)?
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Participants
2.2. Survey
2.2.1. Educator Background and Centre Characteristics
2.2.2. Potential Changes in Outdoor Activity
2.2.3. Educators’ Tolerance of Risk
2.3. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Educator Background and Centre Context
3.2. Outdoor Time, Outdoor Space Changes, and Restrictions during the Pandemic in Australian ECEC
3.3. Relationships between Changes in Outdoor Time, Space, Restriction, and Individual Characteristics or Quality Indicators
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Background | Response | Number/Percentage |
---|---|---|
Gender | Female | 134/93.7% |
Male | 7/4.9% | |
Other (non-binary educator) | 2/1.4% | |
Total | 143 | |
ECEC working experience | 1–3 years | 19/13.3% |
4–7 years | 25/17.5% | |
>7 years | 99/69.2% | |
Total | 143 | |
Qualifications | Non-degree | 80/55.9% |
Degree | 59/41.3% | |
Total | 139 | |
Professional development on outdoor play | No professional development related to outdoor play | 85/59.4% |
Received professional development in outdoor play as part of getting the qualifications or did not specify | 34/23.8% | |
Received professional development related to outdoor play | 24/16.8% | |
Total | 143 | |
Aware of health advice on staying outdoors | Yes | 137/95.8% |
No | 6/4.2% | |
Total | 143 | |
Age group | Under 3 years old | 33/23.1% |
Over 3 years old | 40/28.0% | |
Mixed age | 67/46.9% | |
Total | 140 | |
State/territory | New South Wales (NSW) | 43/30.1% |
Victoria (VIC) | 50/35.0% | |
Queensland (QLD) | 23/16.1% | |
Western Australia (WA) | 7/4.9% | |
South Australia (SA) | 8/5.6% | |
Australian Capital Territory (ACT) | 12/8.4% | |
Total | 143 | |
Outdoor space | Fewer than 7 square metres per child | 18/12.6% |
7 square metres per child | 59/41.3% | |
More than 7 square metres per child | 57/39.9% | |
Other (not sure, or extremely large) | 9/6.3% | |
Total | 143 | |
Staff–child ratio | 1:3 | 3/2.1% |
1:4 | 48/33.6% | |
1:5 | 20/14.0% | |
1:6 | 2/1.4% | |
1:7 | 4/2.8% | |
1:8 | 4/2.8% | |
1:9 | 1/0.7% | |
1:10 | 22/15.4% | |
1:11 | 18/12.6% | |
1:15 | 1/0.7% | |
Total | 123 | |
Outdoor time | A lot less | 6/4.2% |
A little less | 16/11.2% | |
About the same | 64/44.8% | |
A little more | 35/24.5% | |
A lot more | 22/15.4% | |
Total | 143 | |
Outdoor space changes | Decrease | 5/3.5% |
Stay the same | 87/60.8% | |
Increase | 51/35.7% | |
Total | 143 | |
Educators’ tolerance of risk | T-TRiPS total | 110 |
Restrictions imposed on children’s outdoor play | No restrictions | 46/41.8% |
A few restrictions | 24/21.8% | |
Medium restrictions | 17/15.5% | |
More restrictions | 23/20.9% | |
Total | 110 |
Study Variables | (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | (7) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(1) Outdoor time | - | ||||||
(2) Outdoor space | 0.153 | - | |||||
(3) Restrictions imposed on children’s outdoor play | 0.194 * | 0.105 | - | ||||
(4) Qualifications | 0.137 | −0.142 | −0.078 | - | |||
(5) Professional development | 0.174 * | −0.115 | −0.221 * | 0.220 ** | - | ||
(6) Staff–child ratio | 0.243 ** | −0.058 | 0.004 | 0.375 ** | 0.171 | - | |
(7) Educators’ tolerance of risk | 0.039 | −0.158 | −0.298 ** | 0.130 | 0.324 ** | 0.007 | - |
Independent Variables | Estimate | Std. Error | p-Value | 95% Confidence Interval |
---|---|---|---|---|
Qualifications | −0.11 | 0.26 | 0.66 | −0.63–0.40 |
No professional development | −0.58 | 0.38 | 0.12 | −1.32–0.16 |
Professional development as part of qualification/not specified | –0.65 | 0.40 | 0.10 | −1.43–0.12 |
Professional development related to outdoor play | * reference | * reference | * reference | * reference |
Staff–child ratio | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.22 | −0.03–0.13 |
Educators’ tolerance of risk | −0.03 | 0.03 | 0.26 | −0.09–0.03 |
Independent Variables | Estimate | Std. Error | p-Value | 95% Confidence Interval |
---|---|---|---|---|
Qualifications | 0.02 | 0.31 | 0.96 | −0.59–0.62 |
No professional development | 0.15 | 0.40 | 0.71 | −0.64–0.94 |
Professional development as part of qualification/not specified | −0.00 | 0.42 | 1.00 | −0.83–0.83 |
Professional development related to outdoor play | * reference | * reference | * reference | * reference |
Staff–child ratio | −0.03 | 0.05 | 0.56 | −0.12–0.07 |
Educators’ tolerance of risk | −0.06 | 0.04 | 0.11 | −0.13–0.01 |
Independent Variables | Estimate | Std. Error | p-Value | 95% Confidence Interval |
---|---|---|---|---|
Qualifications | 0.27 | 0.30 | 0.38 | −0.33–0.86 |
No professional development | 0.56 | 0.48 | 0.25 | −0.38–1.49 |
Professional development as part of qualification/not specified | 0.02 | 0.53 | 0.97 | −1.01–1.05 |
Professional development related to outdoor play | * reference | * reference | * reference | * reference |
Staff–child ratio | 0.01 | 0.05 | 0.89 | −0.09–0.10 |
Educators’ tolerance of risk | −0.09 | 0.03 | 0.008 | −0.16–−0.02 |
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Liu, J.; Wyver, S.; Chutiyami, M.; Little, H. Outdoor Time, Space, and Restrictions Imposed on Children’s Play in Australian Early Childhood Education and Care Settings during the COVID Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey from Educators’ Perspective. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 6779. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20186779
Liu J, Wyver S, Chutiyami M, Little H. Outdoor Time, Space, and Restrictions Imposed on Children’s Play in Australian Early Childhood Education and Care Settings during the COVID Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey from Educators’ Perspective. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023; 20(18):6779. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20186779
Chicago/Turabian StyleLiu, Junjie, Shirley Wyver, Muhammad Chutiyami, and Helen Little. 2023. "Outdoor Time, Space, and Restrictions Imposed on Children’s Play in Australian Early Childhood Education and Care Settings during the COVID Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey from Educators’ Perspective" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20, no. 18: 6779. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20186779