ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we report on one aspect of a design-based research project in which the pilot implementation of a first-year course within a four-year Bachelor of Education programme was explored. The goal of the course was to guide student teachers in developing an understanding of a pedagogy of play for teaching Grade R and to provide them with practice opportunities to develop play-based teaching skills. The research reported here aimed at exploring what student teachers learned about guided play and how they applied their learning in designing guided play activities that can be used in the foundation phase of schooling. Data were generated by analysing a sample of play activities that student teachers designed, stimulated recall interviews of the same student teachers’ play activities, and semi-structured interviews on student teachers’ experiences.
