PEDAGOGICAL VALUE AND RELEVANCE OF THE PLAY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PARENTS OF STUDENTS OF YOUNGER SCHOOL AGE AND TEACHERS

The subject of the research is the pedagogical value and relevance of the play from the perspective of parents of students of younger school age and teachers. The aim of this research is to examine the opinions of parents and teachers about the importance of play in children's development. A descriptive method and surveying technique were applied. The sample consisted of 200 parents of students of younger school age and 145 teachers from the Republic of Serbia. The research results show that parents and teachers recognize the importance of play in children's development, while there are certain statistically significant differences between sociodemographic variables and the opinions of parents of students of younger school age and teachers regarding the importance of play in children's development. Interesting findings of the research show that unlike parents who self-assess that they know how to recognize the play that the child needs, teachers' agreement with this item is lower, while teachers do not fully agree that parents know how to recognize the play that the child needs. In accordance with these results, further research can direct attention to ways of promoting the play among modern parents. Also, further research can focus on the partnership between family and school in the context of children's play, whereby teachers as professionals and reflective practitioners should point out to parents the pedagogical value and relevance of play in children's development.