Let´s hide it! Unfolding play and peer culture in a danish prep class

This article focuses attention to how children and teacher in a Danish prep-class from different perspectives and intentions put effort in supporting and protecting play and peer-culture. Play is always framed and in school settings play frames and attaches to school structure and schedule, and the study presented focuses on defined school lessons and associated breaks in the hours from 8-12 am. The article analyses and exposes the intentions from a teacher perspective and from a child perspective and the different strategies and intentions behind supporting and protecting play.
The study draws on notions of play from cultural and aesthetic perspectives, and how children do culture aesthetically through play (Mouritsen, 2002; Blomgren, 2021; Skovbjerg, 2021).
The present study is part of a larger collaborative work involving three researchers undertaken in one school. The approach is focused ethnography (Knoblauch, 2005) with short intensified fieldwork creating field notes, video recordings, and photos. The research design furthermore implies reflective workshops with the teachers involved.