Date of Award
Summer 1974
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Education
First Advisor
Dupuis, A. M.
Second Advisor
Nader, Charles
Third Advisor
Collins, Peter M.
Abstract
This study is a historical and analytical investigation of various concepts of play, playfulness, and relationships between play and work. A synergetic relationship between playfulness and work is described. The science curriculum of the elementary- school is examined in a historical perspective to determine its potential for nurturing this relationship. A program whose learning cycle and curricular design provide an environment which nurtures the synergetic relationship between playfulness and work is the Science Curriculum Improvement Study. The writer advises the reader to recall the differences in orientation of the various individuals considered in the study regarding their interpretations of the nature of man, the nature of knowledge and how one knows. It has not been deemed feasible, insofar as that would be possible, to investigate these differences in light of the scope of this study.