Early Childhood Education Teachers' Perceptions on the Use of Play as a Teaching Technique in Afadjato South District of the Volta Region, Ghana

The study investigated the perception of early childhood educators on the use of play as a teaching technique in the Afadjato South District. The study was a cross-sectional descriptive design using concurrent triangulation mixed method approach. A sample of 120 participants was used comprising100 kindergarten teachers, 10 basic school heads and 10 school supervisors. Purposive, simple random and convenience sampling techniques were used to select the participants. Questionnaire and interview guide were used to collect data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data while thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data. The findings showed that early childhood teachers in Afadjato South District had positive perception on the use of play as a teaching technique. Kindergarten teachers' perception positively influenced their use of play as a teaching technique. Among other factors such as availability of play materials, the kind of motivation teachers received as teachers influenced the use of play as a technique of teaching. Teaching experiences were the most influential factors to kindergarten teachers' use of play as a teaching technique. It was concluded that early childhood teachers in Afadjato South District had good intentions on the use of play as a teaching technique. Also, kindergarten teachers' could use play as a teaching technique depending on their perception towards play. Moreover, factors that contributed to kindergarten teachers' use of play as a teaching technique were: availability of play materials, the kind of motivation teachers receive and their teaching experiences. It was recommended that through in-service training, head teachers should encourage early childhood teachers in Afadjato South District to continuously have positive perception towards play as a teaching technique. Also, personnel in charge of supervision at the Afadjato South District Education Directorate should educate kindergarten teachers to use play as a teaching technique.