Play with homeless and low-income preschoolers: university student experiences with service learning

ABSTRACT

Play is an integral part of preschool learning experiences and play skills can be impacted by many factors including the child’s family situation and environment, such as homelessness and poverty. This qualitative study explored university students’ reflections through their journal writing while they spent a semester providing play and language support for homeless and low-income children in one of three preschool settings. The data were coded to find themes within the text. Students were challenged by child behaviors they considered inappropriate for a preschool setting, the re-enactment of trauma through pretend play, and the wide variability in teacher support for play. They were impressed by the resiliency shown by some children in their play and the way many children readily connected with them. The study has implications for understanding play among at-risk preschoolers and the challenges of working with homeless and low-income children.

KEYWORDS:

• Service learning
• homeless preschoolers
• child play
• early childhood education

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their detailed suggestions. We also acknowledge the support of the staff, especially the director, Jennifer Bendele, Our Lady of the Lake University Center for Service Learning and Volunteerism. We are grateful for the participation and cooperation of the agencies who provided opportunities and encouraged the efforts of the undergraduate students.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Eva Nwokah is Professor and Department Chair of Communication Disorders at Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas, and a licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP). She has been involved in service learning for over 10 years with numerous community-based projects. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in language development and disorders in young children. Her expertise is in play, language, and humor. She currently incorporates service learning into two undergraduate courses.

Stefanie Becerril is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communicative Disorders at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She was previously a teaching assistant with undergraduate service-learning courses at Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas. She is a licensed SLP and works as the consulting bilingual (English/Spanish) SLP for her local school system’s 40+ schools.

Weldon P. Hardee is Assistant Professor of Communication Disorders at Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas, and a licensed SLP. He supports student service learning as part of his courses, and directs a language and literacy preschool summer camp that helps train graduate students. He has extensive experience in school districts with preschool and school aged children, and his primary research interests are in pediatric assessment and the pragmatics of social communication.

Evelyn Brito is a former graduate student in Communication Disorders at Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas. She was previously a high school teacher, assisted with service-learning courses as a graduate student, and is currently completing a clinical fellowship year as a bilingual (English/Spanish) SLP. Her research as a graduate student was focused on play and language exchanges between preschool friends.