Guest lecture: Children in the playground - observation techniques • psychological account

After getting more familiar with the location and thematic focus of the workshop, students were invited to the second guest lecture delivered by prof. dr. Matija Svetina, a professor at the Department of Phycology at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana. Matija has broad educational and research experience in the field of environmental psychology and children behaviour as well as comprehensive knowledge on observation techniques in psychology. The goal of observational research is to describe a variable or set of variables. More generally, the goal is to obtain a snapshot of specific characteristics of an individual, group, or setting.

The lecture introduced students to the essentials and specifics of observation techniques and mapping for the purpose of analysing children’s and adults’ behaviours and needs in the playgrounds. The lecture and related discussion represent a valuable contribution which helps students to prepare for further steps in the workshop, this is, acquiring an insight into children’s play, teacher’s opinions, parent’s needs and thoughts about the alleys placemaking potential in the neighbourhood.

We thank Matija to share his valuable knowledge and experiences with us and students!