Availability, Utilization, and Determinants of play-way as an instructional teaching strategy in pre-primary schools in Osogbo local government, Osun State

Play has always been a major area of daily activities for pupils. Essentially what man does spontaneously, it acts as a dynamic learning tool in the early years. Play intervention is presented as a teaching aid at the pre primary stage. Very crucial as long as important, the status of its availability and utilization in pre-primary classrooms in Osogbo is therefore considered in this paper. This study examined the availability, utilization, and determinants of play as a teaching method in pre-primary schools in Osogbo Local Government Area, Osun State. A descriptive research design was used in this study, which targeted a population of 968 teachers from 162 pre-primary schools. Head teachers and classroom teachers were sampled at 32 and 160, respectively, using the simple random sampling technique to make 192 as the total sample size for the study. The required data were obtained from a validated instrument, the Availability and Utilization of Play-Way Instructional Strategy Questionnaire. The Cronbach Alpha method used for testing the instruments reliability produced a coefficient of 0.72. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics to measure the mean, standard deviation, and t-test. Results indicated that the available instructional materials to support the play method at the pre-primary level were very low and not frequently used by teachers. School location also emerged as one of the prime factors that added to difficulties in play being a teaching strategy. Also, there was no mean significant difference between the responses of head teachers and teachers about the availability and utilization of play materials. The findings have implications, pushing that there should be initiation of improvisation of play-based instructional materials by pre-primary teachers in public schools. This depicts the key findings-based recommendations under which, in the public schools, pre-service teachers should be responsible for improvising play-based instructional materials. Also, regular in-service professional development programs comprising workshops, seminars, and courses need to be organized to enhance the capacity of teachers to use play effectively.