This study explored one father's experience through play with his child, reinterpreting the meaning of fatherhood and ultimately his experience to becoming a playexpert. The researcher, using autoethnography, focused on his own life experiences spanni...
This study explored one father's experience through play with his child, reinterpreting the meaning of fatherhood and ultimately his experience to becoming a playexpert. The researcher, using autoethnography, focused on his own life experiences spanning approximately 15 years from 2010 to 2024.
This study in-depth describes the experience, beginning with play with his child, leading to community activities, the establishment of a play organization, and ultimately, professional academic research.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the changes that the journey of play brought to individuals, families, and communities, and to illuminate the sociocultural implications of fathering and play participation. Using autoethnography, the research collected diverse data, including self-recollections, self-reflection, peer interviews, personal social media data, newspaper articles, photographs, and researcher records.
The collected data were interpreted using a comprehensive, complementary, and recursive analytical process.
To ensure the reliability and validity of the study, triangulation was employed, and the advice and guidance of a group of early childhood education experts were incorporated into the research.
The research results showed that the process of a father ‘becoming’ a playexpert consisted of three stages: father, playactivist, and playexpert, and the meanings were summarized as ‘becoming a good father through play,’ ‘practicing social care through play,’ and ‘becoming a play expert through play.’ First, ‘becoming a good father through play’ was a process of restoring family relationships through play and reinterpreting caregiving as relational learning. Second, ‘Practicing social care through play’ was a process of expanding family-centered play into community play involving the village and its citizens.
Third, ‘Becoming a playexpert through play’ was d process of developing into a playexpert by combining academic inquiry and practical knowledge based on play experience.
these above three stages are not independent processes, but rather a continuum of identity that circulates and expands through play.
The father's play practice went beyond restoring family relationships, leading to communal learning and social practice, ultimately developing a professional identity that integrated life, career, caregiving, and learning.
This study reexamines a father's identity as a process of ‘becoming’ rather than a fixed role, and redefines playexperts from technical experts to relational and ethical practitioners.
Furthermore, through the case of ‘Gimhae Miracle Playground’, a father-led play community, it suggests the social potential of expanding male participation in caregiving and the culture of parenting.
Future research should include expanding the research target to include fathers from dual-income, single-parent, and multicultural families, analyzing the long-term impact of fathers' play participation on child development and local communities, and conducting academic and policy research on playexpert.