HandlungsSpielRäume

Self-efficacy can be considered a key factor in managing the transition to primary school and for further learning processes. However, it remains largely unclear to what extent children in daycare and primary school perceive themselves as self-efficacious and whether and how they recognize opportunities for personally meaningful actions. The qualitative longitudinal interview study presents findings on the perspectives of surveyed preschool and primary school children regarding their experiences of self-efficacy, which provide insights for supporting self-efficacy in educational practice in the sense of a mastery climate, as well as for reflecting on the concept of generational order in educational institutions. In particular, play situations without adult involvement, as well as free play or play breaks, prove to be central to the self-efficacy of the surveyed children, regardless of their higher or lower expectations of self-efficacy. In relation to adults, the surveyed children describe mechanisms such as "asking and allowing" or strategies they refer to as "not listening" or "goofing around," through which they generate personal agency, while also attributing an expert status to adults, which they use to explain perceived hierarchies in both institutions.