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These files are maintained strictly for historical reference, research, and recordkeeping purposes,
and the content has not been altered or updated since archiving.
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Or was it because 5 year olds were playing with 5 year olds, and not as part of a multi-age community, with 7 year olds taking the lead and 3 year olds needing to be brought into the fold? Sue On 20/10/10 4:46 PM, "Larry Purss" <lpscholar2@gmail.com> wrote: > I want to think out loud about play in school settings. > > In September, when 5 year olds arrive at school, they are introduced in > Kindergarten to "centers" the spaces in Kindergarten classes where the > children go to play. The other day I sat down with 4 boys at the "playdough > center" Each child sat around the table with their own individual > playdough. They were inteent on their individual projects but were involved > in "parallel" play. > Now with my "vygotskian eyes" I reflected on my position as an adult who was > in a position to "lead" this activity and CO-ORDINATE the activity. However > I also was sensitive that I wanted the "agency" of the children to be > EXPRESSED. > The following steps were taken. > I noticed one boy was making cookies while the others were doing their own > thing. I asked the boy what he was making. He replied "cookies" [a social > representation from another activity system] I then asked how many cookies > he was making. "Three" he answered. I responded, but there are five of us > at the table [I was acting AS IF he was including all of us] He poceeded to > make 2 more. Then I asked if he was going to share the cookies? He replied > they needed to go in the oven first and brought them over to a book shelf. I > made the noise "tick, tick, tick" like a timer and one of the other boys > said "Ding" like the chime of the oven going off. We all laughed and the > other boys were slowly orienting and CO-ORDINATING with my and the boys > activity. Then the boy who was making a person from playdough took his > person over to the "oven" and one of the other boys said "Oh, a gingerbread > man" Then I heard all 4 boys go "tick, tick, tick" for a long time before > someone said "ding" and we all laughed. Soon all 4 boys were making cookies > with each one taking the lead and shifting the flow of activity BUT now the > activity was co-ordinated. When it was time to "share" the cookies I > insisted on proper manners [we waited till we all had a cookie before we ate > etc] This activity became more and more animated and definately the level of > language and interactivity was being scaffolded. > > Now for my question or musing. > Was the "individual" parallel play of these students a historically situated > form of activity because since birth, we in this culture share a notion of > "individual" play and the encapsulated self is implied in all our activity > OR is this form of "autistic like" play more of a universal phenomena and a > "stage" or layer which all children pass through. My question is going back > to the tension between socio-relational and socio-cultural analysis. > This simple activity I participated in [and as the adult took a leading > position] as I intentionally co-ordinated a shared activity I was creating > will lead development and social-relational activity in a certain > direction. It is my version of "right-relation" > Creating classroom "dramas" is another form of imaginal co-ordination and if > done systematically over time will lead to a different kind of person. > Having play centers where the children work out their relationships among > peers [and the dominant child takes the lead] is another form of > developmental social relations. > > I am curious if the way the 5 year olds were interacting BEFORE I sat down > with them [which seems so self-contained within their own individual space] > is a very specific historically formed pattern of "play activity" or is the > lack of co-ordination similar across multiple cultural settings when 5 year > olds play without adult supervision? > > Larry > __________________________________________ > _____ > xmca mailing list > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca __________________________________________ _____ xmca mailing list xmca@weber.ucsd.edu http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca