Play in Childhood Essay

Play is one of the most defining features of childhood in westerly society. It is something that all children have in common and what snitchs a childs world unalike from adults. In answering the question, this essay will first meditate the different opinions held by theorists as to why children bring. I will then look at role fill, which is one of the many cases of play that children shut up in. at long last I will look at childrens play as a social process using examples from other cultures and then briefly learn the reasons that children themselves believe they play.It is wrong to assume that children have al demeanors played. Historian, Aries (1962 in phonograph recording 1 intellect Childhood Chapter 2) claimed that childhood was a social twisting and that the view of childhood as a separate state did not occur until around the 16th and 17th century before this, children were economically multipurpose and not valued for the simple joy that children muckle bring. Th is was further illustrated by Mayhew (1861 in Book 1 arrangement Childhood Chapter 1), whos observations from his meeting with the watercress female child led him to state that she had been deprived of her childhood.This was largely due to the fact that the girls work responsibilities did not allow time for play and she had no knowledge of parks or anything associated with play. From this it could be deduced that Mayhew felt children should play. Mayhews example too showed that play is a social construction, as although it was clear that the watercress girl did not play, the fact that Mayhew suggests this is abnormal may merely be constructed from his own opinions that childhood should be a time of play.One of the first attempts to explain the impressiveness of play came from the publication of Emile by Jean Jacques Rousseau in (1762 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1). In this, Rousseau emphasized that childhood should be a time of play and children should have the fr eedom to do this. For Rousseau, play is consistent with a happy healthy childhood, which is often linked with the romantic discourse. This is in job with the Puritan discourse which believes that allowing children to play is a risk to the civilization processes, as this squeeze out only be achieved through strict discipline. It also believes parents should be accountable for channeling childrens play into creative configurations of work which will helpchildren to learn morally and intellectually. It is obvious therefore that these theories differ in their approaches to play. For the Romantic perspective play is a way that children can express themselves, but for the Puritan approach, play is the way through which children learn.Other opinions, such as those from teachingalists like as Piaget (1896 1980 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) saw play as an opportunity where children learn, practice and consolidate new skills and furthermore play provides them with a time where failing during a task was not going to have disastrous consequences. Vygotskys view on the reason why children play is different (1896-1934 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) as he believed that play was a significant reveal in childrens social development in that it helps them acquire skills to learn to cop-operate with others.Play is also important for childrens cognitive development as children use psychological tools during play such as language and memory. Through play children learn, explore and extend their skills, for example Vygotsky suggested that when children play make-believe, they can experiment with adult roles and ways of that otherwise wouldntt be possible for them. It is obvious therefore that for Piaget and Vygotsky, the reason children play is to learn.However, psychoanalysts like Freud(1920 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) were more interested in the significance of play for their excited development, suggesting that a childs psyc he could be revealed through their play. Freud suggested from his research that play could have a therapeutic exploit as it allowed children to rid themselves of negative feelings. Freuds views were the building block for others like his daughter Anna who set up nursery for children during the flake world war and recognized that observing childrens play had potential as a method of diagnosis, as well as cosmos of therapeutic value for children who had experienced emotional trauma in their lives. Similarly, Klein used miniature dolls as resources that children could use to enact turn out their inner feelings and anxieties. This shows that psychologists such as Klein and both Anna and Sigmund Freud felt that children play to engage with emotional events in their lives.There are several different suits of play, but I shall concentrate on role play now and why children engage in this type of play. This has been widely researched by Mead (1934 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Cha pter 1),who felt pretend and make believe situations are crucial for childrens personal development. Through role play, children are able to imagine themselves in other roles which helps their developing wizard of identity, and through this children develop a sense of who they are and also how others see them.This was highlighted in Activity 2 (p8 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) which contained an extract from Bascoms (1969 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) research in Nigeria. It involved interviewing a father while his 3 children observed the process and invented a new halt from these observations. The activity asked us to think about the significance of this new game. The first child sat on Bascoms chair holding a pen and authorship the second child sat in the interpreters chair (occupied previous to this by their father) while the third child sat on the bench imitating the informer.In the example, the second child told the third child to tell the firs t child about Odua. The third child then replied and from this the second child interpreted this and relayed it to the anthropologist in a string of meaningless sounds, supposedly echoing the English language. The first child who was meant to be the anthropologist then wrote on the paper and replied in more meaningless sounds, and so the sequence was repeated. The role-play that the Yoruba children undertook involved skilful imitation to impersonate the 3 adults and their gestures, even their language and the sequence of events.A comparable study occurred in the UK by Kehily et al (2002in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) whose research was carried out through extensive interviews which were audio taped with children in their school. It was establish that children incorporated the tape recorder into their games and discussions often imitating the structure of the interview process, even when they werent being recorded.Both of these researches on role play countenance Mead s possibleness (1934 in Book 3Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) that children have the ability to observe others and then use these observations to imitate others. The reasons children do this according to Mead is that it helps them to make sense of new and unfamiliar situations.Role play is further explored in video 3 muckle 3 pretend play featuring Melissa and Hadleigh cured 4, playing mummy and baby at nursery school. This example further supports Meads claim by showing that pretend play helps children to act out imaginary roles.Perhaps one of the most important features of play is that it is a social process. Thomas Gregor (1977in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) studied childrens games in Mehinaku, Brazil, and believed that games mirrored the structure and values of adult society. He observed a game of teneju itai (womens sons), this involved children marrying and carving a baby from a lump of earth. The mother then mimics cradling the baby, which later dies, and i s buried in a hole. As early childhood death is a common occurrence for this Brazilian tribe, this game prepares children for the possible death of a sibling or playmate.This game also shows it is non competitive, did not involve hierarchies and did not identify winners or losers. In contrast, in the UK, Laura and Aalliyah (Video 3 band 3) use their imaginations in their role play acting out difficult emotions such as rivalry, conflict and death. These children are in a culture where they are protected from issues such as death and pretend play may offer children a way of exploring themes and issues that are not part of their daily life. Both examples also support Freuds theory that children use play to act worrying or troublesome situations, and that play is a way in which children can express their feelings.Play, as a social process is not always a positive experience as Meads theory seemed to suggest. During play children can have many decisions to make and negotiate such as who can or cant play, meaning play can sometimes produce power relations and social hierarchies amongst children. This was shown in research by Thorne (1999 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) whos observations found that in the games that they played, childrencreated gender boundaries with single sex friendships, and that children may use play to achieve a position of high status within their group.Furthermore, play helps childrens identities develop as research with boys in Western societies showed that the play which boys engaged in involved language and physicality which was often competitive, and that they engaged in this type of play in order to help them achieve their masculine identity. This was further supported by research by Epstein (1997 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) which suggested that children engage in skipping rhymes and games such as kiss chase in the playground in order to help construct their gender identity.Finally, it was also suggested by B ack (1990 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) that the play that these boys engaged in was not nevertheless play for playing involvement but was also a method used to test the boundaries of friendship, and to decide who was or was not included in their group.Finally, as the research so far has been from adults, it is important to consider what childrens views are on why they play. One reason why children play is that it is a time when they can back off from reality and create their own fantasy world. This is seen with Joshua, (VIDEO 3 BAND1) whos favourite type of play seems to be reading. He states that he reads because through doing this he can escape into an imaginary world. He reads, believing it to be important as it broadens his imagination and aids his learning.This example also shows that as well as being a social process, play can also be solitary. This video also shows Tinco who states that he plays at the temple to find peace and freedom which he does not expe rience in his home village. The reason Sean seems to play is that he enjoys being in the dark tunnel with his friends playing scary, daring games. These examples show simply that children themselves play for reasons such as to learn, find enjoyment and to have peace and freedom away from adults.These examples showed that it is evident all children play but the way they play can vary depending upon culture. This was also highlighted by Opie and Opie (1969) who researched on childrens playground culture which found thatthe same rhyming games had been around for a long time, they just varied from culture to culture.We have seen therefore that different approaches have contrasting reasons as to why children play, and furthermore that children have different reasons as to why they play.One type of play which children engage in is role play which has been said to play an important part in the development of children enabling them to make sense of situations and form identities. Furthermor e, children play as it is a social process which allows children to act out roles in order to help them make sense of situations around them, enabling them to come along an understanding of how others see them which in turn aids their identity development.REFERENCESBook 1 Understanding Childhood Chapter 2 U212 Understanding Childhood, The Open University, Milton KeynesBook 1 Understanding Childhood Chapter 6 U212 Understanding Childhood, The Open University, Milton KeynesBook 3 Understanding Childhood, Chapter 1 U212 Understanding Childhood, The Open University, Milton KeynesBook 3 Understanding Childhood, Study Guide Audio and visual notes, Unit 16 U212, The Open University, Milton KeynesBook 3, Understanding Childhood, Video 3 band 1 My SpaceU212 Understanding Childhood, The Open University.Book 3, Understanding Childhood, Video 3 band 3 Pretend PlayU212 Understanding Childhood, The Open University.