scholarly journals Becoming clowns: How do digital technologies contribute to young children’s play?

2019 ◽  
pp. 146394911986420
Author(s):  
Tove Lafton
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Early Childhood Setting ◽  
Material World ◽  
Children's Play ◽  
Children’S Play

Research concerning play and technology is largely aimed at expanding the knowledge of what technological play may be and, to a lesser extent, examines what happens to children’s play when it encounters digital tools. In order to explore some of the complexity in play, this article elaborates on how Latour’s concepts of ‘translation’ and ‘inscription’ can make sense of a narrative from an early childhood setting. The article explores how to challenge ‘taken-for-granted knowledge’ and create different understandings of children’s play in technology-rich environments. Through a flattened ontology, the article considers how humans, non-humans and transcendental ideas relate to one another as equal forces; this allows for an understanding of play as located within and emerging from various networks. The discussion sheds light on how activation of material agents can lead us to look for differences and new spaces regarding play. Play and learning are no longer orchestrated by what is already known; rather, they become co-constructed when both the children and the material world have a say in constructing the ambiguity of play. Lastly, the discussion points to how early years practitioners need tools to challenge their assumptions of what play might become in the digital age.

Using the Method of Ethology to Study Australian Preschool Children's Play and Social Behaviour

1997 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharne A. Rolfe ◽  
Stella A. Crossley
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Individual Difference ◽  
North American ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Children's Play ◽  
Child Research ◽  
Children’S Play ◽  
Published Research

The ethological approach has made an important contribution to observational child research this century. Although studied in many early childhood courses in Australia, the method of ethology has rarely been used in published research here. This paper reports a study using this method to observe children's interactions and play in an Australian preschool. The main dimensions of individual difference in this group of children were established using Factor Analysis and results compared with those of British and North American samples. The method is evaluated. The time-consuming, labour-intensive nature of the approach is contrasted with its potential to provide unique insights into the play and social behaviour of children.

Transforming early childhood educators’ conceptions of “dark play” and popular culture

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-126
Author(s):  
Carolyn Bjartveit ◽  
E Lisa Panayotidis
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Popular Culture ◽  
Creative Thinking ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Children's Play ◽  
Children’S Play ◽  
Course Format

In an online graduate-level early childhood education course, the authors sought to playfully disrupt and transform educators’ conceptions of children’s “dark play,” as provoked by contemporary popular culture. Embracing the imaginative potential of darkness and liminality, the course participants problematized and expanded their thinking concerning what constitutes children’s play scripts focused on themes of fear, power, and violence. Cognizant that some educators are reluctant and even refuse to allow children opportunities to engage in play centered on troubling social issues, the educators co-authored a fantastical tale, inspired by the Disney animation film Frozen, and included course topics, classroom observations, and their own childhood memories of “dark play.” Vivian Paley’s ideas about the connections between storytelling and play provided a creative impetus to the fictional narrative-imagining exercise, as did Hans-Georg Gadamer’s notion of Spiel. Eliciting the literature of children’s play experiences through fictional story-writing, and “play” as a contemporary aspect of creative thinking, the educators entered imaginary worlds of their own making. Unlike a traditional online graduate course format that often incorporates textual readings, posts, and responses, the authors strived to foster a virtual space in which the educators buttressed theories about play and imagination in a deeply felt, experiential, and playful manner. In creating an imaginary story based on the film, the participants gained a different understanding of the nature of play, and came to recognize how popular-culture play themes can provoke and strengthen children’s imaginative and abstract thinking, problem-solving skills, and emotional development. Likewise, this narrative experience showed the potential and role of “dark play” in initiating new ways of thinking and talking with children about the complex issues of the modern world.

scholarly journals PERMAINAN EDUKATIF UNTUK ANAK USIA DINI

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-113
Author(s):  
Angga Saputra
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Educational Games ◽  
Educational Game ◽  
Children's Play ◽  
Children’S Play

This article is entitled: Permanan Educative Early Childhood. With the aim is to know educational games for early childhood. Educational games for early childhood, playing is one of the words that are quite familiar to our ears, especially if we become a teacher, especially for PAUD teachers. Game tools are all tools used by children to fulfill their instincts of play. The game tools in question are for example soccer ballsfrom plastic cars, calluses, pistols, puppets, imitation of cooking tools and so on. So the educational game tool is all the game tools that children useto fulfill their instincts of play. So early childhood educational games are games that can meet the needs of children’s play instincts.

Exploring children’s play in early years learning environments; what are the factors that shape children’s play in the classroom?

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-189
Author(s):  
Zoyah Kinkead-Clark
Keyword(s):  
Gender Roles ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Leadership Qualities ◽  
Children's Play ◽  
Children’S Play ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Learning Through Play

In the Caribbean, as with many other contexts, though learning through play serves as the impetus behind recommended early years classroom practices, very little is known about children’s play, what it looks like and the factors that shape it. To explore this issue, traditional qualitative methodology including interviews, documentation of field notes, and observations of three early years classrooms for children aged 4 years was done. Thematic analysis of the data revealed five overarching themes: (1) revealing conversations, (2) leaders take charge, (3) gender roles, (4) teachers’ practices and (5) availability of resources. The findings highlight the revealing conversations, social hierarchies and stereotypical gender roles evident in children’s play. Likewise, children’s play is also shaped by teachers’ practices and the availability of resources. The research findings speak to complex nature of children’s play. In this, play serves as a means to demonstrate leadership qualities and share stories about themselves. This highlights the necessity of play as not only benefitting children physically, but socio-emotionally and cognitively as well. Of note as well is that though beneficial, there are also obstacles which impact children’s play, teachers’ practices and the availability of resources. Though these findings cannot be used to make wholesale assumptions about what is happening in all early childhood classrooms, it does draw attention to how teachers implement play-based curricula. Likewise it points to the need to examine how barriers to play minimise children’s ability to positively gain from plethoric benefits play has to offer.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document