Learning to Teach Young Children - Chapter 7_Section 2

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Read the following table to learn more about Piaget’s stages of play.

Table 7.3: Jean Piaget’s Stages of Play

Age (approximate)	Characteristics
Early to Late infancy	Non-symbolic practice or functional play corresponds to the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development and is based on physical activities (birth to two years-of-age). Children engage in repetitive actions using objects or their own bodies. For example, a child might repeatedly grasp and shake a rattle or push a small cart around the room.
Early Childhood (before age 6)	Symbolic/dramatic play is also referred to as pretend, fantasy and socio-dramatic play. It involves mental representations and corresponds to the pre-operational stage of cognitive development (two to six years-of-age). That is, children develop play themes --such as playing house, or store-- and carry them out by adopting roles, such as parent, child, storekeeper, customer, or cashier. At this stage, children use fantasy in their play and engage in complex forms of pretend behaviours. Most play in preschool years is symbolic play.
Late childhood (before age 12)	Although Piaget & Inhelder (1966) state that symbolic play marks the highest point of development of children’s play, the final stage of play is games with rules (e. g., marbles, tag, etc.). This play corresponds with the cognitive stage of formal operations: as children begin to think logically this is reflected in their play.Children might play games which already exist, they might invent their own, or they might create new rules for existing games. For example, a group of children might adapt tag to the playground equipment and develop a new set of rules. They decide that you have to stay on the equipment and if you touch the ground, you are “it.”

Source:
Piaget, J. (1962), Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood, New York: Norton.

Consider the table outlining Piaget’s stages. Think about a young child you know. What kinds of play do they engage in? Where would their play fit with Piaget’s stages of play? One of the critiques of Piaget’s theory is that children are now understood to achieve the milestones associated with each stage at much younger ages than he originally thought. This is also true for children who grow up in different cultural contexts. For example, children who are from pottery-making cultures or contexts understand conservation of mass much earlier than children who do not have such experience. Therefore, the context is instrumental in shaping the child’s development. Can you cite evidence of this criticism based on what you have observed?

Table 7.4: Elkonin’s Levels of Play

Levels of play	The Child’s Roles	The Child’s Actions	Props & toys	Rules and Relationships
Level 1: Object-Centered play	Roles exist, but they are determined by the nature of the actions instead of determining the actions. Children do not name the roles they take on; neither do they assign themselves the names of people whose roles they are playing. For example, two siblings are playing with brooms, dustpans, and other cleaning tools in their home.	Actions themselves are stereotypical and consist of repetitive motions. There seems to be no logical order in how the actions are performed. In this scenario, these siblings might sweep imaginary “dirt” into the dustpan before sweeping up the “dirt” or perform other similar actions out of order.	Props are realistic and determine both the actions and the roles. Actions with objects may not always be associated with a role. In the housecleaning example, the siblings use actual brooms and other kinds of cleaning implements and these realistic props determine their actions (sweeping, dusting, etc.). Some actions may not fit with the role---for instance using the broom to gently pet the dog.	The other children do not object if one player acts inconsistently with how this script unfolds in real life. For example, one of the siblings is pretending to mow the lawn inside the “house”, but the other does not comment on this action.
Level 2: Action-Centered Play	For a child to play a role means to perform actions associated with this role. Children can name the roles they play, but only after they start to play. For example, the children might hold a hose and pretend to spray water. They might then name their roles as “firefighters.”	The play action reflects accurately the action in real life. The structure and sequence of play actions is determined by how these actions unfold in real life. After a visit to a fire station and reading some books on firefighters, the children further develop their play. The children understand that they need to travel to a fire in a truck. Then the hose must be removed from the truck and connected to a “hydrant” before spraying water on a fire. They perform these actions during their play.	Actions with objects are associated with a role. In the firefighting scenario, the children carefully perform the actions using props a firefighter might use. They have hoses, firefighter costumes, and carry oxygen tanks fashioned out of plastic bottles.	The child is able to follow rules in play rather than submit to one’s own immediate wishes. When one of the players does not follow the real-life sequence of the actions, the other players do not accept these actions. However, they do not argue with the player or explain what was done wrong. When one child pretends to spray the fire truck instead of the fire, another tells them “no”.
Level 3: Role-Centered Play	Children name the roles they will play before the play starts. The roles determine and direct the children’s behavior. A special kind of “role speech” emerges when one player talks to another, using vocabulary, intonation, and register in accordance with the specific roles each plays. For example, the children decide to play restaurant. Each would take on a different role as a cook, waiter, customer, and so on and would speak as that person would.	The nature of actions and their logic are determined by the role the child plays. The actions become more varied. In the restaurant play, the children’s actions are linked to the role they play. For instance, the waiter brings the menus to the customers, takes their orders, brings drinks and food, and then brings them the bill.	Actions are determined by the roles so realistic props and toys are needed to perform the roles. In the restaurant play, the children could use play food and dishes, real menus, order pads, etc.	If a child acts in a way inconsistent with the real-life logic of actions, other children object by saying something like “you are not supposed to do that.” When corrected, children treat their mistake seriously and try to fix it and to explain why they broke the rule. For example, if the “cook” began preparing a meal before the waiter had taken the customer’s order, the other children might say “We need to take the order first.”
Level 4: Relationship-Centered/ Mature Play	The roles are well defined. A child playing a role acts in a manner consistent with this role throughout the entire duration of play. The “role-related speech” is consistent with the role played by the child who uses this speech as well as with the role of the child to whom this speech is addressed. For example, three children are pretending to be a taxi driver and her two customers. They use the speech associated with the role (eg. “good morning, where would you like to go?”).	The sequence of play actions is well defined and consistent with the logic of these actions in real life. The children engage in elaborate taxi play from the initial pick-up to drop-off. They follow typical script and order of a real-life taxi ride.	Actions are determined by the relationships between the characters children play so props and toys do not need to be realistic to perform the roles. In this scenario, the children do not use realistic props. They have used chairs to create the taxi, a plate for a steering wheel, and a wooden block for the meter. Small pieces of paper represent the money.	The child is able to follow rules in play is fully developed. Children object when someone does not follow the logic of actions or breaks the rule. Children go beyond stating that “you are not supposed to do that,” referring to the reason for the existence of this rule in real life. For example, one child might explain to another “you don’t pay until the ride is finished.”

Source: Elkonin, D. (2005), ‘Chapter 1: The Subject of our Research, the Developed Form of Play’, Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 43 (2): 22–48.

Imagine a pretend play scenario. It might be something you have observed in the classroom or something you recall from your own childhood; a market, a shop, a doctor’s office, a veterinary clinic, a hair salon, etc. Using the table outlining Elkonin’s levels of play, describe how the nature of this play might change as children move from object-centred play to relationship-centred play. Consider the roles, actions, props, and rules/relationships.
Reflect on the dialogue on page ----. Which do you think is most important - the imaginary situation, the role, or does this shift depending on the play?

Table 7.5: Play as Adaptive Behaviour

As discussed in the chapter, Sutton-Smith’s (2008) more recent theory of play combines brain development research, evolutionary theory, and studies of animal behaviour to examine how play is a means of adapting to one’s conditions.

Adaptive Layers	Characteristics
Layer 1—Evolutionary Conﬂict Origins of Play	In order to imitate conflicts or avoid engaging in them, animals develop defensive rituals. The relationship between ritual performance and play has protective functions. That is, younger members of the species can engage in simulations of conflicts in place of other, more dangerous interactions. These rituals are the origins of play.
Layer 2—Reﬂexive and Reﬂective	Over time, instead of reacting instinctively to danger, mammals developed another response. This response was play that imitated conflict but removed many of its dangers and tensions. Play also had the potential benefit of providing exercise and conditioning that could subsequently help the mammal if a real conflict should occur. For example, you might have seen two dogs play fighting, seeming to bite each other on the neck without injuring one another. This play would prepare them to defend themselves should a conflict arise.
Layer 3—The Duality of Primary and Secondary Emotions	The nature of play can be described as a dynamic duality of contending forces. The first side of this duality, is related to primary or expressive emotions—shock, anger, fear, disgust, sadness, and happiness. For example, Sutton-Smith explains that teasing games produce shock, fear is shown in risky play, and happiness motivates our play. However, these emotions expressed in play must at the same time be controlled by rules and traditions, which is the second side of the duality. These rules are also motivated by emotions.
Layer 4—The Duality of Play Performances	Within play itself, emotions are expressed in the dualities that surround the performances of the players. They are expressed in how their personalities (i.e., being arrogant, fearful, sad, lonely, etc.) affect the performance and in how the players feel about themselves.
Layer 5—Dualistic Cultural Scripts	Each of the adaptive levels arises from various cultural processes which influence the scripts for various forms of play.

Source:
Sutton-Smith, B. (2008), ‘Play Theory: A Personal Journey and New Thoughts’, American Journal of Play, Summer: 80–123.