Play Under Siege

From the book, Free to Learn by Lynne Oldfield:

"Play Under Siege

Childhood without play seems inconceivable....or does it?
Adults work..children play...or do they?

Inappropriate early childhood practice in the form of a downward thrust of literacy and numeracy performance and assessment continues relentlessly to erode the boundaries of early childhood. Five year olds are expected to perform as six year olds had previously performed, and four year olds are met with the challenges previously presented to five year olds.

Parents frequently describe their four and five year olds as 'coping' rather than 'flourishing' in the early years of school experience. One significant sacrifice to this trend is the child's access to the world of creative play. The willingness of educational policy makers to dismantle and undermine this activity is due, in part, to a rapidly disappearing understanding of the nature of play and its contribution to later achievements and developments.

Once upon a time...Let's pretend...You be....and I'll be....With these words children take a step into a world without boundaries, rich with potential learning opportunities, and an essential stage in their development. Observe children play. Watch and listen. Be prepared to be astounded by what you will see and hear.

The child's need to play must first be acknowledged. The adult's work presents itself from "outside"; the child's play arises from 'within' as an impulse to integrate her experiences. The child needs his will-reaction, his play, in order to assimilate his experiences and make them fully his own.

Here is an example. The older brother of a four year old girl had died. The day after the funeral she began to make a mound of blankets and pillows into which she burrowed. These were the 'clouds' and she was going in 'to bring her Jacob back'. Teachers working in areas of deprivation - war torn environments - will observe children literally 'playing out' their anxieties, with a corresponding easing up of tension as they come to terms with their situation through the activity of play. Play therapy is a standard practice for professionals working with abused children. When a child is unwell, play activity will cease; its return will signal that the child is well again.

A child at play is a child at peace.

Children are also dreamers. There is something almost spiritual in the imagination of a child, who picks up bits and pieces of its surroundings and its memory and finds out how they fit together in a slow, dreamlike process of discovery. They don't do this playing a computer game. They do this when they are allowed to sink down into themselves...they do it when they have time. Time is what we have taken away from our children.

Misunderstanding the Nature of Play

The inner source of play decisively undermines a growing contemporary trend toward 'structured play' in early childhood settings. This concept of directing play from 'outside', with an imposed intention - for example, to develop a concept of the number 5 through the use of five teddy-bears having a picnic - fails in any way to meet the true definition of play, which must by its very nature, arise from within the child and have no purpose other than to satisfy the original impulse. This impulse might arise from the need to 're-play' the image of men laying water pipes, or to come to terms with abuse. It might arise from the need to 're-live' a fairy tale told by the teacher - or simply, once again, to experience the joy and intensity of 'the love of action'. For play is also a will activity and a further revelation of the extent to which young children are impressed by their environment; for it is also an act of imitation."


This chapter will be be included in its entirety within the next week.