In recent years there has been a shift in educational theory as more research is done about the positive effects play has on learning and development. One age group specifically that is helped by the use of play in their curriculum is primary school age children. This paper seeks to investigate the impact of fantasy and dramatic play on the development of identity in children ages 5-8. Erik “Erikson built his theory based on Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychosexual development and his own work with children and families. For Erikson, the social aspects that influence human development are more significant in shaping the identity of human personality” (Batra 2013). Erikson’s theories on play describe how it helps children develop their identities by focusing on the social and emotional skills that playing enables. Playing affects children’s self-concept and how they relate to people and the world around them and who they want to develop into. According to Curtis, Erikson referred to the ages of 4-6 as being the play age for children. Play is a necessary “form of self-expression and …is an important vehicle for expressing feelings” (Curtis & & O’Hagan 2003). Play enables a child to achieve control and gain confidence in him or herself. It is a chance for children to develop a cognizance about space, themselves and others (Curtis & O’Hagan 2003). Fantasy play is crucial to this process as it gives the opportunity to role play through various life experiences, both real and imaginary. “Erikson stressed the importance of the life- rehearsal element in fantasy play, suggesting that it helps children come to terms with social issues such as loneliness, failure and disappointment” (Curtis & O’Hagan 2003). These problems exist in everyday li... ... middle of paper ... ...). The importance of play in adulthood. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child.53. 51-64 Batra, S. (Jul2013). The Psychosocial Development of Children: Implications for Education and Society — Erik Erikson in Context. Contemporary Education Dialogue, 10 (2).249-278 Charlesworth, R. (2014). Understanding Child Development (9th ed.). Cengage Learning Curtis, A. & O’Hagan, M. (2003). Care and Education in Early Childhood: A Student's Guide to Theory and Practice. London: RoutledgeFalmer. Erikson, E.H. (1963). Childhood and society. New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company. Gershon, M. (Jun2013). Why Play Should be Part of Every Lesson. Times Educational Supplement.1(5047).38-39. Lillard, A., Lerner, M., Hopkins, E., Dore, R., Smith, E., Palmquist, C. (Jan2013).The Impact of Pretend Play on Children's Development: A Review of the Evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 139 (1), p1-34
Early Childhood is marked by a time in children’s lives when they develop “a confident self-image, more effective control over their emotions, new social skills, the foundations of morality, and a clear sense of themselves as boy or girl” (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011, pg. 45). According to Erik Erikson, early childhood is a period of “vigorous unfolding,” one where children have a sense of autonomy and a new sense of purposefulness or initiative (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011, pg. 45). Play is a means for children to learn about themselves and they begin to adopt the moral and gender-role standards of the society in which they live (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011). A negative outcome of early childhood is the guilt children feel as a result of excessive punishment and criticism by the adults in their lives (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011)....
Dr. Alison Gopnik’s drew the following truth that “children are intellectually more skilled and far more sophisticated in their thinking then we ever imagined”(Gopnik2009). Gopnik also stated preschoolers are extremely well designed for learning. They are naturally curious. They learn through exploring and playing. “The value of play” was also presented in Gopnik’s research. He clarified that when children engage in pretend play, they will have imaginary characters and explore other world. They are learning peoples’ nature, how people think, do, and work. This helps them understand themselves and other people, to improve their social traits or in balancing school, and to increase their social competences in life. Gopnik demonstrated the idea
Play is an important part of emotional-social development. Play can act as a way for children to reveal their innermost feelings and express thought. As defined by the text, play is “voluntary activities done for enjoyment or recreation that are not performed for any sake beyond themselves.” Children move through different levels of play as they mature. One form of play which scientists have become increasingly interested in is imaginative play. With imagination children learn how to be creative. Many children between ages 3-5 create imaginary friends for themselves.
Indications of social, emotional, cognitive, and language development in a child can be seen when analyzing the different aspects of pretend play or make-believe play that he or she engages in. Pretend play occurs when objects and actions are transformed symbolically. Catherine Garvey (2000) and Angeline Lillard (2006) emphasize that role-taking, balancing of social roles, testing of the reality- pretense distinction, metacognition, and numerous non-egocentric capacities that reveal exceptional cognitive skills that are hidden in young children’s pretend play narratives (Santrock, 2010, p. 342). There are three different levels that make up pretend play: make-believe regarding self, meaning throughout time a child’s play shows increasing focus away from the self; make-believe regarding objects and beings, meaning a child’s play becomes less dependent on objects that look like the items being represented; a child’s ability to craft a story, meaning an increase in ability to plan and maintain stories with multiple steps (Lesson 14 commentary). When analyzing each aspect of pretend play, I ob...
In the early stages of development, it was noticed that children learn by playing. In fact, play, in a developmentally appropriate environment, inspires the child to relate oneself to the environment while making sense of the infinite elements where the children unites internal processes with external influences. Therefore, as children play, they learn. This theory demonstrates that the children learn while having fun. As the children internalize the sensations of the environment, they somehow integrate personal experiences to hypothesize the so-called impossible. This brings us to the concept of imaginary play where such play is constant as children relate their hopes and experiences to the new sensations. However, as their minds translate external experiences with personal meaning, children become masters of their environment and such environment may be defined as a continuum between the imaginary and the sensory (Bodrova and Leong, 2006). In addition, complex yet accessible relationships occurring in the classroom enrich the mental processes of young students. This is proven when children reflect on their environment, as they instinctively classify experiences according to both individual personality and the surrounding culture (DeVries, 2008). As children become familiar with the syntax of social knowledge, their worlds are somehow shared with one another to form a social imagination. According to Gardner (2007), a child struggles to comprehend new experiences, he or she will naturally utilize scientific notions of problem-solving and critical thinking. As the child begins to understand experience, social cooperation augments skills of perspective and interpretation. In one hand, shared activity provides a meaningful social co...
Briggs, M and Hansen, A (2012) Play-based learning in the primary school. Sage, Los Angeles.
...Fein, G. G. 1981. Pretend play in childhood: An integrative review. Child development, pp. 1095--1118.
Many theorists have tried to define play as a concept, however, no two agree on a set definition. Their backgrounds and induvial lifestyles influence the way they see the importance of play. Reed and Brown also believe that there isn’t an agreed definition of play because is something that is felt rather than done (Reed & Brown, 2000 cited in Brock, Dodd’s, Jarvis & Olusoga, 2009). In spite of this, it is clear that most theorists uphold the ethos that play is imperative to a child’s learning and development. There is a wide range of different studies and theories which helps us develop our own perception of what play is. In my personal experience I have found play to be a way of expressive our emotions, exploring and learning new things, thus
..., J., & Garzoli, E. (2007, November 11). The Effectiveness of a Play-Based Curriculum in Early Childhood Education. Retrieved from http://teachplaybasedlearning.com/8.html
Thinking back on my childhood, I first remember all the times I played outside in my backyard. I would pretend to dig up dinosaur bones or create imaginary realms of ancient lands; there I would perform diplomatic services for the people in need. I was usually alone, and those are some of my fondest memories. When I first decided to become a teacher and thought about what is important to my philosophy on how children learn, I immediately knew I was a strong believer in play. Although, many decision makers such as legislators and school district leaders believe in more academic types of learning styles, my paper will discuss why play is so powerful and important to children.
Children have a natural inclination to play, alongside a natural instinct to learn and to be curious and inventive, which are characteristics of the human race in general. This quote taken from Janet Moyles is a good starting point for this essay. It is well known that children love to play. If a child were to be left to his/her own devices they would happily play and create new worlds anywhere they were left. It has been well documented and researched that children learn excellently through play. However they are not always given the opportunity to do so, instead being told to, ‘finish your work and then you can go play’. Obviously this is not always the case, but the fact that it is a common practice shows that we do not all fully appreciate the importance of play to children’s learning. This essay will attempt to show how children learn through play, making reference to current theory and practice. I will also give examples from my own first-hand experience of how children learn and develop as people through play.
Play helps build sturdy learning foundations because later levels of learning are built upon the earlier ones. All types of play, from fantasy to rough-and-tumble have a crucial role in the development of children. It is the lens through which children experience their world and the world of others. If deprived to play, they are at bigger possibility for atypical development and deviant behavior. Without play, self-control does not develop satisfactorily Goldstein, J. (2012)
To develop this, Jenks, 1996 stated that the Appolion view of childhood revolves around the idea of innocence, protection and child play. Although this ideology highlights the aspect of happiness in childhood, it also sees the child as incomplete. This insinuates that the child needs to be guided and controlled, thus reinforcing the idea of childhood being a time of dependence. Likewise, innocence connotes irresponsibility and implies that children play as they have no responsibility (Wyness, 2012). Ergo, play appears to become a vital feature of a child’s world, a world arguably controlled by
Creating a questionnaire to measure fantasy orientation in children is rather an interesting task. We all have heard stories, believed in fairy god mothers, feared monsters and waited eagerly for the Santa. Have you ever wondered when we started distinguishing the reality from the fantasy and how stopping being a child influenced our growth. The purpose of the fantasy orientation questionnaire is to explore the same with the help of relevant literature and various scholarly researches. This essay starts with a critical discussion of what Fantasy orientation is, drawing significant points from various studies conducted on the matter. It continues to conduct an elaborate research with a group of 50 pre-school and kinder garden children aged 2 to 5. It presents arguments on how this questionnaire is relevant in measuring the fantasy orientation among children effectively than other methods.
This theory suggests that play plays a vital role of treating children’s disorders, children are able to gain some sense of control and alleviate their negative emotions including anxieties, fears and traumas through playing (Heidman & Hewitt, 2010; Freud, 1961). From the psychoanalytic perspective, play has a cathartic effect for children as it can assist children to cope with adverse feelings (Wolfberg, 2009, p. 32). Therefore, play is regarded as a therapeutic method to deal with the emotional problems (Wolfberg, 2009, p. 32). Moreover, this theory is of the view that play is an avenue to connect children’s past, current and future inner life (Willians, 2009, p. 575). Sigmund Freud was the pioneer who made a considerable contribution to this theory and he called “play” as the “royal road” to the child’s conscious and unconscious world (Willians, 2009, p. 575). He believed that play allows a combination of fantasy with reality, children should spend time playing every day as it is very healthy and necessarily (Willians, 2009, p. 575). Children are able to resolve psychological dilemmas, soften their worries and develop their understanding of life experiences (Wolfberg, 2009, p. 32). Erikson had further developed this theory, he recognized that the particular events are critical to shape the nature of