[xmca] play and the imaginal

[Larry Purss <lpscholar2@gmail.com>]

I want to think out loud about play in school settings.

In September, when 5 year olds arrive at school, they are introduced in
Kindergarten to "centers" the spaces in Kindergarten classes where the
children go to play.  The other day I sat down with 4 boys at the "playdough
center"  Each child sat around the table with their own individual
playdough. They were inteent on their individual projects but were involved
in "parallel" play.
Now with my "vygotskian eyes" I reflected on my position as an adult who was
in a position to "lead" this activity and CO-ORDINATE the activity.  However
I also was sensitive that I wanted the "agency" of the children to be
EXPRESSED.
The following steps were taken.
I noticed one boy was making cookies while the others were doing their own
thing.  I asked the boy what he was making. He replied "cookies"  [a social
representation from another activity system] I then asked how many cookies
he was making. "Three" he answered.  I responded, but there are five of us
at the table [I was acting AS IF he was including all of us] He poceeded to
make 2 more. Then I asked if he was going to share the cookies?  He replied
they needed to go in the oven first and brought them over to a book shelf. I
made the noise "tick, tick, tick" like a timer and one of the other boys
said "Ding" like the chime of the oven going off.  We all laughed and the
other boys were slowly orienting and CO-ORDINATING with my and the boys
activity.  Then the boy who was making a person from playdough took his
person over to the "oven" and one of the other boys said "Oh, a gingerbread
man" Then I heard all 4 boys go "tick, tick, tick" for a long time before
someone said "ding" and we all laughed.  Soon all 4 boys were making cookies
with each one taking the lead and shifting the flow of activity BUT now the
activity was co-ordinated.  When it was time to "share" the cookies I
insisted on proper manners [we waited till we all had a cookie before we ate
etc] This activity became more and more animated and definately the level of
language and interactivity was being scaffolded.

Now for my question or musing.
Was the "individual" parallel play of these students a historically situated
form of activity because since birth, we in this culture share a notion of
"individual" play and the encapsulated self is implied in all our activity
OR is this form of "autistic like" play more of a universal phenomena and a
"stage" or layer which all children pass through. My question is going back
to the tension between socio-relational and socio-cultural analysis.
This simple activity I participated in [and as the adult took a leading
position] as I intentionally co-ordinated a shared activity I was creating
will lead development and social-relational activity in a certain
direction.  It is my version of "right-relation"
Creating classroom "dramas" is another form of imaginal co-ordination and if
done systematically over time will lead to a different kind of person.
Having play centers where the children work out their relationships among
peers [and the dominant child takes the lead] is another form of
developmental social relations.

I am curious if the way the 5 year olds were interacting BEFORE I sat down
with them [which seems so self-contained within their own individual space]
is a very specific historically formed pattern of "play activity" or is the
lack of co-ordination similar across multiple cultural settings when 5 year
olds play without adult supervision?

Larry
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