How Do Children Use Culture to Play - Research Proposal Example

ESSAY: EDUCATION; How do Children use Culture to Play? Introduction The exploration of mind health is givingsolid proof that there is genuine power in play. While frequently rejected as "just fun," play is the essential action that kids often utilize to find out about and connect with their reality and increases their mental, physical and social abilities that are imperative for the success in their adult lives (Punch 2009, p.23). The concept of child culture is usually used in special senses thereby giving it various and numerous meanings. These ranges from the cultural products made for the children to help them play and understand their actual selves. This hence gives rise to two concepts of culture; it can be used as a concept that tries to describe how peculiar the human behaviours are in their relationship with nature. In this sense, culture is processed and embedded in a particular form that is distinct to a specific group of individuals (Bazyk et al. 2013, p.278). Culture is seen as a supra-individual element created and recreated by a given bunch. For instance, children grow into and adopt a distinct culture through a process called enculturation. Culture in a wider concept is also considered to be the embrace of artistic genres and their accompanying expressions such as the symbolic forms. Children use of culture in their play differs from community to community depending on what their customs and societal beliefs are (Valentine et al., 2008, p. 115). For a proper understanding of how culture influences the children, there should a clear cultural strategy that will help draw the connection between the children and the adults. One of the best strategies is play as it helps the children learn more about their cultural values and traditions and how these help to transform their daily lives so as they can be able to differentiate between living by the societal codes of ethics and just reciting them. (Archer et al., 2010, p.156) The main topic of discussion is the use of culture in play by children and how it influences the children’s personal development. The topic encompasses the various cultural beliefs and their varied values that are vital in defining a kid’s behavioral manners and code of conduct while play involves that a child undertakes voluntary act during her/his free time or refreshments (Melhuus 2012, p. 76). Play is considered to be undertaken voluntarily with no intention of a particular outcome and it is, therefore, vital in making the individuals involved in understanding themselves and their societies. Through this, they enrich the children and give them the meaning of lives by initiating the kids into their cultural values. Many studies have been postulated on the use of culture in play by children and how it influences their actions and behaviours as will be reviewed in the literature. Some authors such as Atkinson (1990) have stated that the ways of a societal life involves values, conflicts and mutual coexistence, traditions, beliefs, engagements born of free choice and the values that individuals ascribe to activities and this describe the inheritance of culture in society that is vital in play. The literature review will constitute discussions from past studies and theories on culture and play. Research Questions i. How does culture influence a child’s Development? ii. What role does culture have in children’s play? iii. To what extent does language contribute to the development of children’s play? Research Objectives i. To determine the influence of culture on the development of Children ii. To ascertain the role of culture in children’s play iii. To determine the extent that language contribute to the development of children’s play LITERATURE REVIEW This section presents a brief review of literature and studies that have been carried out in the area of culture and play in children. The section also discusses some of the relevant theoretical evidence in the same regards. Notably, there is significant empirical evidence that suggest that children play contribute significantly to the general development of the children as well as in their cultural integration. A. Importance of Play in children 1. In their study, Beristein and Magalhaes (2009, p. 99) noted that play as such is not only for fun for the kids but it also helps in the development of the child’s brain. That is to say through plays children can explore and learn different roles and functions of the society. This agrees with the observation by Melhuus (2012, p. 87) who argued that children play should be considered as the actions of children through which they prepare to get involved in the adults’ engagements and roles. After getting the proper insight of their roles in the society, the children can develop new skills that can help them adapt to the society. From the study, it was also highlighted that play also provides the children the opportunity to follow their own interests, link their choices with outcomes, make friends and also be able to conquer their fears (Bazyk et al 2003, p. 278). In the like manner, Valentine and Sporton (2009, p. 245) observed that a child’s culture in play is critical to the development of the kid’s foundation in the future success of their lives as well as in the development of their critical thinking abilities, collaboration with the others, communication abilities and their capability of solving problems. 2. Bazyk et al., (2003, p. 278) refers to a theory developed by a psychologist, Mildred Parten (1933) who developed a theory of the changing nature “development” in the children as a result of engaging in play. Parten in her study noted that little children often play from the age of two years to the age of five years; after that they tend to reduce their intensity of play. She developed different categories of child’s play among different cultures and how the cultures influenced their play. From the research, she highlighted that from the groups, the children were getting meaningful framework whereby they could get the opportunity to expand their social maturity. The types of the children development from the play formulated in the theory were; solitary play which is where the child plays independently even if is among others, parallel play that is where the kid plays alone in a particular activity, at the same time and in the same place. In the same vein, Valentine and Sporton (2009 p. 77) presents two examples of play namely; associate play, where a child plays amidst others and there is sharing of the kids and cooperative play where the children organize their play as a group with a common goal and their assign each partner in the game rules. From these plays, children can identify and understand their roles as future parents in the society, and also they get deeper insight of their cultural roles and responsibilities. The theory, therefore, affirms the notion that an individual’s culture influences the children’s play and provides an understanding of their societal values and beliefs. B. Contextual composition of children’s play 3. Some authors, however, oppose the fact that a child’s play and his mental development are very separate and distinct, and they do not influence one another. A study done in the Asian schools by Valentine, Sporton, and Nielsen (2008, p. 314), indicated that a child’s play has no influence on the kid’s academic abilities and excellence. From these schools, as the studies indicated, academics was highly valued more than play since it was considered to be negatively influencing the kids performance or having no influence at all to the children. In a similar study, Beristein and Magalhaes (2009, p. 94) noted that a child’s desire for play differs across cultures and most children from contemporary social-cultural backgrounds usually spend much of their play time in watching television programs and other indoor activities. The two authors observed that these activities have the ability to influence the kid’s traditional play behaviours and the overall psychological and mental developments of the child hence making them ignore and assume their cultures. 4. Language is considered to be playing an important role in an individual’s identity formation. It is noted that language and choice help children mostly those aging between ten to fifteen years feel the sense of personal identities and affiliations within the context of their daily life encounters. According to a study by Valentine et al. (2008, p.76), language is considered vital in connecting or disconnecting young people from others. This can be due to the presence of the language barrier that prevents the smooth flow of communication. Language helps the children communicate easily during their play under such should be regarded as an important aspect of culture in play. Similarly, Beristein and Magalhaes (2009, p. 94) points that language is ‘art of the present’ that focusses on the moments or processes where cultural differences are being articulated rather than on where they were initially formed. This analogy, therefore, makes language be taken not just as a tool for constructing identities but also for identifying individual’s identities in different cultures. Additionally, Melhuus (2012, p. 456) emphasized the importance of language in the children’s play by highlighting that individuals ‘verbal repertoires contribute towards defining their self, and also it opens up opportunities for different personal developments that helps the children feel personal affiliation and acquisition of various skills as they communicate with others. This, therefore, makes language an important aspect of culture that children use in their play. C. Child plays’ theoretical Review 5. Albeit interpretation of child play and development vary from one culture to culture, there is significant agreement that play in children enable them to integrate and imbibe some particular cultural aspects. While some cultures view the play as distinct from the child’s other activities such as academic for instance in Italy, others observe that there is very limited distinction between a child’s play and his/her other activities (Valentine, & Sporton 2009, p. 78). Vygostsky in his sociocultural theory of play believed that children primarily play in order to satisfy their needs and motives and through which they realize the dialectic relationship between the will, emotion and intellect (Berinstein & Magalhaes 2009, p. 96). According to his theory, children play one of the activities through which the children become aware/ conscious of the world. In other words, it is through play that the children’s internal environment meets their external environment in a creative interpretation process (Bazyk et al., 2013, p. 275). This creative interpretation process is basically the imaginary process through which the children demonstrate their imagination in action(s). This assertion by Vygostsky conceded with the observation by John Bowlby (1907-1990) that play in children is seen as universal in nature yet is influenced greatly by its cultural context. According to this theory, natural mechanisms govern the behavior of children while biological mechanisms provide survival tactics to children (Litchtman 2013, p. 45). However, these devices are quickly superseded by social influences that basically form the developmental context of a child as well as constitute the very nature of the child. According to this theory, the social, cultural interaction in which the child is exposed to during infancy contributes significantly to the child’s ability to make and sustain friendships. This correspondingly is in agreement with Jean Piaget’s cognitive Child development theory in which he argued that children are basically not less intelligent than adults, but they simply think differently (Berk & Shanker 2006, p. 113). Accordingly, to Piaget cognitive development of children is not as such a quantitative process where children just add more information of the world to their already existing knowledge as they are growing (Archer 2010, p. 55). However, such environmental awareness and intellectual development should be regarded as qualitative process through which children go through as they develop. That is to say, in this case, older children do no simply have more information about the world but there is a fundamental difference between the way they view the world. Summary In summation from various previous studies done in the field of children and play, empirical evidence greatly suggests that play a pivotal position in the development of the children right from their young age. Play in children aids in cognitive, physical, social development of children even as their grow. In is noted that the contextual framework or simply put, the social context of the children also play contribute enormously in the activity of play for the children. In this regard, empirical evidence suggests that through play children get to understand their future roles in the society, as well as other social norms and traditions. In other words, through play children follow up on their own interests, link their choices with outcomes, make new and maintain old friends as well as conquer their fears. Language, which is an aspect of a particular culture, is one central hinge upon which the possibility of play among children depends on. It enables communication between the young playful children, as such without common language; the possibility of play would be marred. These are affirmed theoretically that the social, cultural interaction (one of which is through language) in which the child is exposed to during infancy contributes significantly to the child’s ability to make and sustain friendships. From this perspective, children play is viewed through the lenses of sociocultural theory not only as a means of satisfying the children’s needs but also as a means to realize the dialectic relationship between the will, emotion and intellect. This point to the question, how do children use language that is an aspect of culture to play? Again, how does verbal language differ from sign language in their influence on children’s play? Importance and research gaps in the study The outcome of this study will be very vital for the school going children as it will enable them understand their full role in the societies and how to incorporate their cultures into their daily lives. The results of the study will also provide a basis for further studies by other researchers who will be interested in the study of the use of culture in play and its effects. However, from the provided and reviewed literature, no information was provided on the cultural impact on children with disabilities. This showed a sense of oversight since these disabled children regardless of their status, can participate and be accommodated in children cultural plays and integration. Reviewed literature emphasize on the pivotal position language have gained especially in self-identification among the children. As Valentine et, al., (2008, p. 385) pointed out, cultural norms influence the choice of language(s) that children use during their plays. Through this communication aid, the young feel a sense of identity and belonging and also shape how the young talk about their lives. That is to say, the choice of language is significantly as important as the choice of words. These studies, however, do not seem to include those children who are unable to speak any particular language and so rely on the use of signs to communicate their intentions. Research Design and Data Production Methods The research process on the use of culture in play will employ the use of descriptive design and inferential statistics. Descriptive design will be appropriate as it will help gather and describe the data obtained from the interviewing processes and the discussions obtained in class observations (Litchtman 2013, p. 67). The data obtained from the qualitative statistics will be used in explaining the pattern of the use of culture in play by children in the quantitative statistics (inferential statistics) (Cohen et al., 2011, p. 89). List of references References Archer, L, Hollingworth, S & Mendick, H 2010, Urban Youth and Schooling, McGrawHill, Open University Press, Maidenhead. Atkinson, P 1990, The Ethnographic Imagination, Routledge, London. Bazyk S, Stalnaker D, Llerena M, Ekelman B & Bazyk J 2003, Play in Mayan children. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, Vol. 57: pp.273–283. Berinstein, S & Magalhaes, L 2009, A Study of the essence of play experience to children living in Zanzibar, Tanzania, Occupational Therapy International Journal, Vol. 16 (2), pp. 89-106 Cohen, L, Manion, L, and Morrison, K 2011, Research Methods in Education. (7th Ed). Routledge, Oxon. Litchtman 2013, Qualitative Research in Education, Sage, London. Melhuus, C 2012, Outdoor day-care centers – a Culturalization of nature: how do children relate to nature as Educational practice? European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, Vol.20 (3), pp. 455-467 Punch, K 2009, Introduction to Research Methods in Education, Sage, London. Valentine, G, Sporton, D & Nielsen, K 2008, Language use on the move: sites of Encounter, identities and belonging, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers International Journal, Vol. 34 (5), pp. 68-122 Valentine, G., & Sporton, D 2009, ‘How Other People See You, It’s like nothing that’s inside’: The Impact of Processes of Disidentification and Disavowal on Young People’s Subjectivities, SAGE Publications, Los Angeles, London. Read More