Julia Bishop

Going Outside Together: Good Practice with Respect to the Inclusion of Disabled Children in Primary School Playgrounds

Abstract This paper reports some of the findings of research which has investigated the inclusion of disabled children in six primary school playgrounds in Yorkshire, in England. Initially the paper sets the policy context before moving on to discuss the importance of play for children, especially in a primary school setting and particularly for disabled children in such a setting. The inclusion of disabled children is discussed with respect to a series of social and organisational issues and the good practice identified relating to these issues. The social issues include the relationships the disabled children have with their peers and with the staff. The organisational issues relate to the individual routines, moving to a new school, the benefit of staff experience and training, encouraging activity in physical education lessons which can be translated in to the playground and the benefits of extra time outside for some disabled children. All these aspects can influence whether all the children can go outside together—an important underlying factor for the inclusion of disabled children in primary school playgrounds.

Digital play: a new classification

Abstract This paper draws on an ESRC-funded study of play and creativity in preschool-aged children’s use of apps in the UK. The main objectives of the study were to collect information about access to and use of apps in the home, establish the most popular apps and identify the features of those apps that are successful in promoting play and creativity. A mixed-method approach was used to collect data, including video filming of children using the most popular apps. In identifying play types that emerged in the analysis of data, the team utilised an established taxonomy, which outlines sixteen play types. This taxonomy was reviewed and adapted to analyse data from the project relating to digital play. Through this process, an additional type of play, transgressive play, was identified and added to the taxonomy. The paper outlines the implications of the revised taxonomy for future studies of play.

We're playing Jeremy Kyle'! Television talk shows in the playground

This paper focuses on an episode of play in a primary school playground in England, which featured a group of children re-enacting elements of the television talk show The Jeremy Kyle Show. The episode is analysed in the light of work that has identified the key elements of the talk show genre and the childrens play is examined in relation to conceptualisations of talk shows as cruelty-verité, carnivalesque spectacle and vehicles of social class anxiety. The paper explores the childrens playful re-enactment not only as a parody of adult worlds, but also as a confirmation of the ‘ordinariness’ of everyday life. It is argued that in episodes such as these, the functions of play are multiple and complex, but include a desire to construct collective moral sensibilities and reinforce normative discourses relating to sexuality and what it means to be a ‘good citizen’. The paper identifies spaces of continuity and discontinuity in such traditions and suggests that in play which draws from contemporary media we see the reconstruction of traditional play themes, but can also trace newer elements that are closely related to the generic conventions of reality television.

Challenges in the use of social networking sites to trace potential research participants

This paper reports on a number of challenges faced in tracing contributors to research projects that were originally conducted many decades previously. The need to trace contributors in this way arises in projects which focus on involving research participants in previous studies who have not been maintained on a database, or with whom the research team has lost contact since the initial study. The paper focuses, in particular, on the use of social networking sites to trace contributors and reflects on the issues raised when using these tools for this purpose. It reports on a study which attempted to trace, using the social networking sites Facebook and Friends Reunited, contributors to surveys of childhood play conducted by Iona and Peter Opie in the 1950s and 1960s. Success in using the sites for this purpose was limited and it is suggested that in cohorts which include generations and communities that might use new technologies less frequently than others, additional methods to track down participants may be required.

Reasons for Rhythm: Multimodal Perspectives on Musical Play

This chapter describes and analyses aspects of musical play at the two primary schools involved in the research. We are concerned not only with sound but also with other modes of communication, especially sight, gesture and touch, in musical play. There has long been recognition that music’s essentially sonic nature is closely allied to speech, gesture and movement (Tagg, 2002) and there is a growing literature on music and gesture as well as music and language (Godoy and Leman, 2010; Gritten and King, 2006, 2011). As will be seen in this chapter, children’s musical play draws on sedimented and newer cultural resources, including media ones. We argue that these are often artfully combined by the performers in a manner resembling ‘composition-in-performance’, as conceptualised in oral-formulaic theory (Lord, 1960; cf. Marsh, 2008; Parry, 1930). Hitherto mainly studied in terms of verbal and musical texts and individual performers, we explore how composition-in-performance is accomplished by small groups of performers and the roles played by the various modes in this process.

Families’ roles in children’s literacy in the UK throughout the 20th Century

This paper explores the changing roles of families in children’s developing literacy in the UK in the last century. It discusses how, during this time, understandings of reading and writing have evolved into the more nuanced notion of literacy. Further, in acknowledging changes in written communication practices, and shifting attitudes to reading and writing, the paper sketches out how families have always played some part in the literacy of younger generations; though reading was frequently integral to the lives of many families throughout the past century, we consider in particular the more recent enhancement of children’s literacy through targeted family programmes. The paper considers policy implications for promoting young children’s literacy through work with families.

Co-production of family literacy projects to enhance early literacy development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on how early years practitioners worked with the ORIM Framework to support work with parents to promote early literacy experiences. Design/methodology/approach – Co-produced Knowledge Exchange (KE) was used to develop and evaluate work with parents to facilitate their young children’s literacy. Information was gathered in discussion groups, interviews with parents and practitioners and feedback from all the parties involved. Findings – Practitioners and families engaged with each other in the further development of an established literacy programme, and families demonstrated “ownership” of the co-produced knowledge after the end of the project. Research limitations/implications – Project design in co-produced research and KE is necessarily flexible. The focus is on practitioners’ knowledge and ownership of the process, sharing knowledge with parents and enhancing children’s experiences. Practical implications – Practices that can enhance parental engagement...

The lives and legacies of Iona and Peter Opie

This article outlines the biographies of Iona (1923 –) and Peter (1918–1982) Opie and describes their aims, methods and theoretical orientation with particular reference to their work on childrens play and games in the third quarter of the twentieth century. The account illustrates their separate identities as well as portraying the joint working relationship they built up as a husband-and-wife team. The Opies’ reputation as pioneer researchers into childrens folklore in the UK and beyond derives from their publications, which have become classics in the field and widely read by a general audience as well as by academics and professionals. The Opies’ scholarship and its reception and impact are considered here. The article also describes the Opies’ archival collection, especially their ‘working papers’ and sound recordings, and highlights the importance of evaluating the Opies’ contribution in terms of their archival legacy, as well as their published works.

Parody, Homage and Dramatic Performances

The focus of this chapter is on play in which children draw on media to create staged performances. The performances range from replications of chants from children’s TV programmes, dramatic enactments of songs from musicals to parodic sketches of reality TV programmes. The analysis focuses on the social identities being enacted in these performances and the different ways of engaging with media productions. The chapter focuses in depth on an episode of play which featured a group of children at Monteney re-enacting elements of the TV talk show The Jeremy Kyle Show. The episode is analysed in the light of work which has identified the key elements of the talk show genre (Tolson, 2001) and the children’s play is examined in relation to conceptualisations of talk shows as carnivalesque spectacle (Tolson, 2001) and vehicles of social class anxiety (Gamson, 1999). The chapter explores the children’s playful re-enactment as a parody of adult worlds but also as a confirmation of the ‘ordinariness’ of everyday life. It is argued that in episodes such as these, the functions of play are multiple and complex but include a desire to construct collective moral sensibilities and reinforce normative discourses relating to sexuality and what it means to be a ‘good citizen’. In this way, play episodes that focus on talk shows or reality TV can be seen to be closely related to play which is rooted in the exploration of moral dilemmas and issues of right and wrong, which is a stock feature of children’s play, as identified in the work of the Opies (Opie and Opie 1959/2001).

Play and creativity in young children’s use of apps

This study is the first to systematically investigate the extent to which apps for children aged 0-5 foster play and creativity. There is growing evidence of children’s use of tablets, but limited knowledge of the use of apps by children of children of this age. This ESRC-funded study (ES/M006409/1) undertook research that identified how UK children aged from 0-5 use apps, and how far the use of apps promotes play and creativity, given the importance of these for learning and development. A survey was conducted of 2000 parents of under 5s in the UK, using a random, stratified sample, and ethnographic case studies of children in six families were undertaken. Over 17 hours of video films of children using apps were analysed. Findings indicate that children of this age are using a variety of apps, some of which are not aimed at their age range. The design features of such apps can lead to the support or inhibition of play and creativity. The study makes an original contribution to the international field in that it offers an account of how apps contribute to the play and creativity of children aged five and under.