Full Description
This unique collection of 12 research projects carried out by experienced practitioners in the play sector in the UK and USA puts forward a range of perspectives on children's play and adults' relationships with it.
Drawing on a diverse range of research methodologies, the studies consider adults' memories of play; the co-production of spaces where children can play (in adventure playgrounds, out of school clubs, children's zoos, children's museums and public space); therapeutic approaches to playwork; playwork and wellbeing; supporting the play of severely disabled children and young people; play and contemporary art practice; and children's use of technology in a playground.
Offering a fresh look beyond the dominant singular voice of developmental psychology, this book is essential reading for anyone studying or working with children at play.
Contents
Foreword ‾ Berry Mayall;
Perspectives on play research: the practice-theory-research entanglement ‾ Wendy Russell, Stuart Lester and Hilary Smith;
Part One: Then and now: historical perspectives;
Nostalgia and play ‾ Paula Harris;
Debris and delight: children's play during the second world war ‾ Becky Willans;
Adventure playgrounds and me: bringing the past into the auto-ethnographic present ‾ Tom Williams;
Part Two: Here and there, this and that: spatial and creative perspectives;
Dancing with strangers: observing play in an English public square ‾ Hattie Coppard;
Researching children's play and contemporary art ‾ Megan Dickerson;
Play and value: determining the values of a nature play setting ‾ Linda Kinney;
Your space or mine? Play in out of school clubs ‾ Rebekah Jackson;
Co-creating spaces on an adventure playground: using participatory action research as an approach to continuing professional development ‾ John Fitzpatrick and Bridget Handscomb;
Children, mobile phones and outdoor play ‾ Chris Martin;
Part Three: Playfulness and wellbeing;
Understandings of play for children with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) ‾ Stephen Smith;
Therapeutic playwork: exploring playworkers' perceptions of therapeutic playwork training and its usefulness in supporting children in afterschool clubs ‾ Claire Hawkes;
Play, playwork and wellbeing ‾ Nic Matthews, Hilary Smith, Denise Hill and Lindsey Kilgour;
Part Four: Closing thoughts;
What do we want research in children's research to do? ‾ Wendy Russell, Stuart Lester and Hilary Smith
