It begins with a bang and ends with a hum

Play time in Kindergarten is so complex. In some ways it's straightforward, and others it's an intricate dance between fellow humans learning to navigate in the world. What I have always noticed: It always starts loud. Children jockeying for attention, for position, for a place at the table of play. But after awhile, it settles and shifts. The volume goes down so subtly that you may not even notice it until, suddenly, you realize you can hear your own thoughts again. 

Children come to school from so many varied backgrounds. Some of those backgrounds fit neatly into preconceived notions about what childhood should be. Others would break your heart. But at the center of all of them is the Child. And a child is built to play. Play is how we break it all apart and put it all back together. 

Every child brings their life experience to the play. The good, the bad, the in between- they all have a place in our play. If you are quiet, observant, able to step back, you will hear the story, see the dance. It takes discipline to not rush in to change it, to quiet it, to take it over. It takes trust to let them lead. However, when we do, we begin to see their spirits shine through. The insecurities melt away when children are allowed to master a skill through play. They begin to see themselves as capable, as independent, as someone who can lead. 

They learn to share space with each other, which, in turn, teaches them that there are other perspectives in the world, not just their own. When we allow the play to evolve independently from the bang to a hum, we know that's where the good stuff happens. That's where the noise of play turns into the music of community.

So let them play, let them be loud. Because, and trust me on this, naturally they will soften and quiet. Their will turn the noise into music, the bang into a hum.

Re-Thinking Play Out Loud

It began with an article in Sports Illustrated about Lacrosse (Lacrosse and Canada's Cultural Reckoning) and how that game was colonized in order to subjugate the Indigenous child. Then there was a post about non-white thinkers in Early Childhood Education. It ended where it will begin- with me banging my own head and saying, "Of course! How could I have not even seen that?" 

This post is more of a beginning for me, not a conclusion. It's more of a revisiting what I think I know, and realizing I need to go back and expand on my knowledge. 

Now, anyone who follows me or knows me understands how important I view play in our development. Why did it never occur to me that all of my beliefs in this matter come from the foundation of white Euro/American perspective? Mostly male, though there are some women thrown in there for good measure. Dewey, Vygotsky, Bronfenbrenner, the preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy- these are the thinkers that influence my teaching. I don't believe they are wrong, but I am realizing my thinking is incomplete. Particularly in this world that I live, a world made of many cultures and identities. I need to expand my thinking, and I need to seriously look into thinkers who have been ignored or brushed aside because they didn't fit the 20th Century narrative of psychology and development. 

I want to go back to the basics on the theory of play- what is the purpose of play? I have always had a ready answer for that, but now I question it. I think I need to dig deeper. I need to look beyond my own cultural lens to see what flows underneath it and around it. 

I know that all mammals play- it's how we all learn. It's how humans work out the world around them and figure out where they fit into it. According to the SI article (mentioned above), lacrosse was more than a game, it has a spiritual underpinning that the dominant white culture attempted to take away. A game that was forced to shift from playing to discover something within us, to a game with winners and losers. There was a spiritual element to the game. It was a way for Indigenous children to figure out their universe. I imagine in many other cultures it is the same way. The purpose of play was more than a means to an end, but a way to connect to something bigger than we are, a way to delve further into our spiritual beings. And, isn't that what we really mean when we talk about using play to figure out the world around us?

So, my new objective- to look at the power of play, but from other perspectives that have been ignored. Play is big, and the thinking around it is bigger than we understand.