Assignment:
Culture's Contribution to Play
In discussions, you have explored play in relation to culture and have examined personalities of play, including your own. In assignment, you will learn more about culture as it relates to play, which can help you further refine your personal framework of play that you have been developing in this course. Children's play can be personally meaningful through their physical environment, which is often influenced by sociocultural factors and the cultural context in which they live.
For this assignment, you will engage in a conversation with a relative, friend, or colleague to examine the ways in which culture has influenced his or her play. To prepare for this assignment, read the course text, and then conduct a conversation with a relative, friend, or colleague about how he or she played as a child. Ideas for questions you might ask during the conversation are provided in this week's Instructor Guidance. Construct your assignment to meet the content and written communication expectations below.
Content Expectations
• Introduction: Discuss who participated in this conversation with you and list the questions you asked during your conversation.
• Family Role: Explain the role of family in the facilitation of play from the cultural lens described of the course text.
• Conversation Analysis: Provide a summary of the responses to the questions you asked your relative, friend, or colleague during the conversation. Describe how the responses provided by your relative, friend, or colleague align with what you have learned from the course content. Cite at least two additional scholarly sources to support your analysis.
• Conclusion: Discuss the possible influence those experiences had on your relative's, friend's, or colleague's development (social, emotional, cognitive, physical).
Written Communication Expectations
• Page Requirement: Two-to-three pages, not including the title and references pages.
• APA Formatting: Use APA formatting consistently throughout the assignment as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Syntax and Mechanics: Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics such as spelling and grammar.
• Source Requirement: Reference three scholarly sources in addition to the course text to provide compelling evidence that supports your ideas. All sources on the references page need to be used and cited correctly within the body of your assignment.
Discussion 1
Theoretical Perspectives
The purpose of this discussion is to examine theories of play and begin developing a personal framework of play. Throughout the course, and culminating in the Week Five Final Paper, you will develop and refine a personal framework of play. To develop this personal framework of play, first identify and evaluate theories of play to determine those that most closely align with your values and beliefs regarding the role of play in children's growth and development. Next, consider whether you believe that play is a natural part of childhood with educational benefits.
Prepare for this discussion by first reading the course text. Next, review the Theories of Play article on California State University - Northridge's website and view the Play Theory video (for a transcript of the video please click here), which was filmed at an Arizona State University preschool.
Initial Post: Select two or more theories that explain the role of play in children's growth and development. Next, construct a paragraph in which you identify the theories chosen, describe how the selected theories align with your personal philosophy of play, and discuss how you plan to apply the selected theories in your educational work with children. Use the course text and one additional scholarly source to support your chosen theories. Cite your sources within the body of your post and provide complete references in APA format as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center at the end of your post.
Discussion 2
Is Play Important
Prepare for this discussion by reading the required text. Next, review the article on The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds and the National Association for the Education of Young Childcare's References to Play in NAEYC Position Statements to further prepare to advocate for and discuss the benefits of play experiences. Also, review Stuart Brown's research presented in the Play is More Than Just Fun video and note how, according to Dr. Brown, "humor, games, roughhousing, flirtation, and fantasy are more than just fun" (TED, 2008).
As an educator, a common topic you will face is defending the importance of play in the curriculum. Parents are often unaware of the benefits of play and would rather have their child be engaged in academic work. In this discussion, you will advocate for the importance of play. You will develop convincing arguments to be presented to a skeptical parent about why play is important for children. Additionally, participation in this discussion prepares you for the Week Five Final Paper through which you will develop your personal framework of play to use when advocating for play.
Initial Post: As an advocate for play, you will likely be required to articulate the value of play and discuss the perceived benefits of play to those who remain skeptical. Your goal is to convince a parent about the importance of play on a child's cognitive development.
In your post:
• Discuss how a child's cognitive development is influenced by play.
• Include at least two examples of neuroscientific research from the course text. Cite your examples within the body of your post and provide a complete reference in APA format as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center at the end of your post.
• Describe how you will facilitate cognitive development when working with children.
• Explain how you will communicate your perspective to the parent.