Piaget’s Developmental Theory of Play, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Childhood play is an important part of complex mental abilities that children develop later in life. Traits such as self-regulation, impulse and emotion control, and socially responsible behaviors are directly linked make-believe. These self-regulatory abilities are imperative for children to be able to meet academic and social requirements when they enroll in school. Vygotsky believed that make-believe play was an important stage of early childhood that helped children develop crucial skills that would be needed later in life. He added that this make-believe play was influential in the development of the zone of proximal development. Vygotsky said:

“Make-believe play creates a zone of proximal development in the child. In play, the child

always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior; in play it is as though he

were a head taller than him. As in the focus of a magnifying glass, play contains all

developmental tendencies in a condensed form and is itself a major source of development”(Vygotsky, 1978).

Vykotsky’s  make-believe play is the foundation of crucial skills that children need later in life .

What Make-Believe Play Looks Like

According to Vykotsky, make-believe play has some very distinctive features. The first feature he asserted was the creation of imaginary situations. With the creation of imaginary situations, children are able to separate mental presentations from the objects of events they represent. For example, children under the age of 2 will typically use realistic objects when pretending. They will use a toy phone to pretend they are calling mommy or daddy. However, by the time they are three, they can imagine more and are able to be more flexible with objects they use to pretend with (Fantuzzo, Sekino, & Cohen, 2004). Vykotsky conveys that this is a very important step in development because when they are able to do this they understand that words, symbols, and gestures have different meaning in reality than they do in make-believe play. Consequently, when children play like this they are increasing the possibility that they will become productive and socially responsible members of society.  Next, make-believe play is governed by rules.  Children use experiences they have had with their families, communities, and other play-mates to pattern rules and social behavior after. When doing this, children are ensuring that their social behavior is acceptable by people in their environment (Winsler, Diaz, & Montero, 1997).

Research on Make-Believe Play

Many researchers have informally watched children take part in make-believe play. Through this observation, it has been noted that children rarely violate the rules of their social world. As preschoolers engage in more complex forms of make-believe play, they adhere to cultural rules and conventions of their environment more effectively. For example, Winsler, Diaz, & Montero, 1997, conducted a study on self-talk. Self-talk occurs when children talk to themselves through situations. The talk can be as simple as saying to themselves that they need to wait their turn or as extravagant as saying there are no monsters in my closet because daddy said there are no monsters. Winsler, Diaz, & Montero believe that this process ensures that values and skills are passed from one generation to the next. During self-talk, children are playing the role of parents or care givers who provide support and guidance about appropriate decisions and behaviors. Consequently, self-talk increases when children are facing challenging conditions (Berk, 1992).

One study(Fantuzzo, Sekino, & Cohen, 2004).  was conducted on 59 preschool students aged 3 to 5 years old. Each child was observed 80 separate times while involved in make-believe play. The observations were done over a period of four days in 30 second intervals. The researchers found that even when children were discouraged from participating in make-believe play, they still did. However, those students who were discouraged from make-believe play displayed more negative conversations than those that were not discouraged. The children were observed in role play talk and self-guiding talk. The results of the study revealed that the more students engaged in make-believe play, the more they used self-talk to guide their thoughts and behaviors in real situations. This concept directly correlates with what Vygotsky defined as zone of proximal development: “the distance between the actual developmental levels as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers”. (Vygotsky, 1978)

Conclusion

The concept of zone of proximal development is beneficial to parents, care-givers, and educators. When persons who are in constant contact with children, being able to identify and engage a child’s zone of proximal development is of optimal importance. Vygotsky’s intention of the use of the concept of zone of proximal development was to enhance all forms of learning.  Vygotsky felt that make-believe play was an essential part of child learning and development. Children who are in the zone of proximal development, they must be provided with the necessary tools to accomplish a new task. Children use self-talk as one of those tools to talk their way through difficult or new challenges. Through the use of make-believe talk, children are able to lay the foundation for becoming socially acceptable members of society. Vygotsky says, “…that an essential feature of learning is that it creates the zone of proximal development; that is, learning awakens a variety of internal developmental processes that are able to operate only when the child is interacting with people in his environment and in cooperation with his peers. Once these processes are internalized, they become part of the child’s independent developmental achievement” (Vygotsky, 1978)

References

Berk, L. E. (1992). Children’s private speech: An overview of theory and the status of research. In R. M. Diaz & L. E. Berk (Eds.), Private speech: From social interaction to self-regulation (pp. 17–53). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Fantuzzo, J., Sekino, Y., & Cohen, H. L. (2004). An examination of the contributions of interactive peer play to salient classroom competencies for urban Head Start children. Psychology in the Schools, 41, 323–336.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher mental processes (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman, Eds. and Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1930–1935.)

Winsler, A., Diaz, R. M., & Montero, I. (1997). The role of private speech in the transition from collaborative to independent task performance in young children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 12, 59–79.