Blog Post #10 by Cabrera, Roberto

 

    When I first heard of the word play, I think about young adolescents gathering around and competing against one another. Some youth compete to see who has better skills, while others do it to have fun. They are learning how to communicate in those spaces, but something important to understand for youth who are playing against each other is to have fun. After reading the article's, it helped me see how Play is an important aspect of children's lives.

     According to Jenkins, "Play refers to the young child's activities characterized by freedom from all but personally imposed rules (which are changed at will), by free-wheeling fantasy involvement, and by the absence of any goals outside the activities itself" (n.d, p.2-3). Students are being acknowledged to be themselves by showing their peers what skills they bring to the space. There are also different kinds of activities kids like to play. As an educator, I must think about games that interests students. The plan is to have them do an assignment where they will be involved in participating in doing something creative. I also want it to be something they are good at or matches their educational needs. If I just give them a game I want them to play, it will not help them develop their own knowledge. They will find each other in a situation where someone is leading the activity and is close to beating the person they are facing. One quote that resonated with me to mention how students will experience winning and losing while they play is "Children recognize early on that play is an opportunity for pure enjoyment, whereas games may involve considerable stress" (Jenkins, n.d, p.3). If students happen to lose a match by any means, it is not for them to think about say their opponents are better or they are not too good. The point of losing is to help them see what mistakes they made during the game and see how they can learn from those actions to improve the next time they face someone. Losing is something that happens to many young folks and I think it can be part of play as it helps us grow our own skills. Every member should have an opportunity to participate and give it their best shot. Whether they win or lose, we are all here to communicate and improve each other's qualities of life. Also, we are gaining better communication as a team to show why each one of us deserves to play.

      Another important concept I captured from Jenkin's article are the 6 P's, which are "Permission, Process, Passion, Productivity, Participation, and Pleasure". The more I heard these words, the better I was able to think my own actions as well as the way I want my future students to feel when they experience play in their educational journeys. The author was portraying how students learn through all different types of play. As a youth worker, my goal is to have to each student participate. They must give themselves the opportunity to play and say "I can do it" to show they belong in this space and are ready to meet the challenges they are up against. Also, I "must work very hard to give signals when play is an acceptable mode of engaging with the activities" and help them build a positive relationship when they are either competing against each other or playing for fun. Students must be given as many ideas to see how they can improve their own skills. Practice is another method to support their ability to achieve greatness throughout the game. If all of us could work together as a team, the better it would be for all of us to participate and feel as we belong in this workspace. Permission and process were the two P's I resonated with as this something I experienced when participating in an event as a young child. I put myself to the test to show my peers how my skills were OK to use. Not only was I respected for giving myself a chance, I was also being acknowledged by my teachers and classmates to do a great job as they prepared me for these challenges. The same this was applied to me, I also want to apply this to my kids and tell them their skills matter to me and will help me see how I can better support them for future activities.

    As with Passion, Productivity, Participation, and Pleasure those are also important for students to use. Although I did not have an experience with either of those P'S, I know young adolescents will have to a chance to see those things happen. Depending on the topics students like or learn most from, those topics they utilize is what will motivate them to learn. An example would be if art helps their growth mindset, they are passionate about becoming great artists and use art as their model to help them become a great drawer or painter when they reach their secondary level of education. They will be able to stay concentrated and have more opportunities to learn in school. Anything that entertains them is what will keep them occupied and ready to learn. Many of our students will learn much material. When they play, they are being creative. If I were to give them an assignment based on their own ideas, they are using their own creativity and are positive about doing a great job. We do not tell kids what to do, they are being themselves and having fun using the materials they think will work out best. They are also showing us something we might not have used as young adolescents. The skills they bring is what also helps us learn how they became better students. All this helped me see Play in a better way.

    As I read Chillaxing, it talks about how New Urban Arts supports students in a positive way. New Urban Arts is an "Art Organization located in Westminster St. in Providence, RI" and they allow students to participate using their own creativity as well. One quote from this article that resonated with me in terms of play is "Protecting the qualities that so many young people at New Urban Arts desire requires thinking about productivity in ways that are not measurable and assured by categories of audit" (n.d, p.87) because many youth come into this space feeling as their needs are not being met in their schools. Also, they feel as they are not having fun in school. Students should play a role where they can express to their peers and educators their skills are different, but are also trying to seek for improvement or find a way to have their ideas be shown in class. New Urban Arts are doing the best they can to help youth feel supported and recognized rather than "troubled" (p.87). New Urban Arts let students be creative in their program and make space for them to be creative and express the issues they had in their educational settings. They make them feel as they belong to the community. As with some teachers, they sometimes make the assumption that someone who has a different identity compared to their peers do not have the same talents. It seems to me this program cares about the way people think no matter how different they are whether it has to do with a different race or skills they have in school. As Productivity is one of the 6 P's in play, we are allowing ourselves to see our own society in different ways. Also, we are changing our learning styles by letting the people we work with their talents matter and letting their ideas develop our style of play. The more we work together, the better our environment will be for each individual which not only lets them see how hard they play, but to also see they are giving it their best shot, which is an important part of play.