Young children demystifying and remaking the university through critical play

Abstract

This article, part of a four-year research partnership with a multilingual faith community and its school, explores what happened when we invited young children in an aftercare program to inquire into the university from their perspectives. Through a sociocultural literacy framework and realist theories of identity and experience, we examine the children's organic forms of sense making through what we describe as critical play. The children took up our invitation to represent their inquiries into college by using humour and imagination to demystify the university and make it their own. We conclude with some specific recommendations for colleges and universities interested in supporting access to higher education, especially for those young children who may not have the economic means or the entitlement of institutional legacy as part of their social habitus.

Critically Literate Citizenship: Moments and Movements in Second Grade

“…In particular, urban schools like the one featured in this article are already spaces where children and teachers are not given sufficient or adequate autonomy, freedom, and flexibility to engage in critical conversations. In constrained and regulated spaces, children's play is often narrowed and replaced by curriculum that scripts the time and materials for children to engage in their own social agendas (Campano et al, 2016;Yoon, 2013). Scripted curricula should also be read with the understanding that children's inquiries are worth attention and space despite curricular mandates.…”

“…Everyday Encounters: Play, Literacy, and Rethinking What Is "Critical" Campano et al (2016) describe the organic ways that critical literacy forms through children's play. In their project, elementary-aged children used humor, subversive content, and creative remixing of popular culture to (re)imagine the world around them.…”

“…Like many adults, Lisa expressed confusion over Hillary Clinton's defeat in spite of her popular victory, iterating that "all 25 kids," meaning everyone, voted for her. Rather than having conversations facilitated by the agendas of teachers or curriculum, children frequently revealed a varied range of interests and opinions about their sociopolitical circumstances through playful exchanges like this one (Buchholz, 2019;Campano et al, 2016). Donald Trump's political and social actions came up spontaneously throughout the school year: during playtimes when they further speculated on his title as the "worrrst" (Line 6); during classroom conversations when they still claimed Barack Obama as their president; during independent work times when children processed what they heard: Trump's dislike of "Black skin," his desire to "lock her [Hillary Clinton] up," the threat of "taking us back to the old days."…”

Playful Literacies and Practices of Making in Children’s Imaginaries

“…Popular cultural and media texts like Beast Quest also signify powerful emotional attachments for children (Marsh, 2005;Pugh, 2009). Recent work in the field has recognized play as an embodied approach that engages children in critical meaning making (Campano, Ngo, Low, & Jacobs, 2016;Thiel, 2015), as well as the possibilities of children using digital technologies to visually document moments of improvisational, dramatic play in the classroom (Buchholz, 2015b). In these examples, researchers and teachers situate children's bodies as tools for producing knowledge and thinking critically, reflecting a willingness to analytically engage in the messiness of moving bodies rather than allowing them to "fall to the cutting room floor" (Leander & Boldt, 2013, p. 32).…”

“…Shively, Peppler, & Wohlwend, 2014); mask-making, drama, animation, arts, digital filmmaking with child-produced props and artifacts (Honeyford & Boyd, 2015;Husbye & Vander Zanden, 2015;Wohlwend et al, 2013); stop-motion and cartoon animation (Mills, 2010;Simpson, Walsh, & Rowsell, 2013); toymaking and "toyhacking" (Wohlwend, Scott, Deliman, & Kargin, in press); costume-making, mask-making, and set construction (Doerr-Stevens et al, 2015;Kuby & Rucker, 2016); video editing and game development (Tekinbas, Gresalfi, Peppler, & Santo, 2014); coding/programing (Burke & Kafai, 2012); remixing (Honeyford & Boyd, 2015;Knobel & Lankshear, 2008); curation (Mihailidis & Cohen, 2013); and critical play (Campano et al, 2016;Comber, 2011;Doerr-Stevens et al, 2015). These are just a few examples to provide a glimpse of possibilities.…”