The Language of Play

I've started thinking about play from a linguistic stance. How do we use the word play? What does it mean and what does it imply?

This initial investigation will have two parts: observations and analysis, followed by experimentation. I am curious about how the word play is used in schools and classrooms and how it affects students' relationship with it. Beyond that, I would like to experiment with changing, what I predict is a negative relationship between the word, as used in schools, and children.

I'd like to lay some groundwork. The word play has a wide range of definitions, including everything from "a dramatic composition or piece" and "elusive change or movement," to verb forms like, "to engage," "to wager," "to operate." I think my favorite perhaps is "freedom for action, or scope for activity," as in "full play of the mind." That's what I want play to be in my classroom, but here's what it sounds like now...

"Don't play! This is serious!"

"I'm not playing with you!"

"Stop playing! Get focused."

"This is not the time to play."

I stopped a student, who was engaged in unfocused activities during independent work time:

Me: Stop playing.

Student: I wasn't playing!

I run off a laundry list of the things I observed her doing, then closed with:

Me:...Put those on the side play. They're the opposite of work.

Et cetera. Et cetera.

What message am I sending to my students about "play?" It doesn't belong here. This is not a place for play.

* * *

I started this post a few weeks ago as the idea was just presenting itself to me. Since then, I've started trying to write down different phrases and statements that I speak in the classroom involving play. Of course, I've become much more conscious of the word and what I want it to mean to my students, but it hasn't stopped me from using it negatively. Play is something that keeps us from working. It interferes with our collective ability to serve our purpose of learning in school. Every time the word comes out of my mouth, I feel a pang of guilt about the message I'm sending out with it.

I've observed the language of play from my side of the classroom, now I need to observe it from the students' side. I'm interested in knowing how they perceive play in the classroom. Often when I call a student out for playing, they vehemently proclaim "I wasn't playing!" There's an obvious divide here. Is it that everything that I perceive that as unfocused activity is "play," or is there something specific that I'm seeing that leads me to use "play" to address it. I also need to know what the students consider themselves doing in those moments and what they believe "play" or "playing" is in school. After I collect some data in this area, I'll be ready to experiment...

How do I change the state of play in our classroom to reflect that full play of the mind that intrigues and attracts me? How can I use language to begin making that change?