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Australian Children’s Play in Historical Perspective: Continuity and Change on the School Playground

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 14:36 authored by Katherine Darian-SmithKatherine Darian-Smith
In the 1950s, the visiting American folklorist Dorothy Howard was the first scholar to research and analyse children’s play in Australian primary schools. Subsequent studies have since observed children’s school playground activities, documenting how their play has been influenced by such factors as bureaucratic and pedagogical practices, the impact of new technologies and demographic changes in the ethnic and cultural composition of the Australian population. In the Childhood, Tradition and Change research project conducted in 2007–2011, a multidisciplinary team of scholars collaborated to produce the first national survey of Australian children’s playlore in primary school playgrounds in the early twentyfirst century, with the aim of comparing this data with that of prior studies. This article provides an overview of the types of playground activities that were observed by the Childhood, Tradition and Change project in 19 schools across Australia. It considers some aspects of play within its historical context, with brief reference to cultural diversity, gender and the school playground environment as among the key determinants of the change and continuity that were observed in contemporary Australian children’s playlore.

History

Publication title

International Journal of Play

Pagination

264-278

ISSN

2159-4937

Department/School

College Office - College of Arts, Law and Education

Publisher

Routledge

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

Copyright 2012 Taylor & Francis

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Other culture and society not elsewhere classified