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PLAY: A VYGOTSKIAN APPROACH With Elena Bodrova, Ph.D. and Deborah Leong, Ph.D.
1996 (26 min) $250.
ISBN: 1-891340-60-3 View a short clip from this film Visit our Support Materials section to view or download the Learning Guide and Discussion Topics for this film.
Thoughtful early childhood educators have always valued high level creative play and developmental psychologists such as Piaget, Parten, Kagan and Howe have endorsed its value for fostering intellectual and social growth. However, Lev Vygotsky’s insight that creative play provides young children with self-regulation skills comes as a fresh understanding of play’s great importance to healthy development. This film not only provides examples of high level creative play, it also gives specific input for teachers to set up situations in which it takes place. Without sensitive teacher involvement, too often media-saturated children tend to play out stereotypical and, sometimes violent, scenarios. The film also shows the developmental path of play as children become ever more self-reliant in creating and maintaining ingenious play scenarios.
Film content: Piaget’s analysis of the stages and value of play The socialization aspects of play according to Parten, Kagan and Howe Vygotsky’s concept of the value of play Children must stay within the rules and roles of the play scenario Children able to behave more maturely in play Zone of Proximal Development Developmental path of play from infancy through middle childhood Ways to foster high level play in early childhood settings Planning play with children Props Refocusing aggressive play
Introducing new players to on-going scenario
Visuals: Preschool play in two different classrooms, one a suburban and one inner city A medical office scenario Two housekeeping scenarios A trick or treating sequence A birthday party Space exploration Three Bears enactment Infant and mother “talk” together Toddler and father in imitative play Games with rules with older children Therapeutic sand table play session Teacher support and interventions in maintaining high level play
Consultants: Elena Bodrova, Ph.D. was born and educated in the Soviet Union, immigrating to the United States in the early l990’s. She studied under A.N. Leont’ev who had been a student of Vygotsky’s. In the United States, Dr. Bodrova has been a professor and has lead many teacher workshops for the Mid-Continent Research in Education and Learning Institute (MCREL).
Deborah Leong, Ph.D. received her doctorate in psychology from Stanford. She is a professor of psychology at Metropolitan College of Denver and the author of several books on constructivistic education.
Other films with Drs. Bodrova and Leong as consultants: VYGOTSKY’S DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY: AN INTRODUCTION SCAFFOLDING SELF-REGULATED LEARNING IN PRIMARY CLASSROOMS BUILDING LITERACY COMPETENCIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD Related film: Part of the EARLY CHILDHOOD SERIES
Read a Published Review of this Film: Reviewed by Christine Sisak, Lorette Wilmot Library, Nazareth College of Rochester Play: a Vygotskian Approach, written and narrated by Elena Bodrova and Deborah Leong, discusses Lev Vygotsky's insight into the role of play in the cognitive development of young children. The program is focused in part on a paper Vygotsky authored in 1933 entitled "Play and its role in the mental development of children". Play also compares Vygotsky's views with other theorists such as Sigmund and Anna Freud, Erik Erikson, and Piaget, and takes the audience directly into children's play settings. The benefits of play are listed as affective and emotional, cognitive, and social. Vygotsky suggests that for children, play is a means of gratifying impossible desires (affective / emotional), not wish fulfillment or a way of working through problems/conflicts, as suggested by Freud and Erikson. Vygotsky also suggests that the road to abstract thinking in a child (the cognitive) is developed through play and is not divided into three distinct stages as viewed by Piaget. The social benefits of play, as studied collaboratively by Vygotsky and Daniel Elkonin, point out that it is a means by which a child learns self-regulation, or playing by the rules. Bodrova and Leong further discuss Vygotsky's developmental path to play, as characterized in infancy, toddlerhood, early and later childhood. This path includes four components Vygotsky sees essential for play to occur: an imaginary situation, defined roles, rules, and use of language. Concluding this presentation, Bodrova and Leong offer the audience ways to achieve or foster quality play. These include points such as redirecting and replacing violent play with constructive play, encouraging children to play by assigning roles, and providing a stimulating environment. This segment offers excellent ideas and examples to those involved with young children. Play: a Vygotskian Approach is another well written and produced program distributed by Davidson Films. The presentation is extremely organized and very clear. The use of charts enables viewers to take notes easily and the interspersed animation adds to the present quality of carefully chosen and filmed children's play sessions. Play: a Vygotskian Approach would enhance a library collection that supports programs in the fields of early childhood education and/or psychology. This program comes highly recommended.
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