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Co-Playing in the Classroom

In the Exchange publication Connecting: Friendship in the Lives of Young Children and their Teachers, W. George Scartlett describes how "play provides children and teachers with a significant tool for addressing the isolation, anger, and unhappiness that mar children's exchanges with peers."  For example, he talks about co-playing, where a teacher plays alongside a child, following the child's lead. . .

"With isolated, shy children who spend a good deal of time watching others and wandering aimlessly around the classroom, co-playing serves several purposes.  First, it gets a child to play rather than simply to watch others and wander; and when a child is playing, there is at least the possibility of the child's interacting with other children.  Second, when the teacher succeeds in following the child's lead, the co-playing technique stimulates the kind of assertiveness these isolated, shy children need to show if they are to make it in the world of peers.

"Other children may be isolated but not shy.  Their isolation may stem from being preoccupied with troublesome feelings.  John [a child described earlier whose hostility toward his sister resulted in him growling when peers came close] was such a child.  Co-playing worked with him as well.  It provided opportunities for John to share his troubling fantasies.  After less than a month of co-playing, John's behavior changed dramatically.  He began initiating contact with his teacher -- sometimes seeking her out for physical cooperating when asked to do things like pick up at the end of free play time; and when, on occasion, he misbehaved, he responded to his teacher's requests to stop.  Equally important, John's peer relations improved.  He stopped growling and hitting others and began responding positively to the invitations of other children to play together."

To review and order Connecting, go to http://mail.ccie.com/go/eed/0186

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