The Democracy of Play

Nurturing Every Child's Sense of Belonging

Recently the Wunderled “Belonging” Summit included an interview between myself and Sally Haughey, and I was asked about the slides that I shared. So I thought I would share here, the democracy ones and also go into the things we can observe when children are playing so we know whether there is a sense of belonging within the democratic play and learning space we are providing for children.

Firstly, this is what i think democracy is. Not voting, that is just a tool of democracy to vote in leaders that can assure the above can be done on a country wide scale. A democratic classroom is where I teach children these skills that they can practice and apply in their play. This means that they will both get it right and wrong in their play - because they are still practicing.

As I always say - it is our adult responsibility to be ALWAYS kind - children have their entire childhood to practice being kind… and they will get better and better at being kind all of the time, but new encounters, on tired days, when self regulation is low etc then there will be times when kindness is not their top priority. This is the same for all of the words below, which I think are the skills needed to be democratic. The words in red are the essential threads of Original Learning.

Below are some questions we can ask ourselves when observing the children’s play, as a way of trying to work out what we need to do as play responsive educators to provide not only a democratic space, but also a space where the children can feel a sense of belonging.

Tools for Observing children's democratic abilities in play.

play and enjoy life - how do children play with materials and each other - do some children need more support than others? Social, physical, linguistic, sensory, cognitive, emotional or some other support?

self-regulate - are there any children who have difficulty self-regulating? Is there a pattern to their self-regulation problems? How do you know that there is a pattern?

be autonomous - are some children in a position where they always react and not make their own choices in their play and learning? Do they tend to follow others and rarely lead the play? Why? Because they don't dare, or some other reason, such as not having the language to communicate with others? Are they excluded, and to be included must only take certain, less popular, roles? Or some other reason?

be attentive/have focus - which children have difficulty with attention, is it all the time or some of the time? Is it linked to hunger, fatigue or some other probable reason? How do you know that they have difficulty with focus? what do you mean by focus? Does everyone have the same understanding?

care and have compassion/empathy - how do children express their kindness and concern for others? Children will have their own way of showing kindness. How do children express respect for themselves and others?

take responsibility - how do children take responsibility? Are they responsible in some areas and not in others? Or some times and not at other times? What can they take responsibility for? And why? or why not?

communicate - how do children communicate? Through words (written/spoken/signed) or some other medium? Can children adequately understand each other?

influence - how do children express their ideas - through the spoken word, through drawings, through physicality? Are all ideas that are expressed noticed by other children and/or adults? How do we know that all ideas are noticed and who influences the activity?

participate - how do children participate? When do they participate? What skills do they use to be able to participate? Are there any children who have difficulty or do not want to participate? Why?

belonging - do children express themselves in a way that shows that they feel they belong to the group? Do they behave in a way that makes everyone else feel they can belong? What actions make it harder to belong (by children and adults)? What changes in the environment can be made to create a better sense of belonging for each child?

listen – do children listen to each other, or do they rely on adults to make others listen? Do children have the skills they need to be able to listen? Is it language, focus, physical discomfort, social anxiety or some other reason that interferes with their ability to listen to understand?

be curious – what are children curious about? How do they physically show that they are curious, so that we can recognise it? Are some children more outwardly curious than other children, which leads to their interests being followed because we do not notice other children's curiosity?

seek knowledge – where do children seek knowledge – do they ask questions, read books, experiment or experiment? Do they share their knowledge with each other? How are digital tools used as part of the search for knowledge? How are excursions used as part of the search for knowledge? How do we rearrange the furniture so that knowledge is accessible to children?

interact and collaborate - how do children interact with each other. Does the whole group get along with each other, or are there many small sub-groups that rarely play with each other? What kind of friendship drama is there? Are some children excluded? Is any child belittled?

reflect - do children have time to reflect? When children reflect what does it look like? Are they quiet and doing self-reflection? Or in a group when they draw or do some activity that is easy to do and makes it easier for them to reflect together? How are photos and films used to support reflection?

imagine - how do children use their imagination - what types of problems do they solve, what types of inventions do they come up with (no matter how small or already existing solutions, it is new to them)? What types of stories do they tell? When are they most imaginative? Where? Do some activities trigger the imagination more than others? How do we know?

risk assessment - when we observe risky play, how do we know that they are making risk assessments? Are some children “too afraid”, or some children not thinking before they act? Is the space too safe for children to be able to exercise risk assessment at all?

be resilient - how quickly do children bounce back from a setback? Do some children take a long time? What kind of support do they need to recover more quickly?

self-direct/self-manage - can children plan their own play?

slow down - do children have enough time to play, notice wonders around them, get into a state of flow?

These are far from all the questions we should be asking ourselves, but they can be a good start. I am also not suggesting that you start with all of these, but maybe focus on one area at a time, and work through them, while having them all floating in the back of your head in case a moment pops up allowing you to make a connection (again not asking for you to memorise these questions, but to have a feel for them)

As inclusion is a part of belonging, I thought I would add this list to encourage reflection.

Designing a space for inclusion where play is at the heart will require you to reflect on the following:

• Ensuring your setting (indoors and outdoors) is sensory rich with affordances that engage the tactile, auditory, vision, vestibular and proprioceptive sensory systems.

• Choosing resources and play experiences with a wide variety of challenge levels to ensure children of all ages and abilities are actively engaged.

• Encouraging children of different abilities with similar interests to play together by locating similar activities close to one another to stimulate imagination and parallel or cooperative play. Similarly children with different interests can be encouraged to play together by careful curation of materials and cross-pollination of resources. Parallel play is important at all ages.

• Using wonder to create a sense of belonging. Think about creating accessible “wonder-spots” as a destination point where everyone wants to go - and everyone can get to.

• Identifying the resources that you think children will be most excited about and ensuring they are accessible and usable by all, not just some.

• Developing calm and quiet areas for children who may get overstimulated by noise, high activity, and high density of stuff.

• Thinking about the ground surface. Does it allow wheelchair users to navigate the play space easily? What about children with limited or no vision? Can texture or patterns create better play autonomy? Does a variety of textured surfaces add needed sensory stimulus or limit wheelchair access?

• Making sure routes around and through the play and learning areas are wide enough so wheelchair users can pass each other, transfer onto equipment, and get close to all activities.

• Making sure all the children can see themselves reflected in the indoor and outdoor spaces, through images, books, cultural props, and other stuff. Make sure it does not exotify or add to stereotyping.

Play as an act of Resistance and a Pedagogy of Hope - democracy and belonging are vital forces.