In the latter half of January I travelled across the country to spend time with Linda Linder at @tredje_rummet and we talked about play, pedagogy, process, product, permission, possibilities - hmm - that's a lot of words beginning with P.
All around us was stuff.
Lots and lots of stuff.
Lots of possibilities and potentials
Texture was something that caught my attention and I found myself taking a series of photos of the different textures that fascinated me right then and there.
When I reflect back on our dialogues I realise that they also had texture too.
Not just flat smooth ideas and thoughts, but soft, hard, rough, fuzzy etc
Many different textures that made us feel many different things.
And just with all textures we don't always react the same way to them.
Textures, as an autistic person, are massively important, but often overlooked by neurotypicals, or managed easily so that they are not as noticeable.
If the texture is wrong (clothes, food, stuff) then it can consume energy - if it is right it can be absolutely delightful - filled with wonder, intensity - and sometimes distracting.
I don't eat fruit - because the texture is wrong in my mouth - so wrong that it makes me physically sick. It's not a good feeling. Fruit looks and smells good - it's just not an option for me.
I keep thinking about why is fruit the wrong texture - and I can’t quite place my finger on it… but I often think that maybe it is that it is too many challenging textures all at once - the skin of the fruit, no matter how delicate, the soft/crispy flesh and then the seeds - sometimes the flesh has membranes or other details within in it. I lean towards the crispy side of managing… take away the soft seeds in the middle of a cucumber that are both wobbly and a little hard, watery and firm - then I can eat the rest, as its much more predictable in my mouth… using the word predictable makes me think about risky play - and that uncertainty of the texture of fruit, the overwhelming number of different challenging textures are all beyond my personal capacity to cope. There are times when I can eat a slice of melon, if the texture is just right, nice and firm and mono-textured - it is within my capacity to cope with a challenging texture but at the edge - just like risky play.
I think sound has texture too - there are some sounds that just vibrate wrong - and they are physically uncomfortable - while other sounds make me so happy and at peace or unable to keep still or I express - "that's just so satisfying". One of my big memories from junior school (7-11) was that some lessons were supposed to be more fun that others because they were on the radio. Talking voices on the radio vibrate differently than talking in real life… I feel it within my body as it resonates with those vibrations, and this is perceived as something negative by my brain. I would look around the classroom at everyone else who were so excited by the radio lesson and I would try to override my brain to be excited too - a kind of pain management so to speak. It never occurred to me that the other children in my class did not experience sound the same as me, I just assumed everyone felt uncomfortable but liked it anyway. The need to belong is important - I wanted to belong, so faking enjoying radio talk was a part of that. That kind of masking is exhausting.
So I wonder - what are the textures of play?
The word texture refers to the quality of something that can be decided by touch, for example whether it is rough or smooth, or soft or hard: a smooth/rough/coarse texture.
Does this mean we can decide the quality of play… and what do we mean by quality in this sense? Not the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind or the degree of excellence of something - but a distinctive attribute or characteristic possessed by someone or something.
So by exploring the texture of play we are considering the attributes and characteristics of play.
Smooth, slippery, prickly, rough, crunchy, gritty, bumpy, rubbery, floury, sandy, soft, fluffy, silky, sticky, velvety, feathery, fuzzy, squishy, coarse, etc etc
The National Braille Press has created an activity that links emotions with textures - a list of emotions and a list of different textures that can be offered for the children to make personal connections between.
Maybe the same could be done with play? Adventurous play, small world play, doll play, lego play, imaginary play, role play, puddle play etc etc. My assumption is that most play will be experienced in different ways - small world play could be soft or hard, smooth or rough, fuzzy or sticky depending on the story of the play the children are engaged in.
And then we will have different responses to those feelings - some children might love a “sticky” feel of play while others find it abhorrent. I know many children that love the feel of sand or flour on their hands or between their toes - and equally other children that hate it or feel physically sick. I had a friend in school that could not stand the texture of cotton wool, and even the sight of it made her cringe.
So what is the point of thinking about play as textures?
Well, I think it provides a space where we can communicate, as adults together, about the complexity of play - and that the doing, the actions, the verbs of play is just one part of that - and that the children’s (and our own adult) reactions to and experience of the play is another vital part. How we perceive our actions is important to reflect on - is it joy-filled, is it something we want to continue with, does it make us feel good, is it exciting or thrilling - these will all belong to play. If it makes us feel uncomfortable, or challenges us - it might be a part of risky play - at the edge of our capacity - and if it goes beyond that, and it feels painful, or abhorrent then it is no longer play but something we feel forced to do for many possible reasons.
Play is an incredibly personal thing and yet universal at the same time. This is why it can be good to find different ways to explore how to communicate about this. If we have more words it can be easier to notice the nuances of play and the infraplay
Last night I was at a celebration of Margareta Öhman and play and where we chatted together about my instagram post about the texture of play, but instead she used the word structure… which in a sense is building on texture. Structure is
the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex. (noun)
a building or other object constructed from several parts. (noun)
to construct or arrange according to a plan; give a pattern or organisation to. (verb)
We could consider that it is the arrangement and relationships between the textures of play that acknowledges the complexity of play. It also considers the physical environment of play, as well as the organisation/pattern of play. This implies a beginning, middle and end to play stories that can go on repeat - just as we bead strings with a repeating pattern - that could eventually evolve into new patterns that repeat.
As play responsive educators - that observe the play in order to be better informed how to plan teaching, scaffolding and the play and learning environment - we should be taking note of the play stories and how they are structured, and the play textures - how they are perceived by the children (and ourselves) so that our teaching can be in tune with how the brain is exploring the world.
As Biesta writes - education should not be exclusively child-centred or curriculum centred but world-centred. By this he means how do we scaffold children to interact with the world and be a part of the world? What do they need in order to learn and to thrive? This is Original Learning’s intention too. The interweaving of play, learning and teaching that is relevant and meaningful to each child and the community of learners, that connects them to the world - locally and globally - and creates sustainable (environmental, economical and social) spaces that are safe and brave for every child to come to know their own competences, capacities and limits and how they can participate and collaborate as active citizens.
By understanding the textures and structures of play together, we can work towards not pathologising play that is necessary for healthy development, and overcoming bias based on our own personal reactions to textures and structures of play and/or overcome the normalisation of some play being valued and other play being frowned upon unquestioningly.
The texture of play strives to provoke each and every one of us to ask more questions. To approach play with an attitude of curiosity rather than control.