Australian children's play in historical perspective: Continuity and change on the school playground

Abstract

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 twenty-first 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.