Practice-Based Research in Children's Play by Wendy Russell Stuart Lester Hilary Smith (review)

Abstract

Book Review: Practice-Based Research in Children’s Play 164 Practice-Based Research in Children’s Play Wendy Russell, Stuart Lester, and Hilary Smith, editors (2017) Bristol, UK/Chicago, IL: Policy Press, 272 pages $115.00 (hardcover); ISBN: 978-1-4473-3003-5 This book is a compilation of 12 research studies that examine children’s play, the places where they play and adults’ relationship to children’s play. The editors are researchers whose work focuses on children’s right to play, the value of play, policy related to play and the places where play can occur, and play’s relation to health and wellbeing. The contributing authors of the 12 studies come from a variety of backgrounds. Most, but not all, are not traditional (i.e., academic) researchers. They are play workers, managers of child-related organizations (i.e., zoo, museums, adventure playgrounds), and staff in local government organizations. All but two of the authors are from the UK; the remaining two are from the U.S. Given the book title and the background of the chapter authors, the book’s primary audience is those who work directly with children outside of formal educational institutions and those who are interested in policy related to children’s play. Some traditional academics may also find the work helpful if they are interested in nontraditional and alternative approaches to research related to children and children’s play. The editors are clear that the studies do not follow the traditional EuropeanAmerican empirical research tradition. In the introduction and the final chapter, the editors state that they believe this is not the only way to create new knowledge. The scientific method, anchored in theory, begins with a question to be answered in order to ultimately arrive at some cause and effect or truth. The research questions are driven by the interests of the researcher with little or no input from the “subjects” of the research. Whether quantitative or qualitative, the editors assert that research in this tradition relies on interpretation of the data from the perspective of the researcher’s worldview. This, they maintain, is in spite of the claim of objectivity. The intention of this book is to present research, all of which is qualitative and uses small sample sizes, that does not necessarily produce universal truths but rather concentrates on singular findings from a variety of play situations. The editors’ goals are to highlight practice-based research and to thereby encourage it. The book is divided into three sections: historical perspectives, spatial and creative perspectives, and playfulness and wellbeing. The three chapters in the first section explore adults’ memories and perspectives of play in their childhoods. The section includes a study that explored adults’ memories of their East London childhood during World War Two (Becky Willans) and a study of a UK playworker’s 40-year relationship with adventure playgrounds (Tom Williams). The studies used semistructured interviews, oral histories, auto ethnography, and performative and narrative methods. The information collected from the participants is analyzed through the lens of loose parts, affordances, risk and nostalgia. All of these studies were conducted in the UK. Book Review: Practice-Based Research in Children’s Play 165 The second section has six chapters that examine the current spaces and places where children play including a children’s museum and a zoo in the U.S. as well as an urban public square, an after-school program, and two adventure playgrounds in the UK. These studies make use of many non-traditional qualitative research methods. For example, the author (Hattie Coppard) of the urban public space study uses observation of children’s play, but the observers were a dancer, a writer and a painter. The argument here is that instead of a goal of objectivity on the part of the observer, individuals from different perspectives will see different things as observers. The information gleaned from each observer will provide a more holistic and perhaps nuanced understanding of children’s play and how they use this particular space. Another interesting aspect of this section is the exploration of the tension between adults’ intentions for children’s play and children’s own goals or needs. This tension is related...