Pedagogic

author: Suslava Alla

Game in a Pre-school Child Subculture

Summary

The given article reflects theoretical grounds for empirical research of child subculture formation at pre-school age. Role play and other kinds of child activities are concerned as the conditions for development and display of child subculture, which is being added to by different new elements during the pre-school period. These are child folklore, Children Code of Law, chil humor, child magic and myth-creation, giving nicknames to the children of their own age and adults, religious beliefs.

Key-words

Child subculture, game(playing), pre-school age, psychological vocabulary.

I. Introduction

The origin of child subculture as a historical cultural phenomenon is conditioned by sex-age stratification of the society which dates back to the ancient times when those members of the community who hasn’t passed through initiation (a special custom of passin4g into maturity) get united to accomplish joint concerted activities equal to adults’ ones. During the last decades the development of humanization and democratization of social life caused the changes of social understanding of a child just as a human being that is only “getting ready to become a real personality”, it resulted in the admittance of childhood self-evaluation in the development of common human culture and the child capacity to take part in different spheres of social life [1, 15].

The development of a human society made the forms of social interaction automatic. It created the transition from entire imitation of adults’ family life, working and traditional activities to the game as to special non-productive form of activity thanks to which the control of child self-behaviour as well as his orientation in all the meanings of human activities and relationships takes place.

II. Setting the task

Game is one of the most important human activities. It is necessary for adequate progress, entertainment and rest. As it is known game, being the leading activity at pre-school age, contributes to the development of psychological new growths and gives birth to other types of activities within it stimulating complete psychological child development.

Child subculture has a great gaming potential. This is proved by the research works of Vinogradov G.S., Osorina M.V. and so on, who distinguished such child games in the given context as formal games, games-improvisations, imitating games, games based on life events. The latest Abramenkova’s research work points out the existence of traditional folk games such as round dances, active games, military-sport competitions and so on.

A traditional game is not only a sheer child community performance of adult relationships historically based. It is a child interpretation of those relationships, it is the way to find their own place in the world and it stimulates the development of folklore elements in a child subculture: counting-rhymes, teasing-rhymes, dissuasions, chants and so on. Child folklore is passed orally in the process of gaining social experience. While in game, the child not only arbitrary remembers the contents, he simultaneously acquires the knowledge how to use it in practice. At first a pre-school child uses texts given by child subculture only in game, but after this age he successfully solves difficult psychological situations with the help of acquired folklore elements of a child subculture.

In addition pre-school age is the most sensitive period in learning the semantic part of speech. That is why learning the verbal riches of a child subculture in the process of a game the child actively studies psychological vocabulary, which is a very important component of individual psychological culture.

III. The Results

A scientific theoretical analysis of psychology-pedagogical literature allows us to ground methodologically the study of a game and its value for the development of a child subculture. Our research, which is held within diagnostics of child subculture age development, states age progress of pre-school child subculture at the age range from 3 to 5 and consistent learning gaming activity.

3-4-year-old children play games with enthusiasm and for a long period of time, examine an interesting object, look through the books, play with meccano, make plasticine models, play finger games. It means active learning of subject game takes place which is leading at lower pre-school age and it is considered to create skills and abilities in a child connected with the usage of objects directly. There is no doubt that this is the age for the child to use the elements of child subculture actively such as finger games, mother’s folklore and learning new words concerning psychological vocabulary.

At the age of 4-5 children are able to play with meccano together, designing compound models, to learn poems by heart, to hold competitions in running, to retell a fairy-tail without mistakes. All of these allow to develop a child’s vocabulary, thinking and to form social behaviour.

At this age children actively play role-games which teach them to take up a particular role, to develop communicative skills and habits. The main task of role playing is to teach social interaction according to the particular role. And child subculture helps to choose this or that role by means of counting-rhymes, a number of which increases and becomes more and more complicated. It also helps to hide or to stay away from the game for some time with the help of verbal elements of child subculture, for example, “I’m at home”. Child subculture minimizes conflict sides of communication in a role play and makes it possible to establish the order of playing roles. Using folklore material in a role play forms psychological vocabulary by means of more complicated (to compare with the previous age periods) and wide usage of verbal elements of child subculture, and it contributes to the development of thinking as well.

Upper pre-school age (5-6 years old) arises the notion of friendship for the first time as mutual relations between children who are involved in the same tasks interesting for them. The upper pre-school child’s games are distinguished by a complicated plot and subjection to certain rules, all that allows the child to find out concealed relations between people, tasks and rules of human actions and is characterized by the shift of a play motive from the process onto result. Not only elements of child folklore, but also child humor, child magic, child word-creation, giving nicknames to the children of their own age and adults, while playing games, etc.

Thus, game is the main contents of pre-school child’s life and contributes to entering a child into the world of child subculture. It is the game where it is possible to follow and check the contents of child subculture, to watch new elements being added to it.

IV. Conclusions

The main scientific theses of playing activity, psychological neoplasm (Elconin D.B, Vygotskij L.S.), leading activity (Leontjev A. N.), sensitive period (Vygotskij L.S.), in our opinion, are the methodological grounds for empirical research of age dynamics of psychological vocabulary in child subculture under the circumstances of different kinds of pre-school children’s playing activity. Heightened sensibility to realizing semantic side of words at pre-school age, active usage of folklore elements in playing subculture gives us opportunity to trace the impact on the psychological vocabulary development in a child subculture on the formation of pre-school child personality.

Literature

1. Osorina M.V.The world of children's subculture in space of the world of adults. Publishing house - SPb.: «Rech», 2004.276p.