Young Vietnamese Children’s Conceptions of Play Suzan Vujanovic Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood)Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Education (Research) Centre for Innovation in EducationQueensland University of Technology 2005

Key Words

Vietnam, Play, Phenomenography, Children’s views, Children’s stories, Children’s

art

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YOUNG VIETNMAESE CHILDREN’S CONCEPTIONS OF THEIR PLAY LIVES

Suzan Vujanovic

Abstract

Children benefit in many ways from play. Play provides children with an excellent

way to express their feelings and conceptions of the world in which they live. Play

also provides a forum in which researchers can capture, understand and interpret

children’s voices and views.

Like many countries around the world, Vietnam is currently reforming their early

childhood education curriculum to provide a play-based, child centred and outcomes

focused approach to early childhood education. In order to capture children’s interest

and promote child initiated and directed learning, educators and policy makers need to

consider how children interpret their personal play lives. This study presents data

from children’s programs in nine kindergartens and cultural programs in Hanoi and

Ho Chi Minh City. Children’s drawings and stories were collected to document

young children’s conceptions of play in Vietnam at the turn of the millennium.

Through these 353 drawings and stories, key themes in the children’s play lives were

identified.

The purpose of this study is to examine children’s views about play. What do they

like to play? How do they define play? How are young Vietnam’s children’s

conceptions of their play influenced by cultural attitudes and expectations? In

addition, the study proposes some new play-based, child centred and outcomes

focused approaches to curriculum development for Vietnamese early childhood

programs.

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Table of Contents

Chapter One An Introduction 1

Background 1

Locating the research 2

Play and education in Vietnam 3

Locating the researcher 7

Aim of the research 9

Theoretical framework for research 9

Research contributions 10

Research assumptions 11

Organisation of the thesis 11

Chapter Two A Review of the Literature 12 Introduction 12

The place of play in Vietnam 12

Characteristics of play in early years 14

Theories of play 16

Culture and play 21

Children’s perceptions of play 22

Researching children’s views and theories 29

Theories about children’s artistic cognition 31

Early childhood curriculum in Vietnam 33

Conclusion 36

Chapter Three Research design 37

Introduction 37

Participants 40

Data collection techniques 41

Data collection procedure and protocol 43

Group discussion 43

Drawings 43

Personal interviews 44

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Data analysis techniques 45

Professional consultation 50

Ethical issues 51

Limitations 52

Chapter Four Findings of the study 54

Introduction 54

Concept 1: Natural world 58

Flowers 58

Outdoor environments 60

Animals 64

Concept 2: Human relationships 66

Friends 67

Family 70

The extended family 74

Alone 76

Concept 3: Culture and Context 79

Cultural celebrations 80

Cultural places 82

Cultural rituals 86

Concept 4: Material Resources 88

Balloons 90

Sliding boards, swings and other 91

playground equipment

The skipping rope 94

Trains, planes and automobiles 96

Technology 98

Concept 5: Structure 99

Play rituals 100

Cultural games 102

Global games 104

Concept 6: Imagination 105

Role play 106

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Wishful thinking 108

Make believe 109

Conclusion 111

Chapter Five A Discussion of children’s conceptions of play 112

Vietnamese children and their play theories 114

Play is being outdoors. 115

Play is being with friends and family,

and sometimes alone. 119

Play is involves immersion in culture and identity. 122

Play involves materials. 124

Play is structured. 125

Play is dreaming and imagining. 127

Culturally relevant conceptions 128

Conclusion 129

Chapter Six Conclusions and recommendations: 130

Implications of the findings 133

Policy makers 134

Teacher educators 137

Teachers 138

Conclusion 141

References 142

Appendices 152

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List of Tables

Table 1 Number/Gender of children participating in study 41

Table 2 Ages represented in this study 41

Table 3 Phenomenographic cycle of analysis 47

Table 4 Young Vietnamese children and their key ideas 55

about play – Group discussions

Table 5 Young Vietnamese children and their key ideas 57

about play – Drawings and stories

Table 6 Young Vietnamese children’s material 89

resource preference

Table 7 Young Vietnamese children’s procedural 100

games preferences

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List of Plates Cover

C1

C2 C3

C4

C5 C6

C1 Human Resources

Playing with my brothers and sisters in the street near my home Trang, Female, 5 years

HCP 19 C2 Natural

I am riding on the back of a buffalo. It is eating grass. These are my sister and my friends Diem My, Female, 5 years CC18

C3 Culture

I like to draw about Tet in my spare time. My mother is preparing for Tet. Tan Phuoc, Female, 5 years EK47

C4 Material Resources

I draw my friends holding balloons on a boat. I like playing with balloons on the kindergarten grounds. (Where is the boat?) Front Beach Quang Chai, Male, 5 years VT20

C5 Structure

I play badminton. Danh Cau Long, Male, 9 years HCP6

C6 Imagination

I like to play soldier with my friend at school. Man Minh, Male, 5 years LA40

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Plate 1 I am riding on the back of a buffalo. It is eating grass. 45 These are my sister and my friend. Diem My, Female, 5 years CC18

Plate 2 Playing alone outdoors with flowers. 59 Pham Nguyet Nga, Female, 5 years BD 5

Plate 3 Football. 60

Phuc, Male, 6 years HCP3

Plate 4 I drew a flower garden. This is a duck. 61

I like to play in the garden at the park. ThanhTram, Female,

5 years VT21 Plate 5 My home. 63

Khong, Male, 4 years DD11

Plate 6 Two fish. 65

(Do you like to play with fish?) I feed them at kindergarten. Nhat Quynh, Female, 4 years EK11

Plate 7 Outside with friends. 65

Tran Li Quan, Male, 5 years VB23

Plate 8 Playing with my friends 68

Phuong Linh, Female, 5 years VB22

Plate 9 I like to play soldier with my friend at school 69 Man Minh, Male, 5 years LA40

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Plate 10 My family walking along Hoan Kiem bridge. 72 Pham Minh Hoa, Female, 5 years

DD53 Plate 11 We are playing at home. Some people 73

are cooking. I am bringing rice to my father. Tam Tho, Female, 6 years

CCH 29 Plate 12 I play at my house in the countryside. 74

My grandmother lives there. I play with animals. I play with cats. Khai Minh, Male, 4 years EK 21

Plate 13 This is my house and I play outside with flowers. 75

The other house is my grandmothers. Nguyen Hai Co, Female, 5 years EK35 Plate 14 I play alone outdoors. 77 Linh, Female, 5 years HCP12 Plate 15 I play in the garden of my house with my brother. 78 (Where is your brother?) I forgot to draw him. Tuan Thinh, Male, 5 years VT2 Plate 16 New Year picture- long cake, square 81

cake, watermelon and flowers. M. Trang, Female, 5 years VT17

Plate 17 My house, a tree and a flower. 84 Bao Ngoc, Female 4 years DD22

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Plate 18 My father goes to the airport and I went to say goodbye. 85 Nguyen Han Female, 5 years LA33

Plate 19 Lunar Tet. Lion, drummer and friends. 87

Hai Linh, Female, 7 years CCH1

Plate 20 I draw balloons that people sell. 90 I am at home. I like balloons. Minh Quan, Male, 5 years VT1 Plate 21 I would like my friend to come and visit. 91

I haven’t invited him yet. We are playing at my house. I have a fish pond. Hung Vy, Female, 5 years CC12

Plate 22 Plating at school with the merry go round 92 and see-saw.

Minh Hang, Female, 5 years BD17

Plate 23 Playing at my friend’s house. 93

Dam Tu, Male, 5 years DD35

Plate 24 I am skipping. 94

Thanh Hang, Female, 5 years CCH 19

Plate 25 Playing in the park. 95

Phuong Anh, Female, 5 years VB38

Plate 26 I like army tanks. 96

This is in the street during the daytime Anh Tuan, Male, 5 years

VT 1

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Plate 27 Cars and construction play at school. 97 Tran Hung Thinh, Male, 4 years

EK 6 Plate 28 Bedroom and computer. 98 Quang Huy, Male,

5 years DD39 Plate 29 I play on the computer at home. 99

These are super-robots. One has an electronic field and he is winning. They have guns and swords. They wear masks and hats. John (Jhon), Male, 8 years CC25

Plate 30 My friends and I doing exercise with 101

plastic butterfly wings. Giao Quyen, Female, 5 years

LA 32 Plate 31 The church. I like to play chase 103

the goat at home with father. At school cooking in home corner. Tram Anh, Female, 4 years LA3

Plate 32 I play football with my friends at the 105

school playground. Do Xuan Duy, Male, 8 years

HCP9 Plate 33 House, tree, bird and flowers. 107

I like to play with my sister at home. We play shop keeper and I get to sell. My maid is the buyer. Ngoc Thanh, Female, 4 years LA 16

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Plate 34 I am playing with my friends under 109 the Tet tree at my house. (She has not yet visited) Quynh Nhu, Female, 5 years CC 2

Plate 35 Mother butterfly and baby butterfly. 110

My sister and I fly away. Nghi An, Female, 5 years LA 43

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List of Appendices

Appendix A Kindergarten play program – 153 Ministry of Education and Training

Appendix B Kindergarten art program – 155

Ministry of Education and Training Appendix C Associates for research team 159 Appendix D Schedule of meetings and activities – 161

Vietnam 2000-2001 Appendix E Lesson plan 163 Appendix F Data sets 165 Appendix G “Comparison” stage – 214

coding the data Appendix H Statement of consent 216 Appendix I Ethical clearance 228

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The work contained in this thesis has not been submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any university or other institution of tertiary education. Information derived from the published or unpublished works of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of references is provided. The referencing system used follows the procedure outlined by the American Psychological Association Standards. I undertake to retain the original collated data on which this thesis is based for a minimum of five years, in accordance with University Ethics Guidelines. ……………………………………… …………………

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Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the 353 young Vietnamese children who participated in

this study. I would like to express my utmost gratitude to you all for sharing your

play lives with me.

Many thanks to my supervisor and mentor, Dr. Barbara Piscitelli, who introduced me

to the wonderful country of Vietnam and its people. I am thankful for the support, the

guidance and the encouragement that you have given me throughout the course of my

study.

Many thanks to my associate supervisors; Dr. Rosemary Perry (1999-2000) and Dr.

Anne Russell (2001-2004) for guidance, feedback and comments.

I would like to also express thanks to Ms Cao Thi Thanh from the National Teacher

Training College for Early Childhood Education – Number 3, in Ho Chi Minh City

and Dr. Pham Thi Mai Chi, from the Research Centre for Early Childhood Education

in Hanoi for their hospitality, generosity and assistance during my visits to Vietnam.

Thank you to the early childhood educators throughout Vietnam who welcomed me

into their kindergartens and programs and assisted with the collection of data and

interpretations.

Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to my family and friends. Thank you for

your support, encouragement and understanding.

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CHAPTER ONE

An introduction

Background

At any day in any kindergarten in Vietnam, it is normal to see children

involved in play. During normal play episodes, children may be involved in

unstructured and free play, such as participating in role-play in set up areas, playing

outdoors on the equipment, or manipulating materials made available to them.

Formal play includes structured games directed by teachers, such as Meo Duoi Chuot

(cat and mouse) or “drop the hanky”, and other scripted or procedural activities. Both

normal and formal play episodes are very much a part of kindergarten life in Vietnam.

However, what do children think about their everyday play? What are the main

themes and conceptions of play in young Vietnamese children’s minds?

My curiosity about Vietnamese children’s play lives emerged in 2000, while I

completed a six-week teaching internship in Ho Chi Minh City at the end of my

Bachelor of Education course. In my daily reflections, I often questioned how

children perceived and conceptualised play. My reflective diary (Vujanovic, 2000a)

indicated my desire to understand play and to develop closer relationships to the

children during their play episodes. As a learning teacher, I believed that this

knowledge would assist me in promoting positive learning experiences through the

children’s normal and formal play episodes.

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Locating the Research

Vietnam is currently undergoing major reforms as the country shifts from

centralised economy managed by government to the market economy. There is a shift

towards a more open society and a move from centralised control towards free market

competition. Following years of economic decline, resulting from the effects of the

war and unsuccessful collectivisation programs, the government implemented a

program known as doi moi (renovation) in 1986. These reforms were aimed at a shift

towards market economy with socialist orientation (Australian Department of Foreign

Affairs and Trade, 2001).

Amongst all this change, the education system is undergoing major reforms,

and new approaches to education are being introduced. These reforms have affected

early childhood institutions throughout Vietnam, as they experiment with new ideas

and apply new approaches to preschool education. The Ministry of Education and

Training (MOET) launched an ongoing early childhood reconstruction program to

study the results of more play in the classroom. The aim of early childhood education

in Vietnam is all round development of children and to develop intelligence, scientific

curiosity, and the development of language and thinking (Pham, 1998). Early

childhood institutions throughout Vietnam implement a curriculum that recognises the

importance of play in children’s overall development (Van, 2000). However,

UNICEF argues that play in Vietnam is often not recognised as important in

children’s schooling and family life. It was found that in rural areas, children rarely

play. Urban children have more opportunities and access to play but, even in

kindergartens, the opportunity for free and unstructured play is minimal (Van

Oudenhoven & Nhom Chan Troi Moi, 1999).

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Although play is valued by researchers and educators and considered by many

to be essential to children’s development, very little is known about young children’s

conceptions of their own play lives. Policy makers and educators require a thorough

understanding of children’s play to assure its place in children’s lives, to establish a

curriculum and to supply community provision for the interests of learners (Vietnam

News Service, 2001). Clearly, educators and parents need to understand the meaning

and significance of play in children’s lives.

Play and education in Vietnam

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 31 states

“every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational

activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life

and the arts” (UNICEF, 1989).

With the exception of various reports from the Ministry of Education and

Training (MOET), UNICEF and various aid organizations and non-government

organizations (NGOs), there have been very few studies on early childhood education

in Vietnam, let alone the play lives of Vietnamese children. In the 1990s, Queensland

University of Technology (QUT) entered a collaboration program with the National

Teachers Training College of Early Childhood Education - Number 3 in Ho Chi Minh

City and developed a reciprocal relationship with the MOET. This agreement has

instigated several visits, seminars and meetings between the two institutions. In 1999,

Piscitelli and Perry travelled to Vietnam to provide a seminar on new approaches to

early childhood education and training, focusing on integrated learning and play.

They found that many practitioners and college staff did not fully appreciate the

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concepts and required further inputs of a theoretical and practical nature (Piscitelli and

Perry, 1999). Although key leaders expressed a strong desire to change the current

early childhood education structure, Piscitelli and Perry (1999) claimed there were

numerous philosophical and practical problems to be resolved in the early childhood

education reform process.

In Vietnam, numerous educational authorities and children’s agencies promote

the value of play in children’s lives. UNICEF (2000) advocates children’s right to

play, and believes the child’s right to play should be protected and supported by

parents and teachers. However, they claim Vietnamese children do not participate in

play at school or at home. It is reported that children’s play is often not considered as

important in schooling or family life. Organised games, toys and playgrounds are a

rare sight in rural communities. Although urban children do have better access to

play, they still lack opportunities to participate in free play or unstructured play

(UNICEF, 2000).

UNICEF (2000) expressed concerns that the dramatic changes to Vietnam’s

economy are likely to have adverse consequences for poor children and women. In

order to achieve their goals for children in Vietnam, UNICEF identified areas in

which they can support the Government and offered specific recommendations.

Recommendations related to the preschool child include:

• Strengthening and coordination and integration of different sectors to

support the holistic development of the child.

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• Integrated strategies that develop all child development issues

(physical, social, emotional and cognitive) offering better overall care,

including education.

• Support more kindergarten classes in remote and disadvantaged areas

by further recruiting and training in ethnic minority areas.

• Promote a more participatory and activity-based approach to teaching-

learning issues, therefore, improving the quality of education in

kindergartens.

• Assist in the set up of diverse and flexible models of early childhood

care and advocate a greater role in guiding and financing early

childhood care (UNICEF, 2000, pg. 103).

Children from Vietnam’s rural areas often experience severe adversity; many

children have difficult lives and are expected to contribute to the family livelihood.

This duty to the family often impacts the children’s play lives. In 1999, the New

Horizons group completed a comprehensive report, Prospects for Vietnam’s rural

children: a study on early childhood care. The group examined the situation for

children in rural areas. This report was compiled by a research team who studied the

views of a variety of groups comprising children, parents, community leaders,

government officers and policy makers. The research team examined the lives of

rural children in ten poor communities in five Vietnamese provinces. They reported

that there are hardly any play facilities in rural communities, and parents feel unhappy

about this. Playgrounds are only evident in 40% of rural communities and play

supervisors are absent. They believe that children should have access to safe

supervised play areas, and that every community should have a place for all children

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to play. The New Horizons group also reported that the girl child often does not know

how to play in rural Vietnam. In fact, girls “hardly play” and, when they do, their

play has a lack of purpose and is “passive” in nature (Van Oudenhoven & Nhom Chan

Troi Moi, 1999, pg. 8).

A shift in the attitude of Vietnamese educators towards valuing play in early

childhood education is evident when comparing current literature with earlier

literature. Fraser (1978) described a visit to a Hanoi kindergarten in 1978. He

described a highly structured daily schedule. Whilst the three years olds had the

opportunity to participate in unstructured play, the four and five year olds were bound

to a formal nine-subject program. One of these subject areas is described as “games

(organised play, social activity)” (Fraser, 1978, pg. 30). This form of play does not

incorporate the freedom of symbolic or dramatic play, thus the unique and specific

developmental benefits of these forms of play were absent.

The present Vietnamese preschool curriculum advocates “creative play”

(MOET, 1997, pg 10). As stated in the curriculum guidelines, the purpose of this play

includes the development of an understanding and reflection of various occupations,

and the responsibilities of those occupations for young children’s learning.

Accordingly, the intended outcomes for young children are to “consolidate and

expand the symbols of the world around” (MOET, 1997, pg 11). Curriculum

documents also indicate that, through play, children will understand relationships in

the family and society and “the relations among man, nature and society” (MOET,

1997, pg.13).

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Tran and Tran (2000) express the importance of play to a child’s development.

They believe that Vietnamese parents are not aware of the “dialectical ties between

the play of their children and the new psychological qualities it may bring about”

(Tran and Tran, 2000, pp 82-83). In their research, they questioned Vietnamese urban

and rural parents of their knowledge of the types of leisure activities in which their six

and seven year-old children participate. Tran and Tran (2000) found that urban

parents are likely to view play as being important to the child’s developmental

process. However, free play is not understood, and parents see structured games as

more appropriate and purposeful. Living and educational standards of parents

determined their attitudes towards children’s leisure and play activities. Rural parents

were likely to perceive play as a wasteful activity, favouring labour as a valuable

educational experience. “Many parents complain that those children indulged in play

cannot grow hardworking or useful” (Tran and Tran, 2000, pg. 84). Many teachers in

Vietnam are experiencing difficulties moving from the highly structured and set

preschool program to a play based program. Although teachers are developing an

understanding of child-centred philosophies, they are experiencing difficulties in

transforming this knowledge into their daily practice (Vujanovic, 2000b). These

studies indicate that although there is a push for play to be valued, a misunderstanding

of the value of play still exists amongst many Vietnamese parents and other members

of the community (Van Oudenhoven & Nhom Chan Troi Moi, 1999).

Locating the researcher

My earliest experience in Vietnam was a four-week internship at the Truong

Mau Ciao Thuc Hanh (an experimental kindergarten attached to the Teacher’s

Training College) in Ho Chi Minh City in January 2000, whilst undertaking my

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Bachelor of Education degree. I was assigned to a classroom with 32 five year old

children. For the duration of my internship, I observed and participated in daily

activities and lessons, as well as children’s specialist lessons (music, art and physical

education). The festival of Tet was approaching and children were preparing for this

important cultural holiday. Many classroom activities were centred on this theme.

This provided me with a rich insight into the cultural lives of young Vietnamese

children and into the integrated curriculum model which was being implemented.

During this practicum, I kept detailed and descriptive notes of my experiences and

documented many observations. On my return to Australia I commenced an

independent study titled, Culture and curriculum in Vietnam: A historical perspective

(Vujanovic, 2000b). I examined teaching approaches and philosophies implemented

at this kindergarten and discussed the historical, political and cultural factors that

continue to influence the present early childhood education system.

Following that first immersion in a Vietnamese kindergarten, I had the

opportunity to work as a research assistant with Dr Barbara Piscitelli in December

2000 – January 2001, who was participating in a fellowship under the auspices of The

Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, The Australian Academy of the Humanities,

and The Vietnam National Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities. The purpose

of the fellowship was to examine children’s play preferences. Documentation and

data collected from this project consisted of a large sample of children’s drawings and

stories which were full of rich and vivid descriptions. My thesis provides one way of

examining young Vietnamese children’s conceptions of play by further exploration

and analysis of the children’s ideas within a structured phenomenographic framework.

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Aims of the Research

The aim of this study is to document children’s conceptions of play in

Vietnam, and to identify key themes through their stories and drawings, thus

providing rich information and a window into children’s play lives.

This study attempts to address the following questions:

1. What do young Vietnamese children think about their play?

2. What culturally relevant conceptions about play do young Vietnamese

children convey in their stories and drawings?

3. What are the implications of this research for early childhood education in

Vietnam?

This study will provide baseline data on young Vietnamese children’s

conceptions of play, which will be particularly useful as a foundation for later

comparative historical and cross national analyses of children’s play.

Theoretical Framework for Research

This research focuses on child-centred conceptions of play; therefore the

researcher faced limitations on the research methods that could be applied in this

study. The researcher considered ethnography as a research methodology; however it

was rejected due to the risks of misunderstanding cultural assumptions and the time

constraints on “building and establishing relationships with participants” which is

essential to ethnographic studies (Siraj-Blatchford and Siraj-Blatchford, 2001, pg.

199). Applying ethnography as a methodology may have been problematic.

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Phenomenography was selected as a methodology since it enabled “children to

disclose as much as possible about their ways of thinking and the contents of what

they know” (Doverborg & Pramling, 1993, pg. 8).

The literature review (Chapter 2) and methodology (Chapter 3) will discuss

technical details and philosophical rationale of phenomenography and its application

in this study.

Research Contributions

Early childhood education in Vietnam is currently undergoing many changes.

The findings generated from this study may contribute to the ongoing application and

promotion of play-based and child-centred curriculum in early childhood programs.

Policy makers in Vietnam are in the process of implementing curriculum changes in

early childhood settings. The child-generated conceptions that emerged from this

study may be useful in curriculum planning and policy making in Vietnam. Rather

than viewing children as passive dependents, their ideas, views and perspectives may

be used to generate and create a child-centred outlook within an early childhood

curriculum framework. UNICEF (2000) recognises the importance and significance of

the child’s voice in decision making, and recommends that children’s voices should

be allowed to be heard in all parts of society, including the public arena of the media.

Findings of this study may assist the Ministry of Education and Training

(MOET) and training colleges to understand and analyse children’s ideas of their own

play, and to use these insights in the preparation of the 21st century early childhood

educator. These child-centred understandings can, in turn, provide a framework for

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curriculum development that will meet the needs and interests of young Vietnamese

children.

Research Assumptions This research demonstrates that very young children are capable of expressing their

conceptions, and are clear and explicit about their thoughts and ideas about play.

Children are theorisers and active learners with ideas that may be used to develop and

enhance play/learning environments (Vygotsky, 1978, Malaguzzi.1993).

Organisation of the Thesis

This thesis is comprised of six chapters. This first chapter introduces the aims

and objectives of the study. In Chapter Two, literature related to topics and ideas in

this study are reviewed. These included theories and characteristics of play,

children’s perceptions of play, play and education in Vietnam and visual literacy. The

methodology utilised in this study is described and outlined in Chapter Three.

Chapter Four outlines the findings of this study and a discussion of these findings are

examined in Chapter Five. In Chapter Six, implications of the study are considered,

and recommendations and suggestions made for further action in the area of play in

early childhood settings in Vietnam.

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CHAPTER TWO

Review of Literature

Introduction

The literature review examines traditional and contemporary theories of play.

Important studies about play and culture are discussed, as are studies that focus on

children’s perceptions of play. This chapter reviews relevant literature and focuses on

six main areas of research and professional opinion which inform the research

questions: characteristics of play, theories of play, culture and play, children’s

perceptions of play, theories about children’s artistic cognition, and issues in

researching children’s views and theories. To date, very few studies have focused on

what young Vietnamese children know and think about play, so this literature review

will, by necessity, focus on play studies from other nations and cultures.

The place of play in Vietnam

The centrality of play in village life is featured at the Vietnam Museum of

Ethnology in Hanoi. This museum contains approximately 15,000 artefacts and

illustrates the depth of Vietnam’s cultural diversity with displays of ethnic minority

artefacts and activity – representing the 54 different cultural groups in the country. In

2000, in a prominent position by the main entrance of the museum, an exhibition was

designed to connect visitors to the everyday lives of the Vietnamese people. The

village was used as a frame of reference in the exhibition, and in the first display

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cabinet were photographs and objects about children’s play. A large interpretive

panel explained:

Children’s Toy’s and Games Children’s toys and games demonstrate great ingenuity and creativity and

have long held educational value. In summer and autumn, children fly kites. In spring, they organise

grasshopper and cricket competitions and play on the swings. Games for girls require great skill and delicacy such as a pebble game called O au quan, jack sticks and jump rope. Other games prepare girls for the roles they will play as adults, as they pretend they are at the market, cooking and raising a family. Boys play more active games like the stick game, khang, coin tossing, spinning top, wrestling, rope pulling, hide and seek and flag snatching.

The mid-autumn festival on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month is a festival

devoted to children. During the festival, children play with toys like tambourines and paper lamps in the shape of stars, rabbits, spinning cylinders. Since ancient times, the Vietnamese people had great respect for education. For that reason, during mid-autumn festival a paper doctor is always placed among other gifts to express families’ wishes for children’s success at school. At night, a popular lion dance is performed.

Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi, (2000)

Although the museum placed central importance on children’s play in their

exhibit, play is not necessarily a dominant part of contemporary childhood since the

Vietnamese are undergoing rapid change to many aspects of their social, cultural and

educational values and lives. Tran and Tran (2000) found that contemporary urban

Vietnamese parents are not aware of the beneficial aspects of play for young children,

while Van Oudenhoven and Nhom Choi Troi Moi (1999) indicate that rural

Vietnamese children do not play. These studies appear to be in contradiction to the

key messages conveyed by government officials in educational and curriculum

documents (MOET, 1997) and in national policy (Van, 2000) – where the emphasis is

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clearly placed on more play for children in schools and in communities. Why is this

emphasis on play so important in early childhood?

Characteristics of play in early years

Play is a phenomenon that is central to early childhood philosophy, and its

numerous benefits have been well documented. Vygotsky (1976) saw play as “the

leading source of development in pre-school years” (pg. 53). His views on play were

holistic: he regarded play as being critical to children’s social, emotional and

cognitive development, and claimed that each of these domains interrelated. Piaget

(1962) suggested that play does not simply reflect a child’s cognitive level, it also

contributes to that development. Play promotes the “development of knowledge, of a

spirit of inquiry, of creativity, of conceptual understanding, all contributing to the true

empowerment of children” (Wassermann, 1992, pg. 133).

Play is typically characterised as follows: Play is pleasurable and enjoyable.

Play has no extrinsic goals. It is intrinsically motivated and serves no objectives.

“The essence of play is the dominance of means over ends” (Sylva, Bruner and

Genova, 1976, pg. 24). The process of play is more important than the product. Play

is voluntary and spontaneous. Play involves the player to be actively engaged. Play

has specific systematic relations to what is not play and has been linked to a number

of cognitive and social phenomena (Garvey, 1990).

Social interactions emerge and develop during early childhood. As play is a

social experience, it is central to the development and implementation of social skills

in which children learn indirectly through experiencing the effect and consequences of

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their actions. Behaviours such as empathising, sensitivity and turn-taking are learnt

and practiced through early play experiences (Kostelnik, 1993).

Young children’s social competence enables them to develop friendships as

they grow into the early years at school. Relationships with others provides

stimulation, guidance and assistance, companionship, physical and ego support, social

comparison, intimacy and affection (Parker and Gottman, 1989). Selman (1981)

describes stages of social perspective taking (role taking). Selman suggests that

preschoolers (five year-olds) are at an egocentric stage (level 0) and believe that any

agreeable interaction between themselves and other playmates, qualifies those

playmates as friends. Six to eight year-olds (level 1) become increasingly aware that

other children have differing motives and intentions than themselves. They view

friends as those that fulfil their self-interests, for example a child who may choose to

be kind to them or who may play with them nicely. Children from eight to ten years

old (level 2) show increasing concern for the needs of their friends. Friendships are

regarded as reciprocal, where each party is expected to display affection and kindness

to one another. However, these friendships will only continue as long as each child

continues to satisfy one another. Selman continues with levels 3 and 4 (10 year – 15

year olds). During these later stages, children develop mature levels of understanding

and support in their relationships. Relationships developed in middle childhood

include an element of intimacy and interpersonal understanding, and are longer lasting

than those of younger children.

15

Theories of play

Theories of play are typically described as classical or contemporary; both

have relevance for a comprehensive study of play. Classical theories include the

“surplus energy theory”, which proposes that individuals constantly produce energy

that they consume through work (Millar, 1968). According to this theory, excess

energy that remains after the individual has worked may be eliminated through play.

Schiller (cited in Dockett and Fleer, 1999) described play as “the aimless expenditure

of exuberant energy” (pg. 240).

Rather than suggesting that play is a means of using up excess energy,

“recreation theory” defines play as a means of restoring energy (Dockett and Fleer,

1999, pg. 27). After working for a period of time, individuals need to relax, and to

generate and reserve sufficient energy to continue working again. Lazarus (1883)

regarded play as the opposite of work, and an ideal way to restore lost energy

(Johnson, Christie and Yawkey, 1999).

The “recapitulation theory” of play was proposed by Hall in 1906. He viewed

play as the enactment of stages of human evolution, e.g; animal, savage, nomad,

agricultural, tribal member and so on (as cited in Hughes, 1999, pg.16). Hall proposed

that as children developed, they passed through stages recapitulating development of

the human race. According to Hall, the reason children engaged in play was

instinctive and for the satisfaction of the need for expression of these interests.

Karl Groos (1898) believed that play strengthened instincts that were needed

for the future. In his view, children were born with imperfect and underdeveloped

16

survival instincts. Groos claimed that play enabled children to practice and perfect

these essential skills. His “practice theory” implied that early involvement leads to

learning routines for productive work and survival in the future (Scwartzman, 1978,

pg. 100).

Classical theories have attracted much criticism and tend to be limited in

scope. They are regarded as irrelevant in modern understandings of play. Millar

(1968) describes these theories as “instinct theories” (pg. 30-31). They assist humans

to satisfy goals and needs required to keep the species alive. Today, the classical

theories are considered incomplete; however in their time, they directed attention to

play and to early childhood. Features of these theories have also been incorporated

into later theories or have created impetus for the development of later theories.

Classical theories also shaped a long tradition of observing and researching play

(Dockett and Fleer, 1999).

Contemporary theories differ from classical theories in intent and purpose.

Contemporary theories attempt to determine play’s role in early childhood

development, rather than just explaining why play exists. Five main theoretical

perspectives are used to comprehend play: psychoanalytic, cognitive, social learning,

cultural learning and imagination and symbolic learning.

The oldest stream of contemporary thought about play derives from

psychoanalytic theories, based on the work of Freud (1856-1939). He viewed play as

a cathartic experience and as an avenue for children to act out and repeat problematic

life experiences in order to master them (Freud, 1920). In achieving mastery in play,

17

the child translates anxiety and fear onto other individuals or objects. Erickson (1963)

further extended psychoanalytic theory by examining its contribution to personality

development. He suggested that through play, children create situations that assist

them to master the demands of reality.

Cognitive theorists of play include Piaget (1962), Vygotsky (1976), Bruner

(1972) and Smilansky (1968). According to Piaget (1962), children progress through

a series of cognitive stages: sensorimotor, preoperational and concrete operational.

Children’s play corresponds to their level of cognitive development. Smilansky

(1968) added to Piaget stages of play describing sociodramatic play as a separate form

of play, which is positioned between sensorimotor play and symbolic play. Bruner

(1972) viewed play as an avenue for children to experiment and explore activities and

routines, which they could later use to solve real life problems. Subroutines children

have practiced and over-learned may become useful and integrated in real life

contexts.

Additional theories have emerged to explain children’s play and its

consequences. Singer (1973) saw play as an opportunity for children to use their

physical and mental abilities in imaginative play to arrange their experiences. Singer

also viewed play as the chance for children to investigate the world, to develop the

ability to cope with the world, and to develop and nurture their creativity.

Ellis (1973) suggests that play is a way to process information. Play enables

children to formulate information internally through fantasy. It enables children to

balance and make sense of large amounts of information in which they continuously

18

accumulate. Imagination is a highly valued vehicle in a child’s learning and

development in the western world. Piaget (in Singer and Singer, 1990) viewed

symbolic or imaginative play as a critical phase in the development of mature thought.

Children engaged in symbolic games are practising life skills that will lead to

competence in everyday skills. “Through symbolic play the child seeks to imitate and

accommodate to complex adult actions and speech, gradually reshaping the externally

generated material and assimilating novelty into its limited range of memory schemas,

thus increasing the differentiation within schemas and gradually forming new ones”

(Singer and Singer, 1990, pg. 40-41).

Socio-cultural perspectives on play have been influenced by Vygotsky (1976)

who saw play as a tool to aid children in developing holistically and to their full

potential. He claimed that children often engaged in play ahead of their

developmental level. Through social contact and assistance from a more

knowledgeable adult or peer, Vygotsky theorised children could attain higher level of

functioning and discover new abilities. Vygotsky considered play as a social

symbolic experience. Importantly, the play children participate in relates to the

society and the culture in which they are situated. Vygotsky acknowledged individual

and self variables, other person variables and cultural/context variables that influence

human development and learning.

Roopnarine, Lasker, Sacks and Stores (1998) believe that we need to move

beyond western theories of analysing play. They describe these theories and play

literature as “culturally myopic” (pg. 194) and challenged researchers to examine the

cultural context of play, “teasing out intercultural and intra-cultural variations of

19

children’s play to recognise the unique cultural properties that are reflected in

children’s activities” (pg. 95). The social and cultural context of children’s play is

seen as central to understanding: “the eco-cultural niche provides us with important

information on agents, institutions, and cultural scripts employed in the process of

early socialisation and education” (Roopnarine, Shin, Donovan, Suppal 2000, pg.

205). Accordingly, culturally specific theories and curricular practices about play

may be developed and result in retaining cultural values rather than fitting dominant

western views on play and early childhood learning to non-western contexts.

Roopnarine and Johnson (1994) claim that four key factors have contributed to

the need for further studies of children’s play in diverse cultures: (a) the universal

changing demographics in western countries, the urbanisation of developing countries

and the ever changing “social-structural familial organisational patterns” throughout

the world (pg. 2), (b) the recognition of play as an important component of early

childhood education and the establishment of early childhood programs worldwide,

(c) the need to extend theoretical understanding and developmental growth during

early childhood, and (d) the need to inform and educate early childhood professionals

about cultural issues and sensitivity in and out of the classroom.

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Culture and play

Play serves as an enculturative mechanism (Schwartzman, 1978). Through

play, children learn societal roles, norms, and values. Hyun (1998) argues in order to

conduct developmentally and culturally appropriate practice in early childhood

education, researchers and educators need to understand the dynamics of cultural

influences on children’s play.

Initial studies of children and play were primarily social-anthropological

investigations. Matilda Stevenson was possibly the first female anthropologist to

develop an interest in children’s play lives. She investigated the Zuni children in the

American Southwest in 1879. Influenced by Stevenson’s findings, a number of other

scholars began to collect texts of children’s play activities, including Babock. Babock

(1888) described children’s play lives in a city during the course of the year. He

classified children’s games and analysed variations of these games (Schwartzman,

1978).

Margaret Mead (1901-1978) was a notable twentieth century cross-cultural

researcher. Mead was interested in how culture influenced individuals. Her

anthropological research influenced the direction of personality and cultural studies.

Mead’s research of children’s play and games provided her with an insight into other

phenomena such as personality and child rearing practices. In her initial studies,

Mead described children’s play lives briefly and in very little detail (Piscitelli, 1996).

She did, however, contrast Samoan and American attitudes to work and believed a

false division existed between work, play and schools. Mead’s studies investigated

the child rearing practices in Manus, New Guinea. More detailed discussions of

21

children’s play were presented, but few of these studies were published

(Schwartzman, 1978). Mead’s field notes and papers provide unpublished, yet

valuable clues about children’s enculturation and development through play.

Children’s conceptions of play

Children’s conceptions of play are still a relatively unexplored dimension.

The small collection of articles written on this subject indicates that such information

could provide rich and valuable insights into children and their lives. At present, the

literature provides some glimpses into children’s views on their play. Several recent

studies have been based on children differentiating between work and play in early

childhood settings (King, 1979; Reifel, 1988; Wing, 1995; Ceglowski, 1997 and

Sherman 1997). These studies all aim to develop understandings of children’s

perceptions about play and learning in order to create a child centred learning

environment, and are all undertaken in western developed countries. Very little has

been documented about children from non-western countries, on their thoughts and

ideas about play.

King (1979) examined kindergartener’s distinctions between work and play in

the classroom. Her study defined play in kindergarten from a child’s perspective,

with the aim of adding “a new dimension to our understanding of the role of play in

the life of the child and in the classroom setting” (King, 1979, pg. 82). King (1979)

observed and interviewed children in four kindergarten classrooms. The children

were asked a series of questions structured to indicate the importance of play and

work activities. King (1979) found the children were “perceptive and sophisticated

analysts” of their play behaviour (pg. 83). Their perceptions differed from adult

22

perceptions, however children were knowledgeable and informative. The children’s

responses clearly indicated that they had no difficulty in differentiating between work

and play. Activities that children chose themselves were categorised as play, whilst

most of their other classroom experiences were described as work. The more control

the child had of the activity, the more likely the child would label the activity as play.

Pleasure did not appear to be a significant variable in children’s differentiation of

work and play activities. The significant characteristics of children’s play in this

study were that play was identified by the children as voluntary and self initiated.

King (1979) concluded that children placed education in the category of work

and believe that play is not educationally valued in the classroom. King found that

when teachers use play activities to encourage children to participate in schoolwork,

children redefine these activities as work. King endeavoured to investigate children’s

points of view and to add a new dimension to understanding the role of play. King’s

study is limited in that it simply asks children to differentiate their play lives from

their work lives. The questioning used in this study was limited and closed and

children were not given opportunities to expand on ideas, views or feelings, e.g.

“Were you working or playing when you listened to this story?” (King, 1979, pg. 83).

This study also examined children’s play lives within the school context, which is a

relatively small part of children’s play lives.

Garza, Briley and Reifel’s (1985) study of children’s conceptions of play is

important as they investigated the possibility that adults and children may have

different conceptions about play. Garza, Briley and Reifel (1985) recognised several

problems when relying on children’s interviews. They conducted a project to see how

23

children described regular experiences in childcare in order to gain some insights into

children’s understanding of play in an educational setting. They investigated

children’s narrative descriptions of their own play experiences by using a script

approach. This approach relies on the idea that children develop knowledge structures

that describe the way events usually occur. These personal structures guide behaviour

by providing information on what typically is associated with experiences. The

children’s scripts are, therefore, organising devices for children’s daily experiences.

They also shape expectations and consequently direct behaviour appropriately.

Garza, Briley and Reifel (1985) examined statements children made, rather

than observed what they did, and found that by 5 years old, children could provide

reliable knowledge of what occurs at preschool. Their spoken language indicated that

they partook in play activities regularly, particularly with materials and friends.

Garza, Briley and Reifel also revealed that children saw play as a large part of their

pre-school experience, however their perceptions of play often come from their

parents and teachers, as they often hear things, such as, “Would you like to play with

that puzzle?” or “Go and play in your room”. These are possibly the “developmental

source for a functional definition of play” and explain how children come to talk

about their play lives (pg. 35).

Reifel, Briley and Garza (1986) acknowledge that there is a growing

awareness among those who study children that we have overlooked the child’s own

point of view in research, and that very little acknowledgment or validity is given to

the young child’s opinion. Reifel (1988) stressed the importance of understanding

children as they become socialised into school. Accordingly, these researchers

24

suggest that educators should look at the differences between the child’s and the

adult’s views and incorporate this new knowledge into the curriculum.

Rothlein and Brett (1987) surveyed teachers’, parents’ and children’s ideas

about play in order to investigate whether their practices and perceptions reflect what

literature says about play. Parent and teacher definitions and ideas were very similar;

many did not regard play as important. Parents undervalued play and were not

particularly interested in their children’s play during preschool time. Parents and

teachers tended to separate play and learning into separate dichotomous categories,

children were either playing or learning. All teachers surveyed believe that they

included play in their curriculum, yet their descriptions of play varied widely. Many

teachers (60%) included learning in their definition of play, whilst the other teachers

(40%) defined play as unstructured activity. Over half the teachers (51%) believe

play was integrated into their curriculum, whilst the others (49%) treated play as

separate to the school program. In Rothlein and Brett’s (1987) study, children

described outdoor play and dramatic play as their favourite experiences, and appeared

to enjoy activities that did not require expensive toys and materials.

This research was useful in demonstrating to educators and parents the types

of materials that can be used creatively by children are not necessarily those that are

expensive. It also demonstrated the need for teachers to communicate to parents the

importance of play as an integral part of early childhood curriculum, and the benefits

of play to a child’s overall development. Rothlien and Brett’s (1987) research

provides a glimpse into children’s play lives, and it is an example of how children’s

ideas and opinions can be used to create a child centred curriculum. However, their

25

research is dominated by adult definitions and viewpoints with little participation and

involvement of children. They recommend that teachers should communicate the

benefits of play to parents. With only 20% of teachers indicating that play was an

integral part of their day and only 60% including learning in their definition of play,

this recommendation would be problematic to implement (pg. 47-48).

Cullen (1993) examined preschool children’s use and perceptions of outdoor

play areas. She found that children could identify the activities they liked and the

activities they thought they were “best” at (pg. 52). Girls in this study “liked” sandpit

most, but were the “best” at fixed equipment. “Best” activities were not always like

the most “liked” activities (Cullen, 1993, pg. 52). Cullen suggested that 5 year olds

are not able to distinguish between “competence” and “enjoyment” (pg. 52). In her

analysis, Cullen emphasises the vast array of learning that can be experienced from

outdoor play. She believes this can be achieved because outdoor play is regarded as

children’s favourite play activity. Following social learning theory, she advocates the

need for adult intervention in order to extend the complexity of children’s play. This

can be achieved by: providing children with a balance between physical and creative

play, scaffolding young children’s learning in the form of language, encouraging

collaborative play, and offering children opportunities to develop their skills and

participate in a range of activities.

Wing (1995) endorses the need to research children’s perceptions of their

classroom experience as it “informs the effects of educational efforts made on their

behalf” (pg. 224). Wing’s participant-observation study involved observing and

interviewing children in both a kindergarten and a primary classroom for the duration

26

of a year. Her research explored children’s views of work and play in classroom

environments. She found young children could clearly determine the difference

between work and play. Children believed activities that “they could choose to do

and could take in any direction they pleased were play” (pg. 229). In Wing’s study,

children viewed play as an activity which involved free exploration, was always fun,

enabled children to interact freely with peers, was process orientated, involved little

mental stimulation, with limited teacher expectations and was rarely evaluated.

Work, by contrast, involved teacher directed activities, was product orientated,

sometimes fun, teachers’ expectations were central and outcomes were evaluated.

Although teachers regularly used categorical language such as “work”, “play”, “have

to” and “can”, children appeared to construct their personal understandings of

classroom activities and read certain meanings into activities such as play. Wing’s

(1995) study found that although teachers believed they integrated work and play,

children are not fooled by classroom work activities that are offered to them under the

guise of play.

Ceglowski (1997) also examined different perceptions of play between adults

and the children in a classroom. She used Bergen’s (1988) schema of play research

and applied it to King’s (1979) research. Like King (1979) and Wing (1995),

Ceglowski found that children have very little difficulty labelling their classroom

activities as either work or play. Children distinguished two of five activities as play

(e.g. free play and guided play activities) and the remaining three activities as work

(e.g. directed play, work disguised as play and work activities). Ceglowski (1997)

believed that play should be taken seriously as a part of the classroom program and

she recommended use of Bergen’s (1988) continuum of play to work to determine a

27

balance of activities within the classroom. She concluded that incorporating self-

selected and self-directed play experiences in the classroom indicates to children that

these activities are of vital importance to the program.

In the literature reviewed for this study, only two studies were located which

took a purely child centred point of view on play. Kelly-Byrne (1988) undertook an

ethnographic study of the play life of a seven-year-old girl. She used the child’s home

as the location for fieldwork on play, and became the child’s play partner. Through

this study, Kelly-Byrne illustrated how researchers can enter into long-term reciprocal

relationships with child informants. This relationship enabled her to explore an

individual child’s play behaviour and explore the internal play life of a normal child.

Hjort (in Lind, 1998) investigated children’s thoughts about play in preschool.

Observations and group interviews were used to collect the data. Hjort used

photographs to document play and to later stimulate the child’s memory in the

interview process. Hjort acknowledged that even though children’s play was a widely

studied subject, researchers have not extended their studies to include children’s

perspectives. Instead, the majority of studies were conducted in the field of cognitive

psychology, from an adult’s perspective. Piscitelli (1992) highlighted children’s own

definitions and conception of play and the variations of these descriptions according

to age and experiences, and found a diverse picture of play from a range of vantage

points. Children’s descriptions of play varied according to their age and life

experiences. Children described their play activities as enjoyable and were definite in

what they enjoyed about play.

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Though child centred philosophy has dominated early childhood education

since its foundation, Moss (2001) identified the challenges faced by early childhood

researchers and educators of viewing the child as competent, autonomous person with

valid ideas and worthy contributions to human awareness and understanding. Katz

(1992) explored the importance of the children’s views and voices. She believed that

the quality of early childhood programs can be critiqued by multiple perspectives: top

down, bottom up, outside in, inside out (Katz, 1992, pp. 67-71). According to Katz,

the bottom up perspective should be the fundamental test of early childhood education

since this enables the children’s voices to be heard and acted on by adult facilitators as

they implement an authentic child-centred and child-initiated program. Hart (1997)

describes a continuum of child centred practice, using a ladder as a metaphor to

demonstrate the varying degrees of child initiation and collaboration when interacting

with adults. Hart (1997) does not propose that children should always operate at the

highest level of their competence, however, adult facilitators create conditions and

encourage children to work at levels they choose and non-participatory levels should

be avoided.

Researching children’s views and theories

Pramling (1983, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1995) undertook a series of studies that

traced the development of children as they became conscious of their own learning.

Her primary aim was to identify the children’s different conceptions of learning.

Pramling has used phenomenography as a research methodology in the early

childhood context for more than two decades and describes phenomenography as a

“view of knowledge, research method and qualitative descriptions of people’s ways of

thinking about something” (pg. 135).

29

In 1983, Pramling set out to investigate Swedish children’s conceptions of the

phenomenon of learning, and used these results to establish which categories are

evident at different levels of their development. Pramling (1988) continued her

research into children’s conceptions of their own learning and questioned whether

different teaching-learning environments could influence and bring about different

conceptions of learning. She found that children’s awareness of their own learning

increased considerably when content was taught metacognitively. Pramling (1991)

continued her research into children’s conceptions and investigated the development

of children’s understanding whilst implementing a theme in the classroom. As a

result of these collective studies, Pramling found that children become better learners

when they are aware of their role in learning. It is suggested that the learners’

perspectives should be considered in classrooms, and that reflection and questioning

encouraged throughout all levels of education.

Evans and Fuller (1998) investigated children’s conceptions of their nursery

education, also using a phenomenographic framework for their study. Using this

framework, they attempted to identify the qualitatively different ways in which

children perceive particular aspects of their nursery experience in three schools.

Evans and Fuller (1998) recognised the need to acknowledge children’s views and

incorporate them into educational planning and programmes. Their study involved

interviewing children to understand their ideas and notions of why they attend nursery

school, and what they liked and disliked at nursery school. Seven categories of

description emerged from the data describing children’s ideas and notions of why they

attend nursery school. Children who attended the nursery class with a large room in

which to play in, and where there was comparatively little adult intervention and

30

support, were more likely to say that the reason they went to nursery school was to

play. The categories of description that emerged from what they liked to do were:

symbolic activities, fluid construction (e.g. dough, paint, water, sand, crayons),

structural construction, gross motor activities and literacy/numeracy. The children in

Evans and Fuller’s (1998) study were clear in what they disliked and five categories

of negative descriptions about nursery school surfaced. This study concluded with

recommendations that emphasised the need for educators to give young children a

voice in their nursery education and to consider their opinions in daily activities and

routines.

Theories about children’s artistic cognition

Haas-Dyson (1990) describes young children as confident and inventive users

of symbols, by means of gestures, pictures, spoken words and written words.

Children use these imaginative representations to give shape to their experiences, to

support social connections and personal voice, and to understand their relationship to

the world and with others.

Studies in visual communication have shown a growing prominence in the

field of communication theory (Griffin, 2002). Moriarty (2002) emphasises the

importance of visual communication and argues it is of equal importance to verbal

communication. Similarly, The New London Group (1996) attempts to broaden the

understanding of literacy to include a “multiplicity of discourses” (pg. 61), and

advocates a pedagogy of multiliteracies that values modes of representations

encompassing more than language. Meaning is viewed as utilising “dynamic

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representational resources” which can be reinvented by users to accomplish a variety

of cultural purposes (New London Group, 1996, pg. 64).

Katz (1993) promotes young children’s use of graphic languages to represent

ideas and to document experiences in graphic representations, such as drawing.

Graphic languages allow children to further explore their understanding of concepts,

as the process of representing an idea through drawing and other artistic practices,

provokes questions and invites clarification. “The arts, in particular are seen as a very

rich form of symbol making because in them it is possible to bridge thought and

feeling and thus portray the rich amalgam of ideas and emotions with which we

experience life” (Smith, 1982, pg. 310).

Art is a form of thinking, rather than purely a sensory experience. As children

participate in art experiences, they represent, think and feel their experiences.

Observing children’s artistry, both the process and the product, allows educators and

researchers an insight to children’s personal constructions of the world (Engel, 1995).

Contemporary theorists have emphasised the cognitive and aesthetic value of art

(Arnheim, 1969; Gardner, 1980). Smith (1982) describes children’s art as a vehicle

for them to create order in “a limited and disorganised state of knowledge”, and that

children can “organise and image their thoughts and feelings about their world of

experience” (pg. 297). Various researchers have studied early mark making by young

children in the past fifty years (e.g Gardner, 1973; Goodnow, 1977; Kellogg, 1969;

Matthews, 1999; Smith, 1982; Wright, 2003). It is understood that children develop

in drawing in a process from scribbling to representation, but that meaning is evident

as a driver from the very beginning of children’s graphic representations.

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Contemporary theorists, particularly Matthews (1999) and Golomb (1992), indicate

that even the earliest mark making episodes are clear attempts at representing

children’s ideas through symbolic activity.

Rather than copying the world, young children examine it. Through their

creations, they manipulate it to express their ideas and feelings about their worlds.

Dyson (1990) claims learning through play, print and art provides children with

opportunities to employ multiple discourses for expression. Drawing enables children

to articulate ideas that they are sometimes too young to express verbally. Young

children initially rely on drawing and talking to carry their story’s meaning. Children

often add commentary to their art works and their remarks expand the viewers’

understandings of the drawing.

Smith (1982) believes that drawing and painting gives children the opportunity

to bring their inner and outer worlds “into relation” (pg. 299). Art encapsulates and

symbolises meanings that encompass thoughts and feelings. Drawing is a natural

practice that enables children to symbolise objects and events. It provides children

with a vehicle for organising, thinking and reflecting on experience.

Early childhood curriculum in Vietnam

Vietnam is making a concerted effort to reconstruct their early childhood

education system and the endeavour to reform and develop is evident in the national

and international context (Van, 2000). “Policy orientation for the future: 2001-2010”

states the need to increase enrolment in early childhood education programs, to

improve qualifications of early childhood professionals, to increase state budget

33

allocation and to improve facilities for early childhood education (UNESCO, 2000).

Pham (personal communication, January 17, 1999) writes that the first steps of

curriculum renovation are underway with the focus on four key areas of content,

teaching methodology, classroom arrangement and child centred approaches, and the

aim to provide a quality program which focuses on all areas of childhood

development. Early reforms focused on a comprehensive list of themes based on

suitability and children’s interests. Although the move to child-centred, play based

and outcomes focused approaches are part of the philosophical rhetoric, curriculum

documents are highly prescriptive and there appears to be little evidence or

endorsement of an emergent, child-centred curriculum (see appendix A, pg. 153).

Art is an important component of early childhood education in Vietnam. As

part of the prescribed curriculum set out by MOET, children in Vietnamese

kindergartens receive approximately 100 hours of formal sessions over a three-year

period (see Appendix B, pg. 155). Many kindergartens in Vietnam have a full-time

art specialist teacher. Small groups of children are withdrawn from the classroom to

participate in these instructional lessons. Children’s art is displayed throughout

kindergartens in Vietnam. The corridors and walls are full of colourful images and

representations created by the children. Classroom shelves display finely sculptured

plasticine figurines and completed craft projects. Kindergartens are generally well-

resourced with a variety of materials displayed on shelves, such as pencils, crayons

and scissors, glue and paper available on hand for children to use during free play or

free choice activities.

34

MOET has established three key objectives in Vietnamese kindergartens that

centre on and guide art education in Vietnamese kindergarten:

• To establish and nurture kindergarten children with the primary foundations of

“aesthetic emotion” and an awareness and understanding of the arts (MOET,

1997, pg. 15).

• To cultivate children’s love of and ability to create beauty.

• To contribute to children’s holistic development and “preparation for primary

education through activities, which encourage concentration, listening, creation,

imagination, observation, and analysis” (Piscitelli, Pham & Chen, 1999, pg. 25).

Art teachers direct young children in a systematic and methodical manner in

the three-year time frame of a child’s years at kindergarten. Curriculum guidelines

outline clear outcomes and expectations for each age level in kindergarten. The

kindergarten art curriculum focuses on three art techniques, these include: a)

modelling, b) painting and c) tearing and cutting and pasting. Lessons are conducted

in a sequence of four steps: observation and discussion, teachers instructing and

modelling the artistic process, children independently carrying out the activity and

finally, a group discussion and sharing time. The content of the art program is set out

in the kindergarten curriculum guidelines (Piscitelli, Pham & Chen, 1999). An

emphasis is placed on applying the three art techniques in the following subject areas:

fruit, flowers, animals, people, shapes, houses, transport, story illustration, outdoor

scenes, and some free choice (Ministry of Education and Training, 1997, pp. 37-40).

Piscitelli, Pham & Chen (1999) report that MOET’s official art curriculum and

their goals have been difficult to achieve, due to severe funding problems and a

35

shortage of qualified teachers. The art curriculum and its goals are being taught and

implemented to only a small number of young Vietnamese children. These children

are likely to be urban children, rather than rural children who are more likely to be

disadvantaged.

Conclusion

MOET has established goals for a play-based, child-centred, outcomes-based

approach to early childhood education. MOET’s early childhood reform practice is

still under development, “and is not with problems, as traditional and emerging values

inevitably clash” (Walker, Vu and Dang, 1996, pg. 145). Poor qualifications and a

lack of understanding of child-centred perspectives are obstacles to overcome as

Vietnam’s attempts to reform its curriculum. In order to assist this transition, the

importance of child generated conceptions may be useful in assist in curriculum

planning and policy making, as children have “a body of knowledge and experience

that is unique to their situation” (Lansdown, 2001).

36

CHAPTER THREE

Research Design

Introduction

The aim of this study was to document and interpret young Vietnamese

children’s conceptions of play in 2000-2001. Phenomenography was selected as a

framework for this research as it is grounded in the notion that for any given

phenomenon, there are a limited number of different ways in which people perceive,

experience or understand it (Marton, 1981).

The phenomenographic methodology has primarily been used to examine the

“content of learning” (Lind, 1998, pg.139). The Nordic countries have adopted this

research methodology, particularly in studies examining learner’s conceptions of their

own learning. Marton (1975, 1976) published some of the earliest papers in the

development of the phenomenographic approach. Marton (in Evans and Fuller, 1998)

describes the qualitatively different ways in which the world is perceived as

“categories of description” (p. 60). These categories are not developed in advance or

pre-established prior to research. Rather, categories are developed through the data

collected. This is a key component of phenomenographic research process, as

phenomenography is “research that aims at description, analysis and understanding of

experiences; that is, research which is directed towards experiential description”

(Marton, 1978, pg. 6).

In phenomenography, the object of research is the identification of ways of

experiencing a phenomenon, and this involves the study of variation of qualitatively

37

different ways of seeing, experiencing and understanding the same phenomenon.

Marton & Fai (1999) describe these variations as embodying two faces. The first face

of variation is the study of the multiple and different ways people experience the same

phenomenon. The second face of variation involves particular questions that

investigate the ways each individual experiences specific phenomena and how these

evolve. The focus of the second face of variation is how a person’s awareness of a

concept is constructed. To understand this aspect of conceptualisation, individual’s

ideas are scrutinised with sensitivity.

Marton (1981) distinguished these two perspectives as first-order perspective

and second-order perspective. First-order perspectives represent how something is,

while second order perspectives convey an understanding of how something is

experienced by an individual (Pramling & Johansson, 1995). The research questions

for this study (see chapter one, pp. 8-9) seek to utilise these two perspectives.

Research question one “What do young Vietnamese children think about their play?”

will distinguish first-order perspectives. Through a list of the conceptions which

emerged from the data. Research question two “What culturally relevant conceptions

about play do young Vietnamese children convey in their stories and drawings?” will

explore and discuss second-order perspectives. The second-order perspective

explores strong cultural threads that interweave through the data and the impact of

these cultural rituals, ideologies and identities on young Vietnamese children’s

conceptions of play.

During the cycle of data analysis, the phenomenographic researcher

endeavours to extract the categories of description from the qualitative data.

38

Phenomenography, both as research program and phenomenography as a research

tool, focuses on and describes conceptions (Svensson, 1997). The outcome of

phenomenographic research is a set of categories that include a range of conceptions

describing the variations in the ways a particular phenomenon is understood.

Comparisons of these categories clarify the nature of the variations (Walsh, 2000).

Categories are formed as a result of “abstraction, reduction and condensation” of the

data (Svensson, 1994, pg.16). Data is reduced to a “limited or pregnant form”

(Svensson, 1994, pg. 17). The aim of categorisation is to reach a summary of

expression of the content and/or meaning of data.

Australian researchers have adopted the phenomenography approach and

methodology in various fields of research, particularly educational research. Various

researchers have investigated areas of literacy, art, social studies and mathematical

knowledge (Hawke, 1993; Ballantyne and Bruce, 1994; Bruce, 1994; Russell and

Massey, 1994; Gerber, Boulton-Lewis and Bruce, 1995). The range of methods used

in phenomenographic research largely incorporates interview and visual

representation as evidence of the concept under investigation. Bruce (1994) and

Russell and Massey (1994) provide comprehensive information about the validity of

the interview as a research tool. Russell and Massey (1994) believe that interviewing

can provide rich data, however using mixed methods including visual representations,

(for example, drawings and visual thinking), as well as group discussions, allows for

diversity in expression of qualitatively different conceptions of certain phenomena.

39

Participants

For the purposes of this study, young children between the ages of three and

ten were sought by the nature of their inclusion in classes in early childhood

institutions and cultural programs. Sites were selected for data collection on the basis

of: accessibility to outside researchers, willingness to participate in international

research, typicality of children’s programs, and diversity of social/economic

backgrounds. The sites were selected by collaborative research team, composed of

QUT researchers and selected staff from the Vietnam National Centre for the Social

Sciences and Humanities, the Vietnam Institute of Psychology, the Ministry of

Education and Training Research Centre for Early Childhood Education (MOET) and

the National Teachers Training College Number 3 (see Appendix C, pg.159). Local

Vietnamese partners offered assistance with selection of sites, data gathering, data

analysis, translation and interpretation.

Nine sites in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were visited for data collection

from 11 December 2000 to 9 January 2001. These included seven kindergartens (five

public and two private) and two out of school hours cultural programs. In total, 353

urban children participated in this study. The participants in this study ranged from 3

years old to 10 years old (see Table 1 & 2).

40

Table. 1.

Number/Gender of children participating in study

Program

Male

Female

Number

No of

Groups

Viet Bun Kindergarten – VB

17

23

40

2

Dong Da Kindergarten – DD 29 36 65 2

Ba Dinh Kindergarten - BD 9 8 17 1

Hanoi Cultural Palace – HCP 14 13 27 1

Lan Anh Kindergarten – LA 20 32 52 2

Truong Mau Ciao Thuc Hanh

(Experimental kindergarten) - EK

19 35 53 2

Children’s Cultural House of

Ho Chi Minh City - CCH

9 22 31 1

Bong Sen 2 Kindergarten - CC 20 24 44 2

Minh Dang Kindergarten - VT 13 10 23 1

Total

150

203

353

14

Table. 2.

Ages represented in this study

Age Frequency Percent

4 years and under

121

34.3

5 years 185 52.4

6 years and over 47 13.3

Total

353

100.0

Data collection techniques

The study focussed on gathering data on children’s play through their

drawings and stories. Russell & Massey (1994) recommend data collection strategies

that incorporate multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1985), particularly when utilising a

41

phenomenographic methodology. They claim that a combination of verbal and visual

research strategies gives a rich selection of data. For young children, a combination

of storytelling and drawing provides an ideal opportunity to illustrate their numerous

and varied conceptions of the one phenomenon, using a variety of data collection

methods overcomes the difficulty in interpreting children’s discourse and the danger

of imposing adult meanings upon children’s words, symbols and gestures (Silvers,

2001). The combination of the drawing and storytelling enables young children to

articulate their ideas and conceptions. Drawings are recommended in cross-cultural

research as this minimises language difficulties and problems (Wenestam and Wass,

1987).

Bruce (1994) believes that successful interviewing depends on abiding by

phenomenographic rules to avoid pre-emptive judgement about outcomes. These

rules provide guidelines to achieving validity during data gathering. In

phenomenography, interviewer needs to put aside their personal experiences and

focus on the experience of the interviewee. This is known as “bracketing” (Marton,

1986, 1988 in Richardson, 1999, pg. 70). Relations between the interviewee and the

experience cannot be presupposed. The interviewee is asked to describe their own

experience and understanding of the phenomenon, through examples, diagrams and

drawings.

Marton (1986) believes that possible data sources for the phenomenographic

investigation, includes conversation and work samples/products. In

phenomenographic research, the interview appears to the most prevalent strategy

(Bruce, 1994). In this study, three data sets were selected for analysis (discussion,

42

drawing and stories), to ensure a rich investigation into the interviewee’s life world

and to endeavour to understand the young Vietnamese children’s conceptions of play.

Data Collection Procedure and Protocol

The data gathering was conducted over a six-week period (see Appendix D,

pg. 161). Fourteen sessions were conducted in nine venues. A standard one hour

lesson was used in each case with group discussion, drawing and storytelling

episodes.

Group discussion

Data collection began with the introduction of the researchers to the children

and with the presentation of a scripted lesson (see Appendix D, pg 161). In the

lesson, children were asked to contribute to a discussion on play initiated by the

researchers. These discussions were documented and form an integral part of the data

collection. Interviews, such as this group interview, encourage reflection on

experience, as well as asking participants how the phenomenon appears to them. It

gives the researcher the opportunity to ask for answers to be elaborated and clarified

(Bruce, 1994). This kind of group work allows each individual to bring personal

references from both “interior and exterior sources” (Engel, 1995, pg. 21). In this

study, participants took turns describing their conceptions in group contexts and

children generated a diverse range of conceptions about play in this open forum. Data

on the group discussion was recorded by way of field notes and is discussed in the

findings (Chapter Four).

43

Drawings

At the end of the group discussion, children were invited to create an image of

their own play lives. Children were provided with a creative visualisation exercise to

focus their ideas prior to drawing. The researcher asked all groups a series of

questions prior to drawing to encourage children to focus on their own play (see

Appendix E). This technique assisted children in focussing in on a personal

representation of their own play lives. Smith (1993) endorses the use of initial

dialogue and discussions between teachers and children when drawing and painting.

These discussions began with the teacher offering a theme or a topic (in this instance,

play). Children were asked to share “important experiences and the associations with

and ideas about the experience each child finds meaningful” (Smith, 1993, pg. 66).

The purpose of this dialogue was to focus children’s ideas on play and to encourage

them to translate their thoughts onto paper. Drawings have been used as a method of

obtaining children’s conceptions across a variety of phenomena such as physical

attractiveness and death. (Wenestam and Wass, 1987; Moran, McCullers and

Banilivy, 1976). Discussions during drawing may encourage a child to pay focus on

the story and idea, and to add important elements and details as they are uncovered or

come into focus (Brooks, 2003).

Personal Interviews

Children were interviewed on completion of their own drawing. Children

described numerous features of their drawings. These included the setting, characters,

objects, symbols and meanings. Stories were recorded on the reverse side of the

picture by the research team along with demographic data such as the child’s name,

44

age and school. Each drawing and story was allocated an item number (see Appendix

F, pg. 165).

Data analysis techniques

In phenomenography, data is examined for “internal consistency and the

relations between them” (Marton & Booth, 1997, pg. 111). The texts are read and re-

read many times by the researcher. “The boundaries separating individuals are

abandoned and interest is focused on a ‘pool of meanings’ discovered in the data”

(Marton, 1986, pp. 42-3). Following saturation in the data, the researcher forms

categories. Categories are tools which “encapsulate understanding” that emerged

from the data (Walsh, 2000, pg. 24). From these categories, variations in conceptions

are identified.

The following example of the decoding of Diem My’s (CC18) drawing

illustrates how “pools of meaning” (Marton, 1986, pp. 42-3) were extracted from

children’s drawings and stories.

Plate 1: I am riding on the back of a buffalo. It is eating grass. These are my sister and my friends. Diem My, Female, CC18 5 years

Diem My (Plate 1) is five years old and attends Bong Sen 2 kindergarten in the

town of Cu Chi. She draws herself sitting astride a black buffalo. The buffalo is a

central figure situated on her page, and stands in a gully amongst a colourful

45

assortment of flowers and plants. On either side of the buffalo, Diem My has drawn

two figures. These figures appear to be drawn hastily and without the detail and care

Diem My demonstrated in other features of her drawing. Distinctly coloured

butterflies flutter by. Diem My has shaded the background in a rich green. Two blue

clouds sit on top of her picture. A flock of black birds soar amongst the clouds. Diem

My describes her drawing, “I am riding on the back of a buffalo. It is eating grass.

These are my sister and my friend”.

Diem My’s drawing and description reveals a multitude of play resources and

highlights distinct cultural and contextual influences which shape and inspire young

Vietnamese children’s play lives. She has revealed the human resources that are

important in her play life through the inclusion of a sibling and a friend. Her drawing

reflects culturally valued images. The buffalo featured in this drawing holds strong

cultural significance, as this animal is an integral part of Vietnam's traditional village

farming structure and, as such, features as part of the structured drawing repertoire

taught in Vietnamese kindergartens. The inclusion of natural resources such as

butterflies, flowers and birds highlight the love of nature that the Vietnamese people

highly regard. Diem My’s depiction of her play life exposes “pools of meanings”,

such her rich cultural heritage, her values and, most importantly, a lens into her

individual play world (Marton, 1986, pp. 42-43).

In this study, phenomenographic analysis of the data sets (i.e. drawing, story,

field notes) was undertaken in a sequence of eight steps as outlined by Dean (1994,

pg. 116-118).

46

Table. 3.

Phenomenographic cycle of analysis

1. Familarisation

1. Familarisation

8. Articulation 2. Reflection (level 1)

7. Categorisation

3. Comparison 6. Explication

5. Condensation 4. Reflection (level 2)

(adapted from Dean, 1994, pg. 117)

The first step in phenomenographic analysis is familiarisation. This is the

practice of the researcher becoming acquainted with the content of the data and forms

the preliminarily analysis. The researcher becomes immersed in the material through

frequent reviews of the data during the data collection and management process. In

this study, the data sets were organised in a manner where labelling and filing was

completed immediately after each data-gathering event. This gave the researcher the

opportunity to become familiar with the data on a surface level. Ideas and patterns

were noted and discussed with fellow researchers, educators and collaborators.

Following the completion of the data collection, images were digitally scanned,

arranged and labelled on a spreadsheet (see Appendix G, pg. 214). During this

process, the researcher became familiar with each individual drawing as it passed

through the editing, filing and storing process.

47

Reflection (level 1) involved a surface analysis of the data. This stage

involved the researcher “coding, flagging, labelling, indexing and highlighting”

relevant and emerging data (Dean, 1994, pg. 117). The aim at this stage was to

capture as many meanings as possible, whilst undertaking surface analyses. The

researcher examined each data set independently and as a group. Comments and

notes were made beside each drawing and story to document each meaning of play

that emerged from the data, e.g. alone, friends, family, pets and animals, outdoors,

indoors, organised games, school, park, cultural places, flowers and nature, cultural

festivals, learnt drawings, toys, equipment, imagination and home.

The comparison stage involved comparing data for similarities and

differences. By using an emergent coding system (refer to Appendix G, pg. 214),

similarities and differences were identified. Coding allowed the researcher to identify

the ideas and themes that continually re-emerged. Recurring ideas and themes were

compared for similarities and differences.

Reflection (level 2) entailed a deeper reading of the coded data so that

similarities and differences were revisited and noted. The researcher invited three

experts in the field of children’s play, (QUT staff: Piscitelli, Perry and postgraduate

student: Wong) to check on consistency of variant (points of difference) and invariant

features (points of agreement). This enabled the researcher to extend the data to a

richer capacity by generating variations of perspectives. Consistent with the

phenomenographic research process, the researcher returned to the data and extracted

themes, ideas and language that surfaced from each separate drawing and story.

These were collected and listed. As ideas and themes emerged, they were tallied to

48

record frequencies. This additional reading and coding of data enabled the researcher

to progress to the next level of analysis - condensation.

During the condensation process, the researcher condensed the data to a

manageable quantity. Identifiable elements, which repeatedly appeared in the data,

were extracted from the data. Individual stories and images were examined and

coded, as each of these identifiable elements emerged from the examined data.

Stories and images were both selected as they provided consistency in the search for

variation of meaning. Representative samples of data illustrating similarities and

differences were selected. The researcher condensed the data into emerging clusters,

focussing on similarities and differences of the ideas of play.

The explication stage involved the development and clarification of the

“essence of similarities and differences in regard to various conceptions within each

domain of inquiry” (Dean, 1994, pg. 118). The explication process involved the

researcher in clarifying children’s concepts of play, in order to give explanations.

Clusters of data that conveyed similar meanings were grouped together. This enabled

the researcher to organise categories of data that were similar and different into broad

categories of conceptions. This process involves the researcher manually sorting the

data. Following this coding process, the data were again tallied for frequencies and

main themes were grouped together.

The next stage, categorisation, involved denoting various categories of

meaning and the creation of categories of conceptions. Categories were validated and

scrutinised by applying standard definitions from The Oxford (Thompson, 1993) and

49

The Macquarie dictionaries (Delbridge, 2002). This permitted categories to be clearly

defined and labelled.

The final step of data analysis was articulation, where data were compared

and contrasted to identify similarities and differences of children’s conceptions of

play. Common elements within the categories were analysed by measuring the

frequencies with which common ideas and themes emerged. Data were entered into a

statistical analysis package (SPSS) to establish a statistical representation of each

category and subcategory (see Chapter 4, tables 4 and 5). Emerging patterns were

identified, leading to new insights and discoveries such as consistent emphasis on

using social and human resources for play, frequent representation of culturally

specific events and contexts, the presence of imagination as a catalyst for play, and a

preference for games with rules particularly amongst older children.

Professional consultation

In addition to data collection and fieldwork activities, the researchers

conducted three seminars with social scientists and educators. More than 100 local

participants attended these seminars. The seminars served as a forum to discuss

children’s play lives and to share emerging ideas, research methods and findings with

teachers, academics, researchers and policymakers. Additionally, research team

meetings were conducted to discuss the emerging findings of the study.

Collaborators can be “indispensable partners in the conduct of qualitative

inquiry. There will be much you could not know without the interpretive knowledge,

sensitivity, and insights, from the development and wording of interview questions to

50

understanding hierarchies of power and authority” (Glesne, 1999, p.56). This process

establishes the reliability of results. Obtaining assistance from collaborators was

particularly valuable in assisting with language interpretation and the understanding

of cultural differences.

Professional consultation is considered vital in the analysis process of

phenomenography (Glesne, 1999 & Bruce, 1994). During the data analyses process,

the researcher collaborated with two QUT experts in the field of play for the purpose

checking on consistency of variant and invariant features emergent from the data. A

variety of perspectives resulted from this collaboration. The frequent analysis and

revisiting of the data set enabled the researcher to gain a deeper saturation of meaning

from the data and to draw rich interpretations from this evidence of children’s

meaning making. This process established a second validation of the reliability of

results (Walsh, 2000). Bowden (1990) advocates the using a group process for

analysis and questions the ability of an individual researcher to extend the data to its

richest capacity.

Ethical Issues

The QUT Human Research Ethics Committee granted approval to conduct this

research (see Appendix H, pg. 216). In Vietnam, preschool directors act in loco

parentis, making all decisions relating to children’s school lives. As this is the case,

we sought a variation on the standard QUT ethical clearance on the grounds that the

permission of the director was sufficient to conduct research (see Appendix I, pg. 228)

and argued these circumstances successfully with QUT’s Ethics Committee. A

statement of consent was presented to each of the directors of the kindergartens,

51

outlining what the study was about, our aims, our plans and our objectives. An

additional clause was added to the statement of consent, to ensure that the directors

agreed to participate in the project, discuss the project with parents and acknowledge

consent of families for children’s participation.

Children’s verbal consent was also sought in the immediate setting. The

children were invited to participate in the activity. All children were asked if they

would like to give us their drawings. Verbal permission from the director of each

institution was sought prior to photographing the children and the locations.

Limitations

This study involves 353 children. A large sample size can limit the depth of

comprehension and understanding of the children’s unique concepts. Although this

sample size is considerable, the data collection was manageable and executed

systematically in nine site-specific sets (see Appendix F, pg. 165). Each set

represents ideas from that cohort and has been isolated for analysis across variables

such as age, gender and location.

In this study with 353 participants, it may be easy to lose sight of the personal

dimensions of an individuals’ meaning making. For the most part, large categories of

play conceptions mask the child’s personal voice and vision. To overcome this

problem, the researcher used two techniques:

1. Frequent handling/review of data.

2. Detailed descriptions of a selected sample of emblematic works from each of

the categories.

52

The Australian researchers were unable to speak the language of the children.

To overcome this problem a group of six native Vietnamese speakers and

collaborators assisted as researchers in the study, which allowed all the children’s

stories to be heard, recorded and translated to English. Researchers recruited teachers

to record data on children’s drawings. Collaborators also provided the researcher with

field notes and background information on the participants and the locations visited.

Some researchers (Hatch, 1990) claim that there are difficulties in conducting

interviews with young children. To overcome such limitations, this research process

provided opportunities for children to convey their ideas. The drawings, the stories

and group discussions validated children’s voices.

For the most part, aggregated results are discussed across all nine data sets.

Where appropriate, site specific, age specific and gender specific variations are

identified and discussed in the findings (Chapter Four).

53

CHAPTER FOUR

Findings

Introduction

This chapter provides a discussion of the faces of variation in young Vietnamese

children’s conceptions of play emergent from stories and drawings collected in 2000-

2001. Following Dean’s (1994) eight-step process of phenomenographic analysis, six

categories of description emerged from the Vietnamese drawings and pictures. The

findings are presented in this chapter as six key ideas about play as seen by young

Vietnamese children at the turn of the 21st century. The chapter includes 34 snapshots

from the collection to illustrate variations in conceptions about play. As such, this is a

limited picture of about ten percent of the complete set, however, it represents the vital

and varied points of view about play in Vietnam.

Children used storytelling to summarise or explain their drawings. The verbal

dialogue that the children provided was often brief, yet it provided the researcher with

greater perspective and focus on the meanings of drawings. The stories clarified the

relationships between items and ideas which children included in their drawings and

often provided the researchers with an understanding of context and background. The

drawings provided visual representation of the idea, while the storytelling provided

verbal clarification of the images.

54

Group discussions involved an informal discussion on play. Children were given

the opportunity to contribute to the discussion in a relaxed classroom environment. Ideas

and views were shared amongst the class, and children’s ideas were often expanded on by

others. Children generated new ideas and were clear and concise on their play

preferences.

Table. 4.

Young Vietnamese children and their key ideas about play

Data source: group discussion

Program

Human

relationships

Natural

Culture

and

Context

Materials

Structure

Imagination

VB

6

3

2

4

DD 1 2 1 18 1 1

BD 4 5 1

HCP 1 2 1

LA 1 1 5 9 1

EK 1 5 6 9

CCH 5 1

CC 3 2 5 3 6

VT 1 2 5 2

55

During group discussions, young Vietnamese children shared their ideas about

play. Their preferred play activities were structured activities and playing with materials.

They enjoyed imaginary games and role playing. Group discussions provided surface

level data due to limited participants, time constraints and the initial shyness of the

children.

The following table presents the categories of description emergent from

children’s stories and drawings. Young Vietnamese children’s conceptions about play

emerged during the phenomenographic analyses of the data sets using Dean’s (1994)

eight-step process, as discussed Chapter Three. This process involved frequent handling

and revisiting of data in order to determine key ideas and themes.

This process resulted in six succinct categories, giving the researcher an insight

into play in the lives of young Vietnamese children. Similarities and differences within

the categories are evident and will be discussed in this chapter. Strong cultural threads

interweave through the data, providing an insight into cultural perspectives and

influences on the lives of children in this study.

56

Table. 5.

Young Vietnamese children and their key ideas about play

Data sources: drawings and stories

Categories/sub-categories

Count

Percentage of cases

Natural world 290 82.1 Outdoor 247 69.9 Flowers 128 36.2 Animals 60 16.9 Relationships 232 65.7 Friends 96 27.1 Family 69 19.5 Alone 55 15.5 Extended family 12 3.3 Culture and context 226 64.0 Home 141 39.9 School 64 18.1 Cultural celebrations and rituals 21 5.9 Material resources 94 26.6 Transport 27 7.6 Balloons 22 6.2 Playground equipment 21 5.9 Skipping rope 17 4.8 Technology 4 1.1 Structure 54 15.2 Global games 28 7.9 Ritualised games 22 6.2 Cultural games 4 1.1 Imagination 26 7.3 Role play 14 3.9 Make believe 8 2.2 Wishful thinking 4 1.1

57

Concept 1: The natural world

The natural world features in the children’s drawings in a variety of ways.

Flowers and trees are consistently depicted throughout the data sets. The natural world,

particularly flowers and parks, are valued in Vietnamese culture and show up as preferred

play spaces in children’s drawings and stories. During the first years of early childhood

education, Vietnamese children are taught to draw flowers and other significant symbols

considered important to the Vietnamese (see Appendix A, pg. 153). Children encounter

themes, songs and narrative based on the natural world within the kindergarten

curriculum (see Appendix A, pg. 153). Key themes expressed by the children through

their drawings and stories include flowers, plants and trees, animals and the sea.

Sometimes one of these learned drawings was used as one element to stand as a referent

for a broader notion, as seen in some of the examples to follow (Vujanovic, 2000a).

Flowers

Flowers were evident across all the data sets and were featured in a large

percentage of young Vietnamese children’s drawings. A large number of children (138

children, 40%) in this study included flowers in their drawings. Flowers were captured in

two variant ways. Children represented flowers as the focal feature and activity in their

artwork and story. Flowers were deemed an important resource in the pleasure of play.

Young Vietnamese children often simply stated that they were playing with flowers.

They included flower arranging, picking flowers, selling flowers at the market, looking at

flowers, drawing flowers and holding flowers.

58

Flowers were often included to enhance the aesthetic quality of their illustrations

and to create a colourful and vibrant representation of the child’s world and play

environment. Some children used flowers to decorate their drawing by including the

beauty and colour of flowers. Flowers appeared surrounding homes, schools and

churches, in the playground, in the streets and next to the roads, in the fields and by the

sea. Children drew vases that contained brightly coloured flowers or apricot blossoms

that serve as a reminder of the new year and the coming of spring during Tet celebrations.

Some children were particularly specific in their stories and named the flowers they drew

which included marigolds, sunflowers and lotus.

Plate 2: Play alone outdoors with flowers Pham Nguyet Nga, Female 5 years BD 5

• Five year-old Pham Nguyet Nga (Plate 2) describes her drawing, “Play alone

outdoors with flowers.” In her drawing, a house stands in the centre of the picture

consisting of a yellow rectangle and a red roof. A red square represents the door

to the house; sitting under the roof are two small square pink windows. On both

sides of the house is a row of multi-coloured flowers. On the right side of the

drawing, Pham Nguyet Nga has drawn herself with a flower placed in each hand.

A large sun and colourful clouds are placed in the red sky.

59

Plate 3: Football Phuc, Male, 6 years HCP3

• Six year old Phuc (Plate 3) has no difficulty in expressing his favourite play

activity. His story is simply titled, “Football”. Phuc draws two boys playing

outdoors, kicking a football to one and other, amongst red background. However,

Phuc has added some additional elements to his drawing to capture the

environment he plays in. To the side of the drawing Phuc, has positioned a tree.

Sprigs of grass are randomly drawn across the bottom. Placed above the football

players, there are clouds and a sun. Centrally positioned on the paper is a circular

garden bed with three red and yellow flowers. Although this picture is primarily

about football, flowers have been added to create an aesthetically attractive

drawing, and to indicate the outdoor, parkland setting for such play.

Outdoor environments

The Vietnamese people value nature. Vietnamese children repeatedly

communicated and expressed these values through their art. The appreciation of nature

was evident through the high percentage of outdoor environments children illustrated

(290 children, 82.1%). Children depicted the outdoors in varying ways. They focused on

the environment as a place they like to visit, such as parks and gardens in their

60

community. The children drew breathtakingly colourful skies, with the sun radiating

through brightly coloured clouds. Balloons, kites, helicopters and planes flew in crisp

clear skies. Children decorated the bottom of their drawings with bright green grass or

with brown sloping mounds of dirt. Large shady trees laden with juicy ripe fruit were

strategically placed beside play spaces. Children played underneath blossom trees during

the festival of Tet. Flowers peeped out through fences, beside buildings and in an orderly

fashion in garden beds and in parks. Fish, crabs and crayfish swam though sparkling blue

seas and mountains surrounded the coastal waters. Children swam in swimming pools

and watched the ripple effects and the patterns created by currents in the water. They

depicted themselves watching cars and trucks meandering along the streets and through

the countryside. They portrayed colourful markets and festival and captured themselves

as they played in the tropical rainstorms.

Plate 4: I drew a flower garden. This is a duck. I like to play in the garden at the park. Thanh Tram, Female, 5 years VT 21

• Thanh Tram (Plate 4) draws three bunches of flowers. Each bunch has three

flowers attached to it. The flowers are coloured in an assortment of bright

colours. Each flower has two leaves evenly spaced and evenly placed along the

stem. There is distinct order and uniformity in this drawing. The flowers are set

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upon a pink background. In the upper right hand corner, four small oval clouds

are evenly spaced and float close to the small red sun. In the lower right hand

corner, a tiny duck has been drawn. The flowers tower over the duck. The duck

appears comical with its green legs, orange body, a large yellow head and its

larger than life bill. Thanh Tram describes her drawing, “I drew a flower garden.

This is a duck.” She continues her story by explaining what she likes to do when

she plays. “I like to play in the garden at the park.”

Young urban Vietnamese children depicted their homes nestled amongst lush

gardens, yet in reality many children live in urban areas where houses are attached and

gardens, flowers, grass and trees are scarce. The substantial presence of natural

environments in the children’s drawing is not an accurate depiction of the real living

situation of children in Vietnam. Imagery of natural landscapes can be considered as

symbols, or referent images, for where children prefer to play. Children’s drawings

reflect the values and the repertoire of drawings that are taught to them at kindergartens

throughout Vietnam. Consequently, children most likely included parkland surroundings

in their drawings to give them an aesthetic quality, not to reflect contemporaneous reality.

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Plate 5: My home Phong, Male, 4 years DD11

• Phong (Plate 5) is a four-year-old boy living in Hanoi. He attends Dong Da

Kindergarten, in a working class area. The kindergarten is situated along a busy

urban road of the city. Phong draws his home. His story simply states “My

home”. His blue house is centrally placed in his drawing. It has a pink double

door with a bright yellow doorknob. The red roof is tiled, with a television

antenna protruding from the top. The house sits on a black, slightly curved base

that has been drawn along the bottom of the page. A fence stretches across the

page and is attached to both sides of the house. Growing in front of the fence are

flowers and trees. They are drawn on each side of the house, creating a sense of

spaciousness. One of trees bears bright orange fruit, one of which has fallen to

the ground. The dark earth is scattered randomly with sprigs of grass. Clouds in

varying sizes float by and a small red sun peeps behind a small cloud in the left

hand corner of the page. Phong’s drawing of play centres on his home. Home is

where play takes place in his life, and home is an ideal world where safety and

comfort is paramount.

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Animals

Animals were popular in children’s drawings with 60 (16.9%) children in this

study either representing an animal in their drawing or their stories. Many children

simply inserted butterflies and birds to enhance the aesthetic quality of their drawing.

Fish regularly featured in the children’s drawings. Many of their kindergartens we

visited had fish tanks and ponds, and children were involved in the care of fish. This was

especially evident in the data gathered from Viet Bun kindergarten and Lan Anh

Kindergarten. Both kindergartens also had their own rabbits and rabbit hutch. As a

consequence, drawings regularly featured rabbits. Chickens and roosters often dominated

drawings and were included in children’s stories as play resources. Chickens are

commonly kept in urban environments in Vietnam as an additional food source and

children may have a flock at home. Roosters are valued in Vietnam, where cockfighting

is a national pastime and features at many festivals. Roosters appeared in children’s

drawings and one child (Appendix F, Ming Dang Kindergarten, pg. 212) depicted a

cockfight and verbalised that he enjoys going to watch cockfighting. Cats also featured

in children’s drawings and emerged as being a common family pet. Young Vietnamese

children were able to include a large array of animals into their storytelling and drawings.

They gave rich descriptions of their relationships and the impact pets and animals have

on their lives.

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Plate 6: Two fish. (Do you like to play with fish?) I feed them at kindergarten. Nhat Quynh, Female, 4 years EK 11

• Four year-old Nhat Quynh (Plate 6) drew a big yellow circle, which almost takes

up all of her page. In the circle, she drew two large fish. The fish were drawn

using a sequence of ovals, circles, and semi-circles. The oval shape, which is the

fish body, was divided into two, one part being the fish’s head, the other part for

the body. On the body, Nhat Quynh drew circles representing the fish scales

which she filled with a contrasting colour to the body. She drew two semi-circles

attached to the body, as fins, and an additional, larger semi-circle for the tail. The

face has an eye and a mouth drawn on it. Nhat Quynh explained there were “Two

fish,” before adding: “I feed them at kindergarten.”

Plate 7: Outside with friends Tran Le Quan, Male, 5 years VB23

• Tran Le Quan (Plate 7) describes his drawing as “Outside with friends.” Two

large human figures dominate the drawing. Their bodies are composed by using a

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series of rectangles representing the torso and limbs and a circle to represent the

head. The figures have large mouths, which Tran Le Quan has drawn a

succession of lines through to characterise a toothy grin. One of the figures is

male indicated by a few small lines of hair drawn across his forehead and the

other figure is female, as she has a pigtail protruding from the top of her head.

The male figure is probably Le Quan, as his signature frames his body. A tree

stands to the side of the drawing. It is heavily laden with large orange fruit. To

the other side of the paper is a multicoloured rooster. Tran Le Quan fails to

mention the rooster in his story, however, this brightly coloured rooster is a

distinct component in this picture. Roosters are a common symbol in Vietnam

and they are a taught drawing symbol (see Appendix B, pg. 155). Tran Le Quan

links the rooster to the pleasure of playing outdoors with animals and friends.

Concept 2: Human relationships

Human relationships refer to people that children revealed as being present or

playing an influential role in their play lives. Human resources consisted largely of

family and friends. One in four children participating in this study, (94 children, 27%)

referred to friends in their drawings and stories, whilst one in five (69 children, 19.5%)

included their families. Other human resources described by children included teachers,

classmates and a vast array of people in their communities that take part in their daily

lives. The children in this study demonstrated the social aspects of play, (see Chapter 2,

pg. 14 - 15) through the inclusion of these human resources in their drawings and stories.

The development of children’s social perspective taking is evident throughout this study,

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as children’s views and interactions with their friends and co-players mature and become

more developed (see Chapter 2, pg. 15).

Friends

In their drawings and stories, young Vietnamese children demonstrated that they

enjoy playing with friends in many ways. They enjoyed the intimacy and affection

friendship brings as they held hands, exchanged gifts and shared play experiences. They

played outdoors activities such as football, badminton, basketball, hacky sac, chasey,

skipping, elastic and blow huge bubbles. Friends picked flowers together. They

participated in indoor games such as puzzles, chess and other classroom games. They

sang together in concerts. Children enjoyed playing with one special friend or lots of

friends. Neighbours visited each other. Children played with their friends in diverse

environments, such as: schools, homes, at sea, parks, the streets, the beach, the waterpark,

the zoo, the botanical gardens and at their grandparent’s house. They celebrated festivals

together and played dragons together. Routines such as walking to school, morning

exercise and dancing were often shared with friends. They shared resources with each

other, such as dolls, playground equipment, balloons, Lego and other toys. Young

Vietnamese children often imagined that their friends were visiting their homes and

depicted themselves engaged in this fictional moment. Wishfully, one child described his

friend meeting Popeye and Pluto. Children were also involved in imaginative play with

their friends as they role-played teachers and shopkeepers. Many children simply stated,

“I like playing with my friends,” or “playing with friends.”

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Plate8: Playing with my friends Phuong Linh, Female, 5 years VB22

• Phuong Linh (Plate 8) is five years old and she draws herself accompanied by

two other girls. The children stand in close proximity and share the same large

red smiles, hairstyles and facial features. Their clothing is of similar style,

brightly coloured triangular dresses with rectangular sleeves. The girls look

remarkably similar and not only share the same appearance but they are also

portrayed similarly in their stance and expression, although one of the girls is

slightly smaller. Pink clouds float by and a climbing frame is positioned in the

top left corner. Phuong Linh’s image captures an ambience of cheerfulness and

carefree exuberance. The uncomplicated friendship of a five year old is clearly

represented. Phuong Linh’s story clearly states, “Playing with my friends.”

There is certainly no doubt that the image and the story remains consistent and is

represented equally by both the image and the story. The friendship is portrayed

by Phuong Linh’s graphic messages within her drawing. These include the

closeness she feels to her friends through portraying similar characteristics, their

close proximity and the happiness portrayed by each individual depicted in this

image. None of the individuals are named and one is not sure which child is

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Phuong Linh. They are represented as a collective, and as a group of friends, so

children have not been named or identified.

While Phuong Linh showed consistency in her work, contradictions between images

and stories were frequent. Contradictions took place in drawings in a number of ways.

Children often mentioned the presence of other friends in their play lives, however these

friends were often absent from their drawings. In contrast, children often depicted their

friends playing, whilst they themselves were absent from their own drawings. The

following example demonstrates the contradiction between the image and the story.

Plate 9: I like to play soldier with my friend at school. Man Minh, Male, 5 years LA40

• Man Minh (Plate 9) is a five year-old boy who attends Lan Anh private kindergarten

in centre of Ho Chi Minh City. Man Minh draws himself standing proudly in a

military uniform. His drawing is meticulous and precise. The slightest details have

not been forgotten. He wears a green helmet with the Vietnamese red star placed in

the centre. His uniform is deep green with red lapels and bright orange pockets

drawn onto both sides of the jacket. A yellow tie is drawn underneath his neck. His

face is coloured pink, his facial features are simply drawn and is dominated by a large

smiling mouth. To one side of him, a military plane is flying by. The plane is

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detailed and has been drawn with care. A spear like structure protrudes from the front

of the cockpit, giving the plane a menacing and sinister appearance. The wings are

dark blue with red engines evenly placed along them. An orange and blue butterfly

flies past in the other direction. Man Minh’s drawing could be divided into two

sections. To the left of the paper, he has depicted himself. The right side of the

drawing appears to be object centred, featuring the butterfly and the plane. Man

Minh said “I like to play soldier with my friend at school.” He has provided the

researchers with the context of his play (at school) and as articulated that he is playing

with his friends. However his friends are absent from his drawing. This drawing is

emblematic of Man Minh’s values and interests. The kindergarten is situated in close

proximity to a military facility. Man Minh is an active observer of his surrounding

environment and uses his careful observation skills to reveal his fondness for role

play and his fondness for play together with his friends.

Family

Ellis (1995) writes that for the Vietnamese, life revolves around the family. This

statement was confirmed by the frequency in which families where portrayed in

children’s drawings and stories. Almost a fifth (19.5%) of the children interviewed

included family members in their pictorial images and verbal dialogues. In Vietnam,

children often live in extended families that include three generations.

After friends, siblings emerged as prominent playmates for young Vietnamese

children. In their drawings, children played with their siblings in the house, in the streets,

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in parks and on family excursions. They shared play materials such as toys, skipping

ropes, bicycles and flowers. Children played hide and seek, tug of war, bit mat bat de

(chase the goat), dragon chasey and role-played shopkeepers with their brothers and

sisters. They danced and travelled to faraway imaginary places on the backs of butterflies

and to real already known places.

Parent-child play was evident in this study. Children played games with their

parents at home, visited special places together, went fishing or played outside in the

garden. Young Vietnamese children enjoyed the every day moments they spent with

their parents. These valued and special times were captured through children’s drawings

and stories.

Some children drew their siblings and didn’t include themselves in the drawing or

stories, other children drew themselves playing with one or more siblings, whilst other

children represented the whole family group, participating in an activity together

collectively. These strong family relationships were repeatedly represented in the

children’s drawings. The family clearly emerged as an important element in children’s

play lives.

Children depicted family life in two ways. Children frequently depicted

themselves and their families involved in a special family outing. This often involved

staying with extended family, visiting a city landmark or a museum, going to the local

markets or simply for a walk in the local park. These family events represented a

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memorable experience for the children and were obviously considered enjoyable and

special. In contrast, the everyday family events that took place within the children’s

family homes were equally significant. Children captured family routines within their

own homes. Children depicted families eating and playing together as a time of

celebration and joy. The home appeared to be a happy and safe place for children. Given

the frequency of family images, children clearly valued the companionship and closeness

the family unit brought to their lives.

Plate 10: My family walking along Hoan Kiem bridge Pham Minh Hoa, Female, 5 years DD53

• Five year-old Pham Minh Hoa (Plate 10) depicts her family on an outing to one of

Hanoi’s most famous attractions, the Hoan Kiem bridge which stands in the centre of

city and spans the Hoan Kiem lake. She draws the blue water of the lake, three black

lines meander through the blue water, giving it a rippling effect. The crescent of the

bridge sits on top of the water. The bridge is coloured in an alternate pattern of blue

and red stripes. On the bridge stands her family. They stand closely together with

their arms outstretched. The figures appear remarkably similar in stature, height and

appearance, except for one human figure that has been drawn with long black hair. It

is not know if the figure is Pham Minh Hoa’s mother or herself. The figures are

drawn by using a series of geometric shapes, such as rectangles for the bodies and

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legs and semi-circles for the heads. Pham Minh Hoa has used the same two colours to

colour her family in and alternated them, creating yet another pattern. The figures

with yellow faces have pink bodies; the alternating figure has a pink face and a

yellow body. The faces are similar and have the same smiling and content

expression. Pham Minh Hoa explains, “My family walking along Hoan Kiem

Bridge.”

Plate 11: We are playing at home. Some people are cooking. I am bringing rice to my father. Tam Tho, Female, 6 years CCH29

• Tam Tho (Plate 11) draws her family enjoying the ritual of preparing a family meal.

She draws herself serving the meal to the numerous members of her family. She

considers the family routine of preparing, serving and eating together as a pleasurable

and memorable activity; “We are playing at home. Some people are cooking. I am

bringing rice to my father.” Tam Tho has divided her paper into four separate

sections, using each section to depict a different part of the room, to set the scene. In

the centre of the drawing is a clock. In the upper right hand corner, Tam Tho has

depicted a female preparing a family meal. In a lower section of the paper, she draws

two figures preparing a meal, and in the other corner two family members sit at the

table to eat a meal. In the upper left hand corner, Tam Tho draws herself serving rice

to her father.

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The extended family

The importance of family, particularly the extended family in Vietnam is

emphasised by the regular reference to grandparents in the children’s drawings and

stories. The most frequent way in which children represented their extended family was

through depicting the varying play environments they provided for them, particularly for

urban children visiting their grandparents in rural areas. Children also referred to their

extended family that live nearby or in the same household. Children played with animals

at their grandparent’s house, they played football under the trees, they had fun with

balloons and celebrated Tet. Ngoc Tin enjoyed helping his uncle, the gardener at the

kindergarten (see CC10, Appendix F, Bong Sen 2 Kindergarten pg. 207). Thanh Phuong

pretended she is a grandparent buying cakes at the country village at the Bong Sen 2

Kindergarten (see CC30, Appendix F, Bong Sen 2 Kindergarten, pg. 209).

Plate 12: Play at my house in the countryside. My grandmother lives there. I play with animals. I play with cats. Khai Minh, Male, 4 years EK21

• Khai Minh (Plate 6) reflects on his visits to his grandmother’s house in the

countryside. It is special to him, as it provides him with a play area that is vastly

different from the urban area in which he lives in Ho Chi Minh City. There, he has

the opportunity to play with animals including cats. “I play at my house in the

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countryside. My grandmother lives there. I play with animals. I play with cats.” He

illustrates the countryside with symbols that represent life in the country, the clear sky

and the bright sun, the open wide spaces, the birds flying by, a large flower in full

bloom, a tall shady tree and lush tall green grass that comes up to his ankles.

Although Khai Minh described his setting to be the countryside it looks no different

from the drawings urban children provided, since similar symbols are used, but the

meaning is explained with his detailed story. Kai Minh mentioned cats in his drawing

but they are absent, perhaps during the interview he was reminded of this episode and

included it into his story.

Plate 13: This is my house and I play outside with flowers. The other house is my grandmother’s. Nguyen Hai Co, Female, 5 years EK35

• Nguyen Hai Co (Plate 7) is five years old and lives in Ho Chi Minh City. She draws

herself beside a small red house. Nguyen Hai Co has drawn herself larger than the

house. Towards the centre of the picture is a large and brightly coloured bunch of

flowers. On the other side of the flowers, stands a very thin house, with an equally

thin tree beside it. In the sky, a bird and a butterfly fly by and a small red sun shines

from a corner of the page. Nguyen Hai Co offers an explanation of her drawing to the

researcher, “This is my house and I play outside with flowers. The other house is my

grandmother’s.” The closeness of their homes and the strong relationship and

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involvement of the extended family is evident through both Nguyen Hai Co’s

drawing and story.

Alone

Nearly one of every five children (19%) depicted themselves engaged in solitary

play. Children were asked to draw themselves playing during the discussion phase of the

data collection (see Lesson plan, Appendix E, pg. 163), hence many of the children chose

to focus on themselves as individuals, rather than including others in their drawings. The

opportunity to tell a story enabled children to elaborate and provide further details about

their social partners for play. Despite this opportunity, numerous children stated that they

were, in fact, playing alone in their stories. The most common scenario was children

involved in solitary play at home. Children also enjoyed being alone to play in the

garden, observe the world, play with toys and pets, dream and imagine, and explore their

environment.

Through their stories and drawings children created images and told about their

solitary play and sometimes about isolation and loneliness within their own homes. A

few children (seven children) described themselves participating in games and activities

that only require a sole participant, for example, studying, drawing and computer play.

Children enjoyed playing alone with cats, rabbits, chickens and other family pets in the

family garden. They played in their bedrooms and at their grandparent’s house. Children

described playing with their favourite toys, playground equipment, constructing, creating

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and imagining alone. Young Vietnamese children depicted themselves involved in the

intimacy and pleasure of solitary play and appear to enjoy this diverse aspect of play.

Plate 14: I play alone outdoors Linh, Female 5 years HCP12

• Linh (Plate 14) creates a poignant image of herself playing alone. She draws

herself in the centre of the page, standing above a square garden bed. She has

drawn four plants in the garden bed and one has a bright yellow and orange flower

sitting on top of it. In the background is a brown house with an orange roof. The

sky is shaded in grey; the lines are angular and collide with one another. A

brightly coloured red and orange sun shines at the corner of her page. Linh

colours her face in grey, her dark hair sits untidily on her head, her eyes slope

downward and mouth is shaped in an impassive expression. Linh comments, “I

play alone outdoors.” Linh has chosen contrasting colours compared to other

children, most children shade their backgrounds in bright, yellow, blue and

orange. She has used dark colours to colour her skin and her facial features are

dark, giving the image a gloomy and sorrowful aura.

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Some children drew themselves alone, but included other playmates in their story.

Thus, the story provided further insight into the child’s play life that the image itself did

not provide. When children were questioned about the absence of play mates in their

drawings, they answered that they had forgotten to include them and confirmed that they

do in fact enjoy playing alongside play mates.

Plate 15: I play football in the garden of my house with my brother. (Where is your brother?) I forgot to draw him.

Tuan Thinh, Male, 5 years VT2

• Tuan Thinh (Plate15) draws himself amongst a vast endless blue sky with a

yellow sun shining brightly. To the side of him in mid air is a ball. This is Tuan

Thinh’s story:

Tuan Thinh: I play football in the garden of my house with my brother.

Interviewer: Where is your brother?

Tuan Thinh: I forgot to draw him.

Tuan Thinh’s drawing clearly indicated that he likes to play football, however

through his added commentary he has created an extension to this image and

given more specific details. He has included his brother as a playmate in his story

and has provided a setting for this play scenario, which is in his garden at his

home. Symbols that are prevalent throughout the data set were absent from his

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drawing. Tuan Thinh has omitted several emblematic features common in the

data set (e.g. house, garden and flowers); rather his drawing centres on himself

and the football.

Concept 3: Culture and context

Vietnamese culture was prominent in many of the drawings in the data sets. The

values, ethics and expectations of the Vietnamese people are represented and replicated in

children’s drawings and stories. Children’s play reflects the culture and society in which

they are situated (Vygotsky, 1976). Children regularly expressed values which are taught

through the kindergarten curriculum (see Appendix A, pg. 153 and B, pg. 155). This was

particularly evident through the prevalence of learned drawings that were reproduced by

the children. These drawings included themes, such as cultural celebrations, cultural

rituals, cultural places and the everyday way of life in Vietnam. Many children felt

confident in reproducing these taught images and relied on their stories to articulate their

individual account of their play lives.

Young Vietnamese children represented their distinctive culture and way of life in

many ways. Children drew themselves celebrating birthdays, driving in a car during a

festival, participating in morning exercise, watching a traffic jam, observing planes, tanks

and soldiers at a war museum, spending time with their family, studying, playing in the

street, exchanging gifts, celebrating the Tet festivities, participating in activities at the

Children’s Cultural Palace and Children’s Cultural House, visiting the countryside,

cooking and serving food, playing and watching games, and pretending to be dragons,

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soldiers, shopkeepers and teachers. They cuddled rabbits and fed chickens, held brightly

coloured balloons, went fishing and enjoyed the beach. Young Vietnamese children

received gifts from Santa, picked and displayed flowers, and played in the flower garden.

They went to the markets and parks, rode on the backs of buffalos and played in the

animal village at their kindergarten.

Cultural celebrations

Interviews for this study were conducted during the months of December and

January. The Lunar New Year, Tet, fell at the end of January and is the most important

date in the Vietnamese festival calendar. Children all over Vietnam participate in school

and family activities in preparation for this festival. This festival is a particularly exciting

time in a Vietnamese child’s life. Children are given red envelopes containing generous

amounts of li xi “lucky money”. Sweets, fresh fruit, blossom branches and kumquat

trees are an integral part of this celebration.

Children throughout Vietnam’s kindergartens participate in Tet celebrations

through integrating it as a monthly theme in their curriculum (refer to Appendices A, pg.

153 and B, pg. 155). Children draw pictures and knead figurines from plasticine of Tet

plates laden with fruit and food. They construct their own blossom trees from paper and

discuss the significance of these celebrations. As a consequence of the immersion of this

topic, children drew these learned and recently rehearsed drawings during the interview

process.

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Plate 16: New Year picture – long cake, square cake, watermelon and flowers. (Wanted to draw chess but drew this instead because he knew how – it was a learned drawing.)

M. Trang, Female, 5 years E EK 29

• Trang (Plate 26) draws a large red space that fills up the bottom of the page. She

outlines it with a fine black line. On top of the altar, she has placed four green

shapes. In the centre is an oval shaped watermelon. It has the lines running through

it that characterises the natural patterning of the watermelon skin. To each side of the

watermelon is a square and a rectangular banh chung, square parcels made from fatty

pork, bean paste and rice wrapped in banana leaves and tied with bamboo twine.

These foodstuffs are a fundamental part of the Tet celebrations. The simple

ingredients remind the Vietnamese people of the hard times in the past. To the side of

the page is a blue vase containing three brightly coloured flowers. Trang’s drawing is

titled “New Year picture – long cake, square cake, watermelon and flowers”. During

her interview, Trang expressed her desire to draw himself playing chess but did not

know how to draw this image. She felt more comfortable drawing the familiar and

recentlylearned Tet drawing.

Cultural places

Children depicted a variety of significant cultural sites as play spaces in their

drawings and stories. In Vietnamese society, there is strong emphasis on family life and

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home life. The house was the most frequent play place amongst young Vietnamese

children. Almost 40% of children in this study included a house in their drawing or story.

The inclusion of parks in many of the children’s drawings was significant (10%). Other

play places included museums, churches, the street, school, the airport and the market.

The house dominated many of the drawings in this study. For example, in the Lan

Anh Kindergarten data setm, 50% of the drawings featured houses. Rich descriptions

were given to expand and enrich these visual representations, and to provide the

researchers with a greater awareness and understanding of the representations the child

was communicating in their drawing. Thirty-six percent of children from Dong Da

kindergarten included houses in their drawings however, they failed to elaborate on the

significance and the meaning of their houses. Often their stories simply described their

drawing as, “The house” or simply listed the items in their drawings, “Fish, house and

cloud”. The children’s stories sometimes failed to give any further information. It is not

clear whether children drew houses because they were confident in producing this

drawing as the technique may have recently been taught, or if they just wanted to

articulate their preference for playing at home.

Throughout all of the data sets, the standard house was represented in a similar

method to Golomb’s (1992) description, “all houses contain an angular shapes consisting

of a squarish or rectangular base and a triangular roof. Houses are drawn in a

predominately frontal view, with a strictly right-angular directional framework” (pg. 91).

Children also include windows, a standard door, a chimney, and sometimes an attic,

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antenna and steps. This simple structure not only represented the children’s homes, it

also represented other structures that were prominent in the children’s lives: the school,

grandmother’s house, the church, a friend’s house, or an unnamed structure that has

simply been included to provide context.

Houses usually stood alone and were often drawn with gardens, flowers, birds and

animals surrounding it. Most of the children participating in this study live in homes very

different from the houses they depicted in their drawings. Their homes are often attached

to many others and are tall thin structures with many levels. Many urban houses are grey

and rectangular and are situated above small businesses, or along narrow alleys amongst

the urban streets of Vietnam. Children’s homes have very small gardens if any; often

gardens are on balconies or in the entrance of the homes. This apparent contradiction can

be understood by viewing the drawings as emblematic drawings. Children use symbols

they are familiar with and that represent meaningful subjects in their lives. The classic

building structure is part of the learned repertoire (see Appendix B, pg. 155).

Schools were another significant play space represented in children’s drawings

and stories. In this study, 64 children (18.1%) depicted play as taking place at school.

Children described their favourite school activities and the accessibility of friends in the

school environment. They swam in school pool, played on the playground equipment

and played with a multiple of resources, such as Lego, building blocks, cars, skipping

ropes, sandbags, dolls, rabbits and fish. Children role-played at school and imagined they

were shopkeepers, teachers and soldiers. Children enjoyed the games and sports they

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play at school: football, basketball and morning exercise. Children enjoyed walking to

school and holding hands with their friends.

Plate 17: My house, a tree and a flower Bao Ngoc, Female, 4 years DD22

• Bao Ngoc (Plate 30) is four years old. She draws a large, pink ground on and across

the bottom third of the page. Two large flowers grow from the ground supported by

thin red stalks. One of the flowers is yellow with a red middle and the other is orange

with a red middle. To the right side of the page is a house. The flowers tower over

the house. The house has a red triangular roof and a yellow rectangular base. Square

windows are placed on both sides of the rectangle and a small square door is drawn

underneath them. Beside the house is a tree with a bright pink trunk and a green

circular top. Four small red circles representing pieces of fruit are placed amongst the

tree’s green foliage. Above the tree, sits a large red sun. Bao Ngoc has drawn a

mouth straight across the sun and two eyes. Red clouds in varying sizes float across

the page in line with the sun. The description Bao Ngoc has given to accompany this

picture is; “My home, a tree and a flower”. Bao Ngoc’s house that she has drawn has

many of the features Golomb (1992) describes in her descriptions of houses drawn

five-year-old children. She uses a selection of shapes to create her drawing; the

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squares, rectangles, triangles and oval shapes in this drawing appear frequently in

house drawings across the data set.

Plate 18: My father goes to the airport and I went to say goodbye. Nguyen Han, Female, 5 years LA33

• Nguyen Han (Plate 31) draws two brightly coloured airplanes. A blue airplane is

on the ground with its pink stairs extended onto the tarmac and a yellow airplane

with bright red wings flies through the green sky. Behind the yellow airplane is

a large, blue butterfly with curly antennae and yellow wings. A pink and yellow

sun with a smiling face looks on from the top left hand corner. In front of the

blue plane, a man stands, dressed in green trousers and a red top carrying a bag.

He has a happy smiling face. To the side of the picture, a large tree stands on the

tarmac. Nguyen Han remembers the excitement of going to the airport. She

clearly articulates her story, “My father goes to the airport and I went to say

goodbye.” This visit to the airport was an exciting and memorable occasion for

Nguyen Han, and she enthusiastically captured this event in her drawing.

Cultural rituals

A range of cultural practices was evident in the data sets and reflects diverse

interpretations of culture in Vietnam today. The cultural diversity is seen through social

and religious practices and daily routines. The making of offerings at the shrine in the

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home or temple is a way of expressing one’s appreciation and veneration in the Buddhist

religion. Hai Yen (See Appendix F, Bong Sen 2 Kindergarten, pg. 207) draws her mother

buying watermelons to present to the altar at home. In contrast, Tram Anh (LA 3) from

Lan Anh Kindergarten draws two churches and a Christmas tree. Both children have

been able to express religious rituals which are valued in their family structures. At a

more secular level, diverse practices were evident in rituals of going to the market to sell

and buy goods as depicted by several children particularly from semi-rural Cu Chi.

Children celebrated and revealed a variety of cultural rituals that impacted and left

an impression on these young children’s lives. Tet is celebrated by colourful ceremonies

that include “dragons” weaving through the parks and streets as drums and percussion

instruments belt out as much noise as possible to scare away evil. People are in high

spirits, gifts are exchanged, particularly to children, and there is an atmosphere of

excitement and celebration.

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Plate 19: Lunar Tet. Lion, Drummer and Friends Hai Linh, Female, 7 years CCH7

• Hai Linh (Plate 32) is seven years old. Her story describes her drawing, “Lunar

Tet. Lion, drummer and friends”. Lunar Tet dominates Hai Linh’s drawing. The

tail starts from the top left hand corner of her paper and runs down the page to its

head, which is positioned at bottom centre of the paper. Under the tail, a human

figure stands with his arms held up high. In the bottom corner of Hai Linh’s

drawing, another man dressed in green with his arms held up high, in each hand

he holds a thick green drumstick. In front of him is a large drum. In foreground,

four human figures stand with their arms outstretched and they have large happy

smiles on their faces. In the right hand corner of the drawing is a bright red sun

shining. The celebration of Tet is a ritual that Hai Linh commemorates and

remembers fondly as a celebration and playful event.

In conclusion, culture appears to have a strong influence on children’s play activities.

Young Vietnamese children portrayed strong cultural ideals and values through their

drawings, including family values, the national love of nature and participation in social,

religious and cultural events.

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Concept 4: Material Resources

Material resources refer to the tangible items required to carry out a play activity.

Over a quarter of the participants (94 children, 26.6%) included a material resource in

their drawing or story. There were many common threads amongst the children

regarding their preferences for play equipment. Children appeared to prefer simple,

inexpensive, easily accessible materials such as balloons, playground equipment,

skipping ropes, footballs, trucks and cars and home corner props.

In the data set, children described and depicted themselves receiving, sharing and

holding balloons. They slid down sliding boards, played on swings and they whirled

around on the merry go round. Children skipped in parks, at home and at school, with

friends or alone. Children played with trucks, cars and tanks. They watched vehicles as

they passed in the street and described their special journeys by car and motorbike.

Children dressed up as shopkeepers and teachers, and played with the variety of resources

in home corner. They donned helmets and army fatigues as they imagined what it would

be like to be a soldier. They wore butterfly wings and pretended to fly in the sky.

Children played football at school and at home with their friends and their brothers and

sisters. They played with Lego and built houses from blocks; some children went for

rides on boats and others imagined a day at the ocean, fishing off a boat or just enjoying a

ride. Children played games on their computers at home; they played with their toys

including dolls, teddies, and guns. Children watched planes fly past and played on them

at the museum. Children solved puzzles and competed in chess. They played

competitive games such as hacky sac, basketball and badminton. Children flew kites on

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the beach and in parks; they thought the dragons dancing during Tet were intriguing and

exciting. They rode bicycles and on the backs of motorbikes with their families, and

simply enjoyed blowing bubbles and watching the large glistening transparent bubbles

floating above them.

Table. 6.

Young Vietnamese Children’s material resource preference

Material resource

Frequency

Balloons

22

Playground equipment 21 Skipping rope 17 Trucks/cars/tanks 16 Home corner props 16 Football 12 Construction (non descriptive) 8 Lego 5 Boats 5 Computers 4 Toys (non descriptive) 4 Airplanes 4 Doll 4 Puzzles/chess 4 Basketball 3 Elastic 3 Badminton 3 Teddy 2 Plastic butterfly wings 2 Hackysac 1 Bubble making materials 1 Kite 1 Guns 1 Lion dance 1 Bicycle 1 Motorbike 1

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Balloons

The favoured resource amongst young Vietnamese children in this study was

balloons. Twenty-two children (6.2%) included balloons in their drawings and stories.

Young Vietnamese children choose to depict balloons in three ways. Several children

featured balloons as their only subject matter in their drawings. Other children drew

themselves with balloons and focused on them in their stories. They gave an explanation

to how they had received their balloons, what they do with the balloons and how they feel

about playing with balloons. The third group were the children who included balloons in

their drawing, simply to create a buoyant and happy atmosphere. Balloons featured as a

representation of play, fun and good times.

Plate 20: I draw balloons that people sell. I am at home. I like balloons. Minh Quan, Male, 5 years VT17

• Minh Quan (Plate 20) drew five sets of colourful balloons set against an orange

background. His balloons vary in shape. He has drawn two sets in the shape of

hearts and the other three sets are multicoloured and circular. Minh Quan has not

included himself in the drawing. However, his story articulates what he enjoys.

He explains, “I draw balloons that people sell. I am at home. I like balloons”.

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Plate 21: I would like my friend to come and visit. I haven’t invited him yet. We are playing at my house. I have a fish pond. Huong Vy, Female, 5 years CC12

• Huong Vy (Plate 21) creates a drawing bursting with detail and colour. She draws

a purple house with an orange tiled roof. Flowers stand in the garden and

vibrantly coloured birds and butterflies fill the purple and blue sky. Her sun is

large with a smiling face. She has drawn two children holding hands. The girl is

holding two balloons, one balloon is shaped like an animal and the second balloon

is round and yellow. The boy is holding a brightly coloured bunch of flowers.

Huong Vy explains, “I would like my friend to come and visit. I haven’t invited

him yet. We are playing at my house. I have a fish pond”. Huong Vy fails to

mention the balloons in her story, however they are undoubtedly part of the image

she has created in her imagination to communicate her fantasies and desires.

Perhaps she included the balloons to create a cheerful and energetic atmosphere

that she could share with her friend.

Sliding boards, swings and other playground equipment

Playground equipment found at most kindergartens throughout Vietnam were

repeatedly featured in many of the children’s drawings. A total of twenty-one (6%)

children depicted playground equipment in their stories and drawings. Children included

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playground equipment in two ways. They choose to draw playground equipment that

they played on. A second group of children chose to include playground equipment as a

component of their play environmental context.

Plate 22: Playing in school with the merry go round and see-saw Minh Hang, Female, 5 years BD17

• Minh Hang (Plate 22) enjoys playing at the school with the merry go round and

see-saw. She draws the school as a building by simply adding a blue triangle over

the top of a red square. She draws a long tall tree full of yellow fruit next to her

building. Beside the tree stands a tall woman. In the sky, a bright red sun and a

yellow and red cloud float across the stark white surface. Minh Hang illustrates

the merry go round situated within the school building and the see-saw situated in

the school garden. In front of the building, she has drawn a circle with brightly

coloured animals attached to the circular merry go round apparatus. Alongside

the building, a see-saw is drawn using two brightly coloured animals as seats.

Minh Hang describes her in the following manner; “Playing in school with the

merry go round and see-saw”.

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Plate: 23 Playing at my friend’s house Dam Tu, Male, 5 years DD35

• Dam Tu (Plate 11) draws a detailed drawing, depicting himself playing at his

friend’s house. The main element is a brown house with a bright orange

triangular roof and a green chimney. A fine line of purple smoke billows from

out of the top of it. An airplane flies through the sky. A tall tree grows alongside

the house, directly above the tree is a small red sun with a yellow circular ring

coloured over the sun’s rays. Two children are positioned inside the house, whilst

four children are playing on a blue sliding board outside. The people in this

drawing have been created in a similar method, using a formula. The people in

the foreground are drawn with a purple outline and coloured in orange. The heads

are circular with a four lines sprouting out of the circular shape representing hair.

The body is a drawn by two lines joining the head and the ground. The arms

protrude from the body and are single purple lines. The children playing on the

sides are drawn as black stick figures with orange heads. Dam Tu clearly enjoys

visiting his friend and playing on the sliding board at his friends house. He

represents many people in this drawing, which may indicate an active and lively

household with lots of playmates.

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The skipping rope

Children drew themselves skipping alone, skipping with friends, skipping in the

park. They also showed skipping at school and at home. A semi circle, representing a

skipping rope over the heads and attached to children’s hands, was commonplace

amongst children’s drawings. Skipping was portrayed as the principal activity in many

children’s drawings, particularly girls, (16 girls and only one boy drew themselves

skipping , 5.9%). Children drew attention to this activity by giving an explanation in

their story or simply featuring skipping as the central element in their drawing. Other

children featured skipping as a background activity, in which their friends or other

children might be participating, within their play environment.

Plate 24: I am skipping. Thanh Hang, Female, 5 years CCH19

• Thang Hang (Plate 12) told us, “I am skipping.” She holds a skipping rope and it

swings over her head. Her pigtails arch from her head giving a sense of

movement. Thang Hang’s dress is coloured in two different shades of red. The

top half is made of a large square with two small rectangles attached to the arms

to represent sleeves. Her shirt is trapezoid shaped and billows out, again giving

the sense of movement. Her arms are outstretched and attached to a bright orange

skipping rope. Thang Hang’s legs are a drawn very faintly and are not attached to

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a baseline. This gives a sensation of her body not being grounded and possibly

captured mid-jump. This image fills most of the page, the background is plain

and stark, three small clouds drift by and a tiny sun is drawn into a top corner. It

is an uncomplicated scenario, but it unquestionably demonstrates what Thanh

Hang likes to do when she plays. She loves to skip. Her story simply states, “I

am skipping.”

Plate 25: Playing in the park Phuong Anh, Female, 5 years VB38

• Five year old Phuong Anh (Plate 13) from Hanoi creates an image that

communicates her joy in playing in the park. She has drawn a park scene with

flowers, grass, a fish pond, a cat and a tree. In the corner of her drawing is a large

yellow sun, its rays radiating over the lush green grass, which dominates much of

the drawing. Phuong Anh has drawn a girl holding up a colourful bunch of

balloons and placed her in the background. In the foreground appears a girl with

a skipping rope swinging over her head. Although Phuong Anh does not

highlight the play activity of skipping through her story, she does advocate its

importance through the central placement of skipping in her drawing. Its

centrality and foreground position gives it status, significance and importance in

the drawing she describes as “Playing in the park.”

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Trains, planes and automobiles

Transport in many forms emerged as a favourable subject matter amongst young

Vietnamese children, with 27 children (7.6%) depicting transport in their drawings and

stories. Transport was a very popular theme at Dong Da Kindergarten with over a quarter

(27.7%) of the children from this kindergarten including images of transport in their

drawings. Children depicted transport in two distinct ways. Sometimes children drew

themselves manipulating toy cars and trucks or described their fondness for playing with

cars through their stories. At other times, children portrayed transport simply by drawing

it as context in their drawing. Transport was sometimes included in a scene, in a similar

manner to the inclusion of birds and butterflies in their drawings. Vietnamese children

appeared fascinated by military vehicles and drew tanks or planes they had seen at

museums and other cultural exhibits. At times, the transport component of children’s

pictures was not mentioned in children’s stories. Boys were more likely to include

transport in their stories and drawings with 22 boys including transport in their drawings

compared to five girls.

Plate 26: I like army tanks. This is in the street during the daytime. Anh Tuan, Male, 5 years VT19

• Five year old Anh Tuan (Plate 14) from Vung Tau draws an army tank he saw in

the street. He draws the tracks in blue and red and a purple cabin from which a

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yellow Vietnamese star shines from the flag pole. A blue cannon is placed in

front of the cabin. The tank dominates the drawing. It is large and placed

centrally on the paper. Only a blue road, a flock of birds flying past in the

distance and tiny blue sun have been added to the picture. Anh Tuan’s story

affirms his fondness and interest in army tanks: “I like army tanks. This is in the

street during the daytime.”

Plate 27: Cars and construction play at school. Tran Hung Thinh, Male, 4 years EK6

• Tran Hung Thinh (Plate 15) articulates his penchant for cars and construction

play. Rather than draw himself playing with cars, he draws the kindergarten

where this play takes place and expresses his preference for cars through his story.

He draws a large square and adds a triangular roof on to the top of it. In the

square, he inserts multiple storeys, as his kindergarten has three floors. Tran

Hung Thinh adds two sliding boards and a sandpit into the playground. Birds are

scattered across the sky. There are no cars present in this drawing, however, he

clearly and specially expresses what he likes to do: “Cars and construction play at

school.”

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Technology

Technology was notably absent from young Vietnamese children’s play lives.

Only four participants (1.1 %) acknowledged the presence of technology in their play

lives. Technology was represented through the computer games children played. All of

these participants were boys and three of the four participants were from Dong Da

kindergarten in Hanoi. Children represented their fondness for computer games in two

ways. Two children drew themselves sitting in front of a computer actively engrossed in

a computer game. In contrast, the other two children choose to focus on the computer

screen and drew the details of their favourite computer game as seen from the computer

screen.

Plate 28: Bedroom and computer Quang Huy, Male, 5 years DD39

• Quang Huy (Plate 16) drew himself in his bedroom, sitting at his desk with a

computer in front of him. The desk and computer is represented by a series of

multi-coloured rectangles in varying size. The computer is coloured green.

Quang Huy has drawn two lines down the side of the computer differentiating the

terminal and the screen. On the screen, he has randomly drawn number and letter

symbols, to represent images on the computer screen. He draws himself sitting in

a pink chair with wheels. Quang Huy has chosen a back view perspective of

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himself. His representation is made clear by his story, he simply explains,

“Bedroom and computer.”

Plate 29: I play on the computer at home. These are super-robots. One has an electronic field and he is winning. They have guns and swords. They wear masks and hats. John (Jhon), Male, 8 years CCH25

• John (Plate 17) represents his interest for computer games by illustrating a front

view of his computer game. He draws a detailed image of the action on the

screen. He represents the movement of guns and the swords with a series of

detailed lines across the screen in black crayon, representing the battle and combat

of the two central figures. He illustrates the electric field with jagged lines around

the robot. The only colour used is that surrounding the computer screen. John

gives a detailed account of the action on the screen, “I play on the computer a

home. These are super-robots. One has an electric field and he is winning. They

have guns and swords. They wear masks and hats.”

Concept 5: Structure

As children develop and become increasingly logical, they become conscious that

the world is a place governed by a system of rules and regulations. This orderliness finds

its way into children’s play as what Piaget (1962) described as games-with-rules.

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Structured play refers to games-with-rules as a form of play in which children must

follow predetermined rules and regulations. Games-with-rules include the element of

competition between two or more players (Piaget, 1962). Rules found in games may be

handed down from older peers or may be established cooperatively at the outset of a

particular game. Children attending kindergarten in Vietnam are taught a repertoire of

games (see Appendix A, pg. 153). These games are categorised as games for movement,

games for learning and folk games. In this study, Vietnamese children portrayed games-

with-rules and other structured play through drawings about play rituals, cultural games

and global games.

Table. 7.

Young Vietnamese children’s procedural games preferences

Skipping

17

Football 12 Aerobics (morning exercise) 5 Basketball 3 Badminton 3 Chess 3 Hacky sac 3 Chase the goat 2 Tug of war 1 Hide & seek 1 Chasey 1 Cat & mouse 1 Paper, scissors, rock 1

Play rituals

In this study, children’s play rituals included chants, rhymes and counting games,

which reflect the orderliness of the child’s thought and the extent of their socialisation

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process (Hughes, 1999). Play rituals were evident in children’s drawings particularly

through skipping. Skipping was particularly prevalent in the 6-9 year old females (see

page 92-94).

Morning exercise is a play ritual that was expressed by children in their drawings

and stories. Kindergartens in Vietnam begin their day with morning exercises before

breakfast. “The children arrive at school between 7am and 7.30am. They put away their

belongings and play quietly until morning exercise, which is held on the roof. The

children line up in four lines without any guidance from adults. The music is piped

through the school speaker system. Although this is called morning exercise, it is more

like a set dance to music and lasts approximately five minutes. The children follow the

same sequence of steps and stretches every day and all seem familiar with the

choreography. Children often enjoy leading the class and will take turns in ‘teaching’ the

class” (Vujanovic, 2000a).

Plate 30: My friends and I doing exercise with plastic butterfly wings. Giao Quyen, Female, 5 years LA32

• Giao Quyen (Plate 30) describes morning exercise “My friends and I doing

exercises with plastic butterfly wings.” She draws three girls dressed identically

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in blue outfits with green arms. Giao Quyen has used an identical formula to

represent each of these girls. She has given them green hair all in identical styles.

The girls have orange faces, with similar expressions. Giao Quyen has drawn the

girls’ arms outstretched at a similar angle. Their stance is identical with their

arms extended and raised above their heads. Attached to their arms are circular

butterfly wings. The butterfly wings attached to their right hand is pink and the

one on the other hand is red or orange. The butterfly wings are decorated with

small coloured circles. The girl’s bodies are made up of blue triangles that

represent dresses and two blue rectangular legs with blue boot like attachments

for feet. The feet are not attached to the blue base line running across the bottom

of the page. This gives a notion of the girls jumping or involved in active

movements. The girls are outside with a large multi-coloured flower rising from

the blue baseline. Drawn into the baseline directly below the large flower is a

small bunch of three flowers each a different colour. To the right of these flowers

is a red ball-like object. Two blue irregular shaped clouds are floating above the

girls and there is a red sun in the left corner with black rays and a circle of yellow

surrounding the rays. A red and yellow bird flies across the sky.

Cultural games

Cultural games refer to traditional games played by the Vietnamese people.

These games are usually passed on to children from teachers, parents and grandparents,

older siblings or peers. The kindergarten curriculum in Vietnam outlines 15 folk games

taught to children (see Appendix A). These games are built around cultural symbols and

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values. Dragons, goats and roosters feature as characters and roles in these games as

these iconic figures have a strong cultural relevance to the Vietnamese and their cultural

identity. Children mentioned specific traditional games that they played at home and at

school. Children from Lan Anh kindergarten were particularly fond of games; 11.5% of

children reveal a specific game they like to play. They listed “chase the goat”, “cat and

mouse” and a “chasey” game named “ron ran len may” as their favourites.

Plate 31: The church. I like to play chase the goat at home with father. At school cooking in home corner Tram Anh, Female, 4 years LA3

• Tram Anh (Plate 31) is 4 years old and draws the church. She draws two buildings.

The one on the left is made up of a purple rectangle and a red triangular roof. Above

the roof is a simple black cross. In the middle of the purple rectangle is a green

trapezoid shape. The other building consists of a blue square with a crimson

triangular roof. The lines of roof are rounded. Once again, there is a black cross

attached to the roof. To the right of the picture is a lime green Christmas tree. The

base is a rectangular shape with black zigzag lines on either side of tree gives it a fir

tree appearance. On top of the tree is a brown triangular shape. The churches and the

tree are placed on a solid yellow base. The sky is pink and has six orange and blue

circular shapes floating through it. Outlines of stars in black crayon are scattered

through the sky. Tram Anh has drawn a church; Christmas has just passed and this is

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an image that interests her. She then goes on to explain what her favourite things to

play at home and at school. “I like to play chase the goat at home with father. At

school cooking in home corner.” Tram Anh has drawn a church and has articulated

features of the church buildings. He story tells a contradictory point of view as she

describes the things she likes to play at home and at school. The church appears to

have a strong significance in her life as does the activities she loves to participate in at

home and at school.

Global games

Global games refer to those games that are commonplace throughout the world.

Early evidence of global games was seen in a number of drawings where children showed

preference for “tug of war”, “chasey”, “hide and seek” and sporting games, such as

football, basketball and badminton. These sports were particularly evident in the Hanoi

Cultural Palace and the Ho Chi Minh City Cultural House data sets, as older children

attend these programs. Many children revealed the enjoyment they experience playing

these games in parks, at school with friends or at home with siblings. Children’s

drawings conveyed the action and skill required for competitive sports. Their stories

communicated the pleasure they receive in participating in these activities and the social

component of these sports through the inclusion of their friends and families.

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Plate 32: I play football with my friends at the school playground Do Xuan Duy, Male, 8 years HCP9

• Eight year-old Do Xuan Duy (Plate 32) drew two boys playing football. His drawing

represents the conventions and structures within the game of football. Numbers have

been drawn on the player’s uniforms, the positions of the players within the team.

The uniforms of the opposing teams are a different colour. This represents the

competition element in the game. The players face each other, each with determined

looks on their faces. Do Xuan Duy has captured two players at a crucial moment of

the game: one of the boys is defending, his stance is open and he is ready to prevent

the ball going any further down the field. The boy with the green ball at his feet has a

determined look on his face as he approaches the defence. His legs are bent and

ready for any imminent attack. He is poised and ready to pass the ball through. Do

Xuan Duy has not added any further context to this drawing. He has simply shaded

the background red. Do Xuan Duy explains, “I play football with my friends at the

school playground.”

Concept 6: Imagination

Young Vietnamese children presented their imagination in three variations:

images and stories revealed imagination through role-play, wishful thinking and make

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believe. “Imagination involves re-combining aspects of events in novel ways” (Millar,

1968, pg. 158). Imaginative play has a sense of “interpersonal transactions, events, and

adventures summon many characters and locations in space and time” (Saracho and

Spodek, 1998, pg. 2). Through imaginative play, children explore and understand roles

and interactions in their social world and construct a realistic sense of self. By contrast,

role-play involves imitation, whereby children often reproduce or mirror events in the

same sequence or the same way in which they occur in daily life.

Twenty-six children (7.3%) in this study described imaginative play scenarios in

their drawings and stories. They imagined themselves role-playing soldiers, shopkeepers,

teachers, parents and grandparents. They envisaged themselves as grown ups, created

their future home and depicted themselves in their future place of work. Children

visualised what it would be like if their friends came over to their house and play. They

captured fantasies, dreams and desires in their stories and drawings.

Role play

Role play is the most prominent incidence of imagination in the children’s

conceptions (3.9% of total children in this study). Roles are identities children assume in

play. Family roles such as mother, father and baby are popular, and are integrated into

elaborate play with themes related to familiar home activities. Children also take on

stereotyped character roles drawn from the larger culture, such as doctors and soldiers.

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Role-play featured in kindergartens where play is valued, and where role-play is

facilitated through resources made available to the children. The utilisation of home

corners as play spaces was also encouraged at these kindergartens. Children who had

been exposed to such play areas were more likely to feature role-play in their images and

stories of their play. Children from Lan Anh Kindergarten (11.53%), the Experimental

Kindergarten (9.4%) and Bong Sen 2 Kindergarten (6.1 %), were more likely to express

their fondness for role-play activities as their preferred play activity. Girls were more

inclined to include role-play in their conceptions of play (71.5%), with their depictions of

role-play often including resources made available for them at their kindergarten. Four

year olds were also more inclined to depict role-play.

Children imagined themselves as teachers, shopkeepers, soldiers, parents and

grandparents. A number of children didn’t specify what particular roles they preferred,

instead stating that they simply enjoyed home corner. Children also expressed a desire of

what they would like to do when they grew up and captured this image in their drawing.

Plate 33: House, tree, bird and flowers. I like to play with my sister at home. We play shop keeper and I get to sell. My maid is the buyer. Ngoc Thanh, Female, 4 years LA16

• Ngoc Thanh (Plate 33) is four years old and attends Lan Anh Kindergarten. She

draws an orange house with a red roof and places it centrally on the page. To the

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right of her house stands a huge tree. On the other side of the house, Ngoc Thanh

has drawn two flowers. They have purple leaves and blue petals, and tower over

the house. Above the house, two multi-coloured birds fly by in opposite

directions. In the top left hand corner of her drawing, Ngoc Thanh has drawn a

blossom branch, laden with pink and yellow flowers protruding horizontally from

the side of the page. She lists the items in her drawings and adds what she likes to

do when she plays. “House, tree, bird and flowers. I like to play with my sister at

home. We play shopkeeper and I get to sell. My maid is the buyer.”

Wishful thinking

Four children (1.1%) in this study depicted a play episode that they would like to

happen. Wishful thinking was most evident from children who created an image of a

play episode that included their friends. These episodes had not occurred, however the

children had a clear image of the play episode. For example, several children indicated

the desire for children to come to their home and play with them. They depicted this

image clearly, however revealed to the interviewer that this has not happened, though

they would like it to.

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Plate 34: I am playing with my friends under the Tet tree at my house. (She has not yet visited). Quynh Nhu, Female, 5 years CC2

• Quynh Nhu (Plate 34) imagines what it would be like to have her friend visit her

home during the festival of Tet. She captures this image in her mind and produces a

happy and bright representation of her imaginary world. The result is two children

standing amongst the backdrop of a blossom tree, laden with yellow and red flowers.

The branches of the tree spread across the page, underneath the tree, Quynh Nhu and

her friend stand with happy and cheerful expressions. They are dressed in a similar

style, one in yellow and the other in purple. Their hairstyles are similar, as are their

facial expressions. Quynh Nhu’s story describes her drawing, “I am playing with my

friend under the Tet tree at my house. She has not yet visited”.

Make believe

Make believe in this study is defined as play which involves children introducing

imaginary scenarios to their play lives. Children are involved in creating images,

fantasies and thoughts that are not in the immediate environment (Singer and Singer,

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1990). These images were scarce amongst the data collected, only eight children (2.2%)

in this study depicted a make believe scenario. Boys were more likely to include make-

believe in their stories and drawings (6 children of the subset, or 87.5%). These boys

imaged what they would be in the future, they imagined themselves on boats and ships

and fishing at sea and driving cars. Girls tended to be more whimsical and included

fantasy and unreal scenarios.

Plate 35: Mother butterfly and baby butterfly. My sister and I fly away. Nghi An, Female, 5 years LA43

• Nghi An (Plate 35) draws two smiling children perched on the back of a green and

yellow butterfly soaring through the yellow sky. Below them is a field of flowers. A

small red butterfly with its blue wings outstretched is flying past a lone red flower in

a field of yellow flowers. The flowers have been evenly spaced out along the bottom

of the page and vary in size. A similar formula has been used to draw these flowers.

A big round circle has four to six petals around it, a long slim stem runs to the

ground. Two small leaves are attached to the stem directly opposite one another. On

the top left of the page is a red sun with blue rays and to the left of the sun is a single

cloud floating through a yellow sky. Nghi An explains, “Mother butterfly and baby

butterfly. My sister and I fly away.”

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Conclusion

In this chapter young Vietnamese children’s concepts of play have been the basis

of the investigation and analysis. The six categories of play which emerged from this

study show children producing clear, concise ideas of play that encompass the

characteristics of play (Garvey, 1990, see literature review, pg. 14). Young Vietnamese

children demonstrated that they could clearly articulate their conceptions about their play

lives and express their favourite play scenarios. Children expressed the social nature of

play and illustrated their social capabilities and desires. They produced sophisticated and

comprehensive drawings and stories, encapsulating their surroundings and their

environment. Young Vietnamese children demonstrated the impact of culture on play

and illustrated the enculturative nature of play. They revealed an insight into the

practices and values taught and upheld in Vietnamese schools and society. Their daily

lives were reflected in the thoughts, feelings and acts of the children. The children in this

study revealed their preferred play materials and captured moments in their lives utilising

and taking pleasure from these play materials. Favourite activities and games were

captured in drawings and stories. Children displayed their rich and fruitful imaginary

lives, as they dreamed, wished and acted out play scenarios. They exposed their worlds

of make-believe and pretence, their dreams and their ideas.

The following chapter discusses and critiques the six conceptions of play which

emerged from this study, therefore progressing from a descriptive analysis to a critical

analysis of conceptions of play from young Vietnamese children.

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CHAPTER FIVE

Discussion of children’s conceptions of play

This discussion interweaves two threads of conceptions about play held by

young Vietnamese children. The first thread relates to research question one: “What

do young Vietnamese children think about their play?” It focuses on fundamental

definitions of play as disclosed by participants. The second thread addresses

research question two: “What culturally relevant conceptions about play do young

Vietnamese children convey in their stories and drawings?” This thread specifically

focuses on culturally relevant conceptions of play.

In all phenomenographic research, the goal is to describe conceptions of a

topic, as experienced by key informants. In this study, children’s ideas,

observations, memories and feelings about play were recorded by using spoken and

“graphic languages” (Rinaldi, 1993, pg. 20). This technique enabled children of all

ages to explore and express their understandings of the concept of play in images, as

well as inviting children to share their stories on the phenomenon of play.

Immersed in the children’s theoretical understandings were rich and dynamic

cultural themes that repeatedly surfaced throughout the data.

Malaguzzi (1994) believes that children are capable of meaning making and

theorising from their daily life experiences, through the use of mental acts such as

planning, coordination of ideas and abstraction, through drawing, story, drama and

play. In Malaguzzi’s view, meanings are never static; rather they are generative of

other meanings. Therefore, activation of the meaning making capacity of young

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children can generate both processes of their learning and the products of their

understanding.

Children’s ideas are an important potential source for curriculum. Their ideas

reflect the complex ecology of their world and reveal children as active learners who

“are protagonists in their own spontaneous dramas” (Jones and Nimmo, 1994, pg. 5)

and theorists with ideas that may be utilised to foster play/learning environments and

experiences that are authentic and personally meaningful.

Viewing the world from a child’s perspective is both valuable and necessary if

authentic curricula is to be developed. This “inside/out” approach enables researchers

to discover how children experience their lives, create their own meanings and

knowledge, and engage in their roles, relationships and activities (Katz, 1993; Smith,

1998). Children need to be an integral part in curriculum development, since children

learn best when the content is connected to their real life experiences (Bruner, 1972;

Katz, 1993; Short, 1991). Such notions are foundational in early childhood education

and apply equally to children in Vietnam.

By collecting and analysing children’s visual images and verbal stories, the

researcher broadened understanding of young children’s play in Vietnam. Through

the use of multiliteracies, young Vietnamese children demonstrated that they could,

indeed transmit and communicate their own conceptions of a complex, but well

understood phenomenon. Children are clear and specific about what they like to do

when they play. The children in this study valued play outdoors. They cherished

their family and friends. They also valued their time alone. They enjoy playing with

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simple non-expensive materials. Young Vietnamese children enjoy dreaming and

imagining. They like to participate in structured activities.

Vietnamese children and their play theories

Six prominent conceptions about play emerged in the course of this study and

form the emergent theories about play from these children at the time of the study.

This chapter provides a discussion of these Vietnamese child-held theories of play.

1. Play is being outdoors.

2. Play is being with family and friends, but sometimes alone.

3. Play involves immersion in culture and identity.

4. Play involves materials.

5. Play is dreaming and imagining.

6. Play is structured.

Some variations on these conceptions occurred and will be discussed

throughout the chapter (i.e. age, gender, curriculum, experience and context).

Young Vietnamese children conveyed and reflected culturally rich images and

stories. Their documentation of their play lives enabled the researcher to gain a

clearer view of their collective values and experiences. Gaining insight into values is

significant as they are “ideals that a person aspires to in his or her life” and a “point of

reference” (local, social, cultural) which defines culture and provides “the foundations

on which society is based” (Project Zero & Reggio Children, 2001, pg. 39).

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Children can be seen as reliable informants who participate in and document

their values, personal experiences, desires and dreams to adults. Children’s voices

can provide researchers, teachers and parents with powerful information and

knowledge on how they see and understand the world around them, and therefore

reposition the child from a traditional passive receiver of knowledge to a powerful and

dynamic generator of their own knowledge and learning.

Acknowledgement of children’s conceptions by peers and adults (e.g. parents

and teachers) creates a “dynamic conjunction of forces and elements interacting

towards a common purpose”, such “social exchanges” can reinforce each child’s

sense of identity through recognition from peers and adults (Malaguzzi, 1993, pg. 63).

Listening to children’s voices gives stakeholders an authentic and real insight into

their personal thoughts, dreams, opinions, values and interests. This valuable

information can be utilised establish programs and resources which are child

generated and serve the best interests of the child, and will be discussed further in

Chapter Six.

Play is being outdoors

In this study, young Vietnamese children revealed play places that are

meaningful to them. It is not surprising that young Vietnamese children highly value

outdoor settings as a play place. Urban living in Vietnam is busy, cramped and

hectic. Young Vietnamese children are often limited to play spaces which include

city streets, indoor areas and school facilities.

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Visits to parks and other green areas are memorable and valued. The lack of

space in many children’s home environments and the shortage of public play

environments places importance on the school to provide a wide range of diverse and

enriching outdoor experiences. Young children are active investigators and the

outdoor environment can provide children with active learning opportunities which

encourage exploration and creative play. Teachers may further support and encourage

children’s learning by asking open-ended questions to prompt, coach, and support a

child’s exploration while outside (Vygotsky, 1976).

To young Vietnamese children in this study, play is an outdoor experience. In

this study, children repeatedly drew images that depicted play in outdoor settings,

including public gardens, parks, fields, the countryside, the beach and their own home

environments. In Vietnam, where urban areas are crowded and cramped, young

Vietnamese children clearly expressed the special place of nature, green spaces and

outdoor environments as places of recreation and relaxation. Visits to the park were a

prevalent idea expressed by the children in this study. This appears to be an

affordable and accessible outing for many urban Vietnamese families and therefore an

experience many children participate in and enjoy.

In Vietnam, children are taught to value and love nature within the

kindergarten curriculum (see Chapter Two). Flowers are appreciated for their beauty

and regularly depicted in a variety of art and crafts lessons. Using techniques

prescribed by Vietnam’s national reform curriculum, children are directed to represent

a repertoire of foundational images in a structured program that involves;

drawing/painting, kneading/moulding, tearing/cutting/pasting (Piscitelli, Pham &

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Chen, 1997). Flowers have spiritual significance, such as the blossom branch or tree

during the Tet festival and the lotus flower as a symbolic flower to Buddhists (Huu

Ngoc, 1999). Children learn both past and current value of nature to society when

their educational program emphasises features of the natural world as part of the

foundation images taught in the visual arts repertoire.

Nature and the outdoors featured strongly in Vietnamese children’s drawings.

Children are taught to value and appreciate their natural surroundings from an early

age. One of the four main objectives of preschool education is to foster “love for the

beautiful, preservation of the beautiful, and the wish to create beautiful things in their

surroundings” (Pham, 1998, pg. 59). Children are taught to depict natural elements

(clouds, sun, tree and flowers) as the beginning of their drawing and modelling

repertoire in kindergartens. The natural elements drawn by the children in this study

encompassed similar techniques and features across all data sets.

Children were likely to want to make their drawing as aesthetically pleasing as

possible. Therefore, to make their picture attractive and appealing to others, both

boys and girls added the aesthetically pleasing elements such as flowers, the sun,

clouds and gardens. The depiction of nature varied, with girls (82.7%) more likely

than boys (77%) to include plants and flowers in their drawings. In this study, five-

year-old children were most likely (88%) to include images of the outdoors in their

stories and drawings.

Children from rural and seaside communities were more likely to include the

outdoors in their conceptions of play. Ming Dang and Bong Sen 2 kindergartens are

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situated in semi-rural locations. Ming Dang is situated in Vung Tau, which is a sea

side town situated 128km south-east of Ho Chi Minh City, whilst Bong Sen 2 is in Cu

Chi is located 30kms north-west of Ho Chi Minh City. Life in these two centres

appears to be very different from life in central Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. The

over-crowding, traffic and pollution does not exist; instead a slower pace of life of a

semi-rural existence is evident. These diverse environments were represented in the

children’s images. The sea was a central feature in the Ming Dang data set (95%) and

the countryside was a common element throughout the Bong Sen II (95%) data set.

Children in these green natural environments were more likely to depict natural

elements which co-exist with their day-to-day lives.

Flowers were present in 138 (40%) of the children’s drawings. Children

familiar with the way in which to draw flower and several children named specific

flowers. Children are taught to draw flowers from an early age. Flowers are

commonly used in the home at school as an aesthetic element, so children are very

familiar with their features.

It is ironic that the most dominant conception of play relates to the natural

world because, in fact, there appears to be a critical shortage of playgrounds in the

country. Tran and Tran (2000) report that parents prefer children to play indoors

rather than playing outdoors on the streets, where they face the danger of accidents or

other mishaps. In urban Vietnam, the streets are very narrow and traffic can be

chaotic. Tran and Tran (2000, pg 84) claim that “virtually children have no space to

play in, except some play-grounds and play-houses which are not always easily

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accessible due to their inconvenient location”. In this study, children have revealed

their ideal play context – a green, safe place.

Play is being with friends and family, and sometimes alone.

Young Vietnamese children indicate the social nature of play through their

drawings and stories. To children in this study, play is being with family and friends.

Friends were included in 94 (27%) of the children’s drawings and stories in

this study. Friends are particularly common in older children’s depictions of their

play lives. Older children develop reciprocal relationships with their peers and

require these relationships for cooperative and competitive games and activities and

therefore, peer relationships gain importance (Grusec and Lytton, 1988). Older

children tended to mention their friends more frequently: 55% of all children over six

years old represented friends in their drawings and stories, whilst 25% of all five year

olds and 19% of all four-year and under made mention of friends. The inclination to

include friends in play increases with age. Data sets that included older children, for

example, (Hanoi Cultural Palace and the Ho Chi Minh City Children’s Cultural

House) had a higher incidence of friends included within the children’s drawings and

stories. Within the Ho Chi Minh City Children’s Cultural House site, 58% of

respondents represented friends in their stories and images; similarly at Hanoi

Cultural Palace, 44% of the total participants demonstrated that they enjoyed playing

with their friends. This correlates to Selman’s (1981) findings highlighting the

importance of friendships as children grow older. Girls were slightly more likely to

include friends in their conceptions of play, 63 girls (31%), compared to 31 boys

(27%) described play with friends.

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The family is considered indispensable for the existence of Vietnamese

society and of the nation. The significance of the family is emphasised in the

“Program for building the country towards socialism” adopted by the Party Seventh

Congress - 1991. The policy states that “the family is the cell of society, the cradle

which is very dear to all individuals for the whole of their life” (Le Thi, 1999, pg. 3).

The importance of the family is also emphasised in the MOET’s objectives and plans

for preschool education (MOET, 1990). An emphasis on familial respect is embedded

as essential components of early childhood curriculum with an emphasis on

“affection, care and assistance for their close people (parents, friends, teachers...);

sincerity, politeness, boldness, natural manners” (Pham, 1998, pg. 59).

This strong emphasis for love and respect of the family is presented in many

of the children’s drawings. Sixty-nine children (19.5%) mentioned their family in

their drawings and stories. Girls were more likely to include family in their stories

and images with 44 girls (63.7%) out of the 69 total who had mentioned family. Five

year olds were more likely to include family in their drawings and images: 25% of all

the five year olds in this study included their family. This may well a reflection of the

preschool curriculum taught at this age level. In kindergartens throughout Vietnam,

“Population Education” is taught. Components of this topic highlight the family as a

theme with the expressed goal: “to help the children have some knowledge of family

life and get acquaintance with social community life: feelings, responsibility of each

member in the family” (MOET, 1997, pg. 34). Almost 39% of the children at Lan

Anh kindergarten made mention of their family, whilst three others (Viet Bun, The

Experimental and Cu Chi kindergartens) recorded strong results, with approximately a

quarter of all their responses inclusive of family images and stories. Children from

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Dong Da were less likely to include their family in their conceptions of their play

lives; only 6.1% of children from this kindergarten made mention of their families.

Children expressed immense enjoyment in spending time with their parents.

Due to economic necessity, many parents in Vietnam work long hours and have more

than one job. Family events are considered special and valuable. Simple activities

such as family excursions and fishing are treasured experiences, which children

shared and expressed in their drawings and stories. The extended family was present

in many of the children’s drawings and stories. Vietnamese culture values the family

and often three generations co-exist in the same household. Grandparents, therefore,

featured in many of the children’s drawings.

In contrast to play with family and friends, almost one fifth of children (19%)

in this study depicted themselves playing alone. Several children stated in their

stories that they are indeed playing alone. In other instances, children often focused

on themselves, as the central character in their drawing as they were directed to by the

researcher. The question put to the children during the data collection process was

“What do you like to do when you play”? Many children in this study are from sole

child families, therefore their play activities are solitary and their stories and drawings

reflected this situation. Children described themselves engaged in solitary play

activities that involved private play spaces such as their rooms, their homes and their

gardens.

Children often drew themselves playing alone with animals. Tran and Tran

(2000) found that urban children enjoyed playing with domestic animals. They

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believe that smaller families are prevalent in urban areas, as a result of the family

planning policy. This often leaves children without playmates. Therefore, the

domestic animal becomes an integral part of urban children’s play lives.

Children captured themselves studying and playing computer games. These

are activities that children clearly enjoy and can undertake alone. Although computer

games appear to isolate children, Bonnafont (in Goldstein, 1994) found quite the

contrary - computer games create conviviality among children. They often play

together, exchange information and swap games. In this study, the four children

(1.1%) who depicted in computer games were all boys. Three of the boys were five

years of age and one was eight. Computers were situated in their own homes, and not

in computer facilities or game arcades in public settings.

Social interactions are important to young Vietnamese children’s lives. In this

study, Vietnamese children valued friends, their families, teachers and significant

others (e.g., grandparents and extended family). Play assists young children’s social

development as children negotiate, take turns, cooperate, share ideas and resources

and resolve conflicts. “When playing, children learn the meaning of social life”

(Lindquist, 1995, pg. 33). Play combines emotion, will and thought. Predictably,

children’s close and familiar relationships are forged and extended in play episodes.

Play involves immersion in culture and identity.

The Vietnamese way of life and strong cultural identity is a powerful

component throughout the children’s drawings and stories. Children are aware of the

cultural values and ideals held by the Vietnamese people from a very young age. The

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appreciation of nature and the central significance of family and home are evident

throughout the data set. Children spoke about and drew pictures of festivals, such as

the Moon Festival, Tet and Christmas. The market, buffalos, morning exercise

regime, museums and city landmarks, arranging flowers, traditional games, [such as

da cau (hacky sac) bit mat bat de (chase the goat), rong ran len may (dragon snake go

to the sky/clouds) and meo duoi chuot (cat and mouse)] are all elements of the

uniqueness of Vietnamese life. These Vietnamese traditions and rituals were captured

through the children’s stories and drawings.

There is evidence of the new way of life and the increasingly changing face of

childhood in Vietnam, as new technologies and globalised ideologies seep into young

Vietnamese children’s lives. This was evident in drawings through the emergence of

computers, cartoon characters, Lego, trips to the seaside, overseas trips and a visit to

the airport. Vietnamese children’s lives are transforming and ever changing as they

grow up in the new millennium.

The young Vietnamese children in this study had no difficulties in providing a

snapshot of Vietnamese life and symbolising objects and events, portraying the “rich

amalgam of ideas and emotions with which we experience life” (Smith, 1982, pg.

310). Rich cultural symbols were particularly evident in the semi rural kindergarten

of Bong Sen 2. The rural way of life emerged through many of the children’s stories

and drawings. Similarly children from Minh Dang kindergarten depicted the life by

the sea in Vung Tau, with many of the drawings and stories including the seaside and

boats. They also included many common elements that emerged from all of the data

sets such as gardens, balloons and flowers.

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Play involves materials.

Balloons were the most frequently mentioned play resource amongst the

young Vietnamese children in this study. Over six percent of children participating in

this study included balloons in their drawings or stories. Balloons also featured in all

data sets in this study. Balloons are inexpensive and accessible to all of the children,

and therefore a very popular play material. Balloons were particularly prominent in

both rural kindergarten data sets with Minh Dang (28%) and Bong Sen 2 (22%)

children incorporating balloons in their depictions of their play lives.

Playground equipment was also featured strongly as a favoured play material.

Playground equipment is accessible to all children in this study through their

kindergarten and playgrounds provide children with the opportunity to climb, slide,

swing, hang and jump. Children who lived in urban areas were more likely to depict

these materials as cramped urban living does not give children a lot of play spaces in

their home environments, and there are very few public playgrounds in the city areas.

Parents lead busy lives and often do not have the time to supervise their children in

public play areas.

Transport, which included cars, trucks, planes, aeroplanes and tanks were a

common theme across the Dong Da data set. Boys were more likely to include

transport in their drawings and stories (75%). Perhaps these material objects were

included as the children were immersed in a theme, which centred on transport.

Children stories were often brief, many of them simply stating what the name of the

object in the drawing was. Hence, it is difficult to determine the true preference of

transport toys as a dominant play resource.

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Technology was represented by 1.1% of the participants, with four boys

articulated their preference for computers. These boys depicted themselves playing

computers at their homes. In urban areas there are numerous video arcades and pay to

use computer outlets. Although easily accessible, they still prove to be costly for the

working class. Computers in early childhood settings are a rarity and were not a part

of any program at the time of data collection. As the data was collected in 2001, there

may be changes to conceptions of this type of material as a preferred play resource in

2004 and beyond.

In this study, young Vietnamese children described a variety of materials they

enjoyed and used to play. Simple materials were universally available and

inexpensive. The sites visited in this study provide many of these materials to the

children in both structured and unstructured situations. However, this is not the case

throughout Vietnam. Many rural communities have no safe play facilities,

consequently leaving children to amuse themselves “without much sense of direction

or purpose” (Van Oudenhoven and Nhom Chan Troi Moi, 1999, pg. 8). Many

kindergartens in Vietnam have plentiful supply of adult-produced materials. Home

corner area is often highly organised with plastic props and a large choice of material

for the children to use. There appears to be little opportunity for children to construct

their own props or participate in activities which promote and encourage symbolism

and creativity during dramatic play (Vujanovic, 2000a).

Play is structured.

In this study, distinct age differentiation was evident in children’s preferences

for structured activities. Older children enjoyed the challenges and formalities of

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structured games, whilst younger children preferred more open-ended play activities

that allow greater freedom and autonomy. This reflects developmental theories

(Sylva, Bruner & Genova, 1974; Garvey, 1990; Wasserman, 1992; Selman, 1994).

Many of the older participants drew themselves playing football, badminton

and other structured forms of play alongside their friends. These games are referred

to as global games and are played by children worldwide. Children from Hanoi

Cultural Palace (51.8%) and children from Ho Chi Minh City Cultural House (51.6%)

depicted structured play regularly. Both these data set contained the older children in

this study. Of the 47 children aged six years and over, 26 made mention of their

preference of structured play (55.3%). There is clear evidence that preference for this

type of play increases in as children get older. Girls depicted themselves involved in

structured play more often than boys, due to the popularity of skipping activities. In

this study, 4.8% of all participants included the chants and ritual of skipping games.

Children also depicted themselves at aerobic exercise classes and viewed this as play.

Morning exercise routine is included in the Vietnamese kindergarten curriculum

(MOET, 1997).

Children also depicted themselves playing traditional and cultural games.

These games include bit mat bat de (chase the goat), rong ran len may (dragon snake

go to the sky/clouds) and meo duoi chuot (cat and mouse). These games were often

played at home and images included parents and siblings. Children are taught a large

repertoire of games at kindergarten. In the “Programme of education of children aged

5-6 at kindergarten” (MOET, 1997), games are separated into two overriding

categories: creative games and games with regulations. Creative games include:

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“games with assigned roles” and “building games”, whilst games with regulations

sub-categorised into “games for movements, games to learn and folk games”.

Traditional games are considered an important ritual in Vietnam and are played at

festivals and ceremonies which mark the production cycles of the formerly agrarian

society (Hung, 1991).

Play is dreaming and imagining.

Young children in Vietnam have dreams and fantasies they engage in play that

enable them to use their imagination and make sense of the world. Children’s desires,

wishes and hopes are mirrored in the roles, actions and conversations of play. In this

study, imaginative and make believe play was the least mentioned play concept, and it

is also the least understood by early childhood professionals in Vietnam. Singer and

Singer (1990) found that although imaginary play is regarded as an important

component of early childhood development and experience, only 7.3% of children in

this study expressed their preference for imaginary play.

The imagination of the child is a tremendous resource and is perilously

neglected by teachers. Consequently, overlooking this resource, results in the loss of

a powerful generator for creativity.

Urban Vietnamese children have dreams and wishes. They participate in play

that encompasses make-believe and fantasy. These children experience play as

freedom, and beyond reality. To them, play is unlimited and has few boundaries.

Children dreamt of flying on the backs of butterflies, they participated in role-play as

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they pretended to be soldiers and shop keepers, and they imagined their school friends

visiting their homes with a detailed account of this wished-for event.

Children from kindergartens that emphasised a play based curriculum, (Lan

Anh Kindergarten, Experimental Kindergarten and Bong Sen 2 Kindergarten) were

more likely to include dreaming and imagining in their drawings and stories.

Children represented their play environments by illustrating the resources made

available to them. This was particularly prevalent in the Bong Sen 2 Kindergarten.

Children frequently drew a miniature village and the multitude of resources that

represented the play area within the kindergarten. Providing rich play environments

for children made a significant impact on children’s conceptions of their own play

lives. These resources were incorporated into children’s interpretations and images.

Children’s drawings and stories document the enjoyment and significance resource-

rich environments can provide children.

In this study, young Vietnamese children had no difficulties in expressing their

dreams and fantasies. Children in this study show themselves adopting the roles of

soldiers, teachers, shopkeepers and grandparents. They demonstrate their creativity,

their artistry and their imaginative capabilities as they take on these roles in symbolic

and dramatic play.

Culturally relevant conceptions

Many of the children’s drawings and stories exposed layers of information that

transcended across single categories, thus revealing rich and powerful information

about their play lives. This study has particularly revealed that young Vietnamese

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children prefer to participate in play activities which are wholesome and readily

available. The reoccurring notion of outdoors, the use of simple and inexpensive

materials, and the inclusion of family and friends consistently emerged from the data.

As well, young Vietnamese children in this study indicated that they

internalise and appreciate cultural values through active participation in stories and

activities which build their cultural knowledge. Smith (1998) believes that schools

have a role in transmitting and immersing children in culturally rich environments and

passing on culturally valued skills. MOET’s kindergarten curriculum outlines (1997)

a program which is strong in cultural teaching and learning. From a very young age,

Vietnamese children are capable of relating this identity to themselves and able to

articulate their cultural beliefs to others.

Conclusion The six categories which emerged from data collected in this study reveal that young

Vietnamese children are clear and concise in describing and representing their play

lives. In this study, the variations within the conceptions are also evident. Gender,

age, experience and curriculum affect the conceptions exposed by young Vietnamese

children. The conceptions expressed by the children in this study are by no means

static, rather they are ever changing. Cultural, societal and personal influences

continuously touch these children’s lives continuously mould and shape children’s

experiences and conceptions.

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CHAPTER SIX

Conclusions and Recommendations

On the 11th of January, 2001, a national workshop with 75 early childhood

professionals including policy makers, teacher educators and practicing teachers was

held at the National Teacher Training College for Early Childhood Education –

Number 3 in Ho Chi Minh City. A recurring question raised during this discussion

was: “Why should children’s ideas form the basis of the early childhood curriculum?”

Vietnamese early childhood educators were interested in providing children with a

rich and stimulating learning environment. They aspired to explore and to expand

their knowledge about child-centred approaches and to learn about new philosophies

and possibilities. However, they all indicated a need for support as many were

uncertain about how to proceed and implement a play-based program after years of

state mandated centralised approach.

This study focused on young children’s conceptions of play. As outlined in

Chapter One, the value of play in Vietnam is misunderstood by policy makers, teacher

educators, teachers and parents. This chapter focuses on the final research question

and proposes some new play-based, child centred and outcomes-focused approaches

for curriculum development for Vietnamese early childhood programs. In this study,

the researcher was an outsider, observing children in an education system that was

different from her own in Australia. There would be little justice or validity in the

researcher, as an outsider, proposing Eurocentric ideals and recommendations on a

system that is distinctly steeped in its own rich cultural ideologies and traditions.

Accordingly, this chapter will address the research question by focusing on

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implications relevant to UNICEF’s international goals for early childhood education.

This chapter concludes with some culturally relevant approaches for implementing a

set of play-based philosophies and approaches for kindergartens in Vietnam.

Early childhood institutions in Vietnam are currently undergoing reform and

embracing a play-based, child-centred and outcomes-based approach to curriculum.

The Vietnamese preschool curriculum outcomes state that through play children will

understand relationships between man, nature and society (MOET, 1997). The study

of children’s conceptions of play may provide Vietnamese early childhood educators

and policy makers with a child-centred perspective and an important educational

resource. Policy makers and educators worldwide require a comprehensive

understanding and appreciation of children’s play to value its place in children’s lives,

to establish a system which supports a child-centred “emergent curriculum” and to

create learning communities which support and endorse optimal learning

environments and partnerships (Rinaldi, 1993, pg. 102).

Child-centred “emergent curriculum” builds upon the interests of children and

enables learning experiences to be child initiated, collaborative and authentic. These

bottom-up and inside-out perspectives encourage a high degree of child participation

and should be the fundamental practice of early childhood (Katz, 1992). Adult

facilitators need to create these conditions to encourage children to operate at their

highest level of the competence (Katz, 1992; Hart, 1997). Creating opportunities for

children to be active participants and listening to children’s voices and views enables

teachers to learn what matters to them and make changes that reflect and respond to

their understandings (Dockett and Perry, 2003). Teachers can assist in children’s

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social interactions by supporting and guiding them as they negotiate, co-operate and

share. Malaguzzi (1993) describes such relationships as the “primary connecting

dimension” of early childhood education (pg.62), whereby relationships within an

early childhood setting strengthen children’s identity through giving them a sense of

efficacy, self confidence and belonging. During play episodes, children collaborate to

pursue shared goals that are intrinsically motivating, allowing results from their

actions to be immediately visible.

In this study, young Vietnamese children indicated that they internalise and

appreciate cultural values through active participation in stories and activities which

build their cultural knowledge. Smith (1998) believes that schools have a role in

transmitting and immersing children in culturally rich environments and passing on

culturally valued skills. MOET’s kindergarten curriculum outlines (1997) a program

which is strong in cultural teaching and learning. From a very young age Vietnamese

children are capable of relating this identity to themselves and able to articulate their

cultural beliefs to others. Teachers can further promote cultural learning and identity

by providing culturally relevant materials, valuing cultural events and holidays,

sharing cultural stories and beliefs, and teaching culturally valued skills, such as art,

craft and cooking. In Vietnam, current teaching practice entails transmitting cultural

values and belief to the child, and they are in transition to a play-based approach,

which moves beyond transmission into transformation. Play is culturally grounded

and influences development and cultural learning. Hyun (1998) believes that if

teachers were able to clearly identify “emerging cultures” found in children’s play, “it

would allow early childhood practitioners to interact with children in culturally

relevant and congruent modes” (pg. 21).

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Implications of the findings

The result of this study is six succinct outcomes that define Vietnamese

children’s conceptions of play. To young Vietnamese children play involves

interaction with the natural world, relationships with others, immersion of culture and

identity, utilising materials, dreaming and imagining, and structure. This rich data can

be utilised to inform the development of a child-centred, play-based curriculum in

early childhood institutions throughout Vietnam, and to affect a shift in focus from an

adult-centred, state-mandated approach to a child-centred and participatory

approaches to teaching and learning.

Play is an experience which is free from the “restrictions of adult logic and

control” (Biber, 1984, pg. 197). Play provides young children with an “invaluable

continuum for learning and development” (Brewer and Kieff, 1996, pg 92). It

generates curiosity and new inquiry (Biber, 1984). Play gives children the

opportunity become agents in their own learning, and when further supported and

extended by teachers, they may achieve optimal learning. In play, children are given

the opportunity to “perceive themselves as authors and inventors; once they are

helped to discover the pleasure of inquiry, their motivation and interest explode”

(Malaguzzi, 1993, pg. 60).

A shift in early childhood education philosophies, from classical theories of

play (Millar, 1968; Lazarus, 1883; Hall, 1906; Groos, 1898) to contemporary theories

(Piaget, 1962; Vygotsky, 1976; Bruner, 1972; Smilansky, 1962) is required to fully

understand and implement a child-centred approach to early childhood education.

Acknowledging the role of play in early childhood development is the fundamental

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perspective of contemporary theories. To build a transition from older, centrally

designed ideas and approaches in Vietnam, early childhood education will need to

make adjustments in both practical and philosophical ways. The following discussion

provides a starting point for the reconceptualisation of play in early childhood

education in Vietnam.

In Vietnam, there has been an increased emphasis and awareness amongst

“parents, communities, government and non-government agencies of the importance

of early childhood education for young children themselves, as well as for the

development of the education system” (Pham, 1999, pg.4). A new reform curriculum

has been introduced, as well as new classrooms built and equipped to increase access

to early childhood education, and to improve the quality of care and education (Pham,

1999). The process of curriculum policy change and the decentralisation of

educational systems are driven by political, economic, social, cultural and

technological influences, yet, there are significant disparities in income and access

between urban and rural communities, ethnicity and regional populations (UNICEF,

2000).

Policy makers

Policy makers in Vietnam instigating a new curriculum for early childhood

must consider the lack of understanding of the value of play in society, family and

schools. The misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of the developmental and

learning benefits of play can possibly hinder the reform process in early childhood

education. Policy makers have to consider the mechanics of introducing new

approaches to all stakeholders. Policy makers need to ensure that the program goals

134

are clear and comprehensive since they need to be shared and understood by all

stakeholders. A clear differentiation in roles of central, local and school

administrators is required. Once these goals are developed and implemented, ongoing

support and communication to all sectors of the educational system is essential,

through curriculum councils and curriculum networks. These support systems ensure

that the philosophies and goals of the program are shared by all, and that the program

continues to be developmentally, culturally and linguistically relevant for all children

that will experience the curriculum. Ongoing evaluation and reflection is necessary

and the outcomes should be shared with the public.

Curriculum developers and policy makers are sometimes confronted by

conflicting views on education and the direction it should be taking. “Resistance to

change is part of this process of increasingly continuous curricular renewal”

(UNESCO, 2003a, pg 22). Greater involvement of all stakeholders can help in

reducing resistance; therefore, a participatory approach throughout the curriculum

development process may be as effective process of curricula reform. Curriculum

policy change may be assisted by open and transparent communication channels,

combining top-down and bottom-up approaches (Katz, 1992; UNESCO, 2003b).

Detailed and broken down guidelines and standards can assist stakeholders to inform

about transition phases. UNESCO (2003a) suggests that the following processes are

key to reform:

• Consultations between local level and central levels.

• Shared commitments (resources and tasks).

• Produce more pragmatic information on curriculum change.

• Use simple language and terminology.

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• Provide support in local contexts.

• Provide a network of local consultation, encourage the consolidation of

ideas.

• Establish communication networks.

• Articulate roles of stakeholders.

• Train and motivate in management of curriculum change.

• Organise more in-service training and teacher orientation on

curriculum change.

• Distribution of training packages for diverse audiences, for example

management, curricula design, multimedia, public relations and

leadership.

• Provide locally produced resources for teacher educators and teachers

(e.g., reference libraries, books, videos, toys, journals).

Most importantly, early childhood educators in Vietnam will require

significant leadership from policy makers to overcome reliance of old practices and to

break the resistance to change and curriculum reform, if they are to successfully

implement new teaching practices consistent to the education reform agenda.

UNESCO (2003) mentions of the value of input by stakeholders, but neglects

to acknowledge the child as a stakeholder in their education. The view of the child

and play is an important component to consider whilst creating a curriculum for early

care and development in Vietnam. Van Oudenhoven & Nhom Chan Troi Moi (1999)

believe that children’s views must be taken into account, for the best interests of all

136

stakeholders and every effort should be made to listen to children and to value their

perceptions.

Teacher educators

Teacher education in Vietnam is in the midst of ongoing improvement and

reform. A new teacher education program has been implemented and aims to

improve the national general educational system (Vietnam News service, 2001).

Since the beginning of the 21st century, professional and academic skills are being

upgraded, dated teaching methods modernised and new curricula will be introduced to

trainee teachers. Introducing Vietnam’s training teachers to new teaching

methodologies and practices which encompass dynamic child-centred learning

opportunities will create a positive step in the modernising early childhood institutions

in Vietnam. At this level of education, however, there is resistance to the reform

processes. Teacher educators accustomed to long-established practices have not

conformed to curriculum changes and policies. These recommendations could be a

useful starting point for teacher educators in the country’s colleges and training

centres:

• Bring play to the forefront in teacher education curriculum. Become a

play advocate in communities and colleges.

• Upgrade teacher’s qualifications.

• Introduce more theory and practice subjects – ensuring a

comprehensive understanding of the role of play in young children’s

development and learning.

137

• Introduce observation studies – develop an understanding of how

children learn and how to create a responsive curriculum from

observations.

• Provide both cross-cultural and locally produced videos and

documentation about play in children’s lives.

Teachers

UNICEF (2000) recommends further promotion of “participatory and activity

based approach to teaching-learning issues to improve quality of education in

kindergartens” and to reduce resistance to change in Vietnam (pg.103). At present,

most teachers and early childhood professionals attend short in-service training, with

a small minority doing a full diploma level or degree level program (Pham 1999).

Teachers may do this by becoming engaged in children’s outdoor play as a co-

participant. Observations and insights may be used to build new topics for classroom

learning and enquiry. Observing children during play and providing analytical

feedback enables teachers to discover opportunities for children’s growth and

development and creates opportunities to build and develop learning experiences.

Outdoor play gives teachers the chance to make capital out of everyday experiences

and activities. Children’s play can be enriched and extended by utilising a decision

making process which involves observing, planning, enhancing and reflecting in order

to provide children with relevant and rich learning opportunities.

Teachers may further promote cultural learning and identity by providing

culturally relevant materials, valuing cultural events and holidays, sharing cultural

138

stories and beliefs, and teaching culturally valued skills, such as art, craft and cooking.

In Vietnam, current teaching practise entails transmitting cultural values and beliefs to

a child, yet current policy advocates a move to play-based approaches which moves

beyond transmission approaches. Play is culturally grounded and influences

development and cultural learning. Hyun (1998) believes that if teachers were able to

clearly identity “emerging cultures” found in children’s play, “it would allow early

childhood practitioners to interact with children in culturally relevant and congruent

modes” (pg. 21).

To overcome the constraints and challenges associated with implementing

play experiences, curriculum documents should include the following approaches and

strategies in implementing play in their classrooms.

• Communication and Social Interaction: The program should focus on adult-

child communication of problem solving, role playing, open-ended

questioning and encouraging can assist teachers to facilitate and extend young

children’s play.

• Position and roles of teachers: Demonstrating and suggesting that teachers can

take on many roles. Rather than being an observer, the teacher can take on the

role as stage manager, mediator, player, scribe, communicator and planner in

children’s play. Teachers can support and enrich play by setting the stage,

listening, perceiving and facilitating children’s imaginative play experiences.

Play creates an opportunity for children to express their feelings and ideas. A

wide variety of open ended materials and props should be available daily to

encourage children to explore and experiment.

139

• Classroom resources: MOET could prepare lists of inexpensive materials

teachers that can use for play. Locally produced videos and vignettes of

teachers who regularly use play might also be included in professional

development programs and in education resource libraries. Access to open

ended materials for use in play is seen as a central issue since “appropriate

resources support and extend children’s learning and development, as they

investigate their environment and solve problems through play” (Queensland

School Curriculum Council, 1998, pg. 26). Materials which that enable child-

initiated explorations and experiences are valuable (Cornelius, 2004). It is

universally acknowledged that resources should include consumable and

commercial items, natural and manufactured resources, as well as junk and

everyday items which experimentation and creativity in symbolic play.

Teachers may support valuable learning opportunities by allowing the

curriculum to evolve directly from the children’s play, by being aware of the

changing environment, and thoughtfully introducing a wide variety of

materials and resources and exposure to new learning experiences (Cornelius,

2004).

• Philosophy: Provide teachers and school administrators with workshops that

focus on promoting and explaining the importance of play.

• Environments: Provide a play-based environment that will support children’s

learning. The early childhood class can be seen as a “container” that

encourages social interaction, learning and exploration. The space is also

contains culturally appropriate educational “content” enveloped with messages

and “charged with stimuli toward interactive experience and constructivist

learning” (Gandini, 1993, pg 138).

140

• Timetable: Create quality time for play. Children should have at least 30

minutes or more in order for play to evolve (Stone, 1995). This may mean

doing away with traditional timetabling restrictions and limitations.

• Planning and Programming: Establish a curriculum decision making process

which encompasses a cycle of observing, planning, enacting and reflecting.

Implementing this cycle ensures curriculum decisions are based on

information gathered about children’s learning and development, giving

teachers the opportunity to plan developmentally appropriate learning

experiences. Reflecting on children’s play allows the teacher to identify

children’s learning and to describe children’s learning outcomes.

• Evaluation: Regularly evaluate early childhood programs to ensure that each

program is meeting the needs of stakeholders.

• Scholarly inquiry: Implementing a research process that engages researchers,

teachers, policy makers and others to gather diverse stories of children’s views

of further subjects, e.g. family, future, world affairs and other emergent ideas.

Research methodologies such as phenomenography, ethnography and action

research can be powerful tools in the research of young children’s experiences

and conceptions.

Conclusion

The large interpretative panel on display at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology

in Hanoi provided a snapshot of children’s play in Vietnam (see Chapter Two, pg.

13). The positioning and content of the text panel promotes optimism and hope in the

place and value of play in Vietnamese community life. The text describes the

141

outdoors, the relationships, the Vietnamese culture, the materials and resources

children utilised and children’s imagination and dreams. In this study, identical

conceptions emerged through children’s drawings and stories, giving the researcher an

opportunity to deeper insights into young Vietnamese children’s play lives. Young

Vietnamese children’s conceptions of their own play are refreshing, invigorating and

wholesome. These welcome voices and views can be utilised to generate an emergent

curriculum and gives teachers and curriculum planners an opportunity to jointly

construct a curriculum which is dynamic and meaningful. The participatory process

enables children to have legitimate contact, genuine participation and engagement. A

collaborative and shared approach gives children opportunities to develop and extend

their capabilities and their learning to the fullest.

Continuing research and inquiry on children’s ideas needs to become standard

practice in early childhood education classrooms. A cycle of ongoing connections to

children’s ideas can provide an insight in to children’s interests, values and

conceptions, thus providing a genuine stimulus for an authentic child-centred

program.

This study presents and emphasises the need to acknowledge the rights of the

child to express themselves and have their voices heard, as addressed by Article 12

and 13 of the UN Convention of the rights of the child. Valuing and listening to

children enables a paradigm shift, which repositions the child from the recipient in

learning to being an agent of their own learning.

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APPENDICES

152

APPENDIX A

Kindergarten play program - Ministry of Education and Training

153

Kindergarten play program

Creative games Games with regulations

Suggested themes to play

Games for movement

Games to learn

Folk games

Games with assigned roles

A good driver Find a thing like this

Tug of war

Department store Are you sleeping wolf?

What is this? What is it made of?

Putting clout

Restaurant Passing on the ball Rearrange these things like before

“Do” game

Hospital Revolving wheel Transmit information

Hide-and –seek

Kindergarten Relay hopping Guess who has come

“Con” folk ball throwing

General school Compete to catch the ball

Look for your neighbour

Ups and downs

Building Games Compete to walk fast

Blindfold oneself to recognise another’s voice

Carry off the banner

Residential area (my village)

Throwing the ball into the air

Flower shop Moving in lines like a dragon and a snake

Hospital Who gets the highest mark?

Clock Hopping on one square to another

Soldier’s camp Who is quicker? Magic door Loading banners Uncle Ho’s Mausoleum

Exchange scarves A good breeder Maize and paddy banner

Flower garden Passing on an egg Find the correct house number

Playing badminton

Zoo Horse riding/horse racing

Find your closest friend

Jumping in and out

Games to role play Trapping a mouse Find your seat Piles of buds, piles of flowers

Little girl with red scarf

Go on counting Present a gift to your friend

Squares, seeds and boulders

Black bear and two rabbits

Relay race with a banner

Speech competition

Black goat

Adapted from: Ministry of Education and Training. (1997). Programme of education of children aged 5-6 at kindergarten, pg. 36-37. MOET: Hanoi.

154

APPENDIX B

Kindergarten art program - Ministry of Education and Training

155

Kindergarten art program

Stage Content in class time Kind of class Content outside class time

I Kneading round fruits of assorted varieties

Theme Kneading some fruit

Drawing flowers - Kneading some local fruit Kneading some long

fruits Theme Kneading a fish or prawn

Drawing a chicken Model Draw a rain scene Kneading a bag - Drawing and applying

colour to fruit Paste coloured circles - Drawing and applying

colour to tees Drawing flowers to

present to teachers on teachers day (Nov 20)

Theme Drawing some familiar houses

Paste paper slats Model Tear paper and paste them as you wish

Drawing and orchard Theme Kneading a known

animal -

Drawing a flock of roosters and hens

-

Kneading something you like

Wish

Drawing something you like

-

Kneading a doll in a dress

Model

Drawing a toy to give to a friend

Theme

Cutting paper slats Model Drawing something to

give to a soldier Theme

II Tear and paste a paper fish

Model

Try to fold paper into two and then four parts

Drawing spring flowers Theme

Try to tear indiscriminately, tear along a piece of paper and imagine it to be something, name it

Kneading a forest animal

Theme

Draw some portraits of your mother, little sister, friends – Apply colour

Stage Content in class time Kind of class Content outside class time

II Drawing rectangles for Model Draw a scene of a

156

decoration playground, street, village road, a general school or kindergarten

Teach and stick a school of fish

Theme

Draw ovals and circles for decoration

Model

Knead as you wish Wish Draw your house Theme Cut and paste big and

small rectangular shapes

Model

Draw a flower vase and a ball

-

Cut and paste big and small triangular shapes

-

Draw your teacher - Tear and paste flower

strings Theme

Draw your friend - Paste a picture of a bus Model Draw a member of your

family Theme

Paste some decorative patterns on paper

Model

Draw as you wish Wish Draw a teapot Model Cut pictures to make a

collage Theme

Draw an illustration of a story that you like

-

III Tear and paste an orchard

Theme Knead a person running, jumping or walking

Draw a scene of the sea - Paste as you wish Tear and paste some

boats on a sea scene -

Draw a scene of a mountain region

-

Knead a person Model Stage Content in class time Kind of class Content outside class

time Draw some means of

transport Theme

Cut and paste some toys for your friends

Model

Draw as you wish Wish Cut some flowers Theme Draw some flowers and Theme

157

leaves as decoration on paper

Knead as you wish Model Draw an illustration for

a fairy tale Theme

Draw as you wish Wish Thread and decorate

flowers Theme

Adapted from: Ministry of Education and Training. (1997). Programme of education of children aged 5-6 at kindergarten, pp. 37-40. MOET: Hanoi.

158

APPENDIX C

Associates for research team

159

Research team Dr Barbara Piscitelli – Principle researcher Suzan Vujanovic – Research Assistant

Associates for the research team Hanoi Institute of Psychology Block H 1 Kim Ma Thuong Street Cong Vi, Ba Dinh District

Le Van Hao Le Thi Khanh Phan Thi Mai Huong

MOET Research Centre for Early Childhood Education 4 Trinh Hoai Duc Hanoi

Dr Pham Thai Mai Chi

Ho Chi Minh City National Teachers Training College of Early Childhood Education – Number 3 182 Nguyen Chi Thanh District 10 HCMC

Cao Thi Thanh, International Relations Department Nguyen Thi Bac, Art teacher

160

APPENDIX D

Schedule of meetings and activities – Vietnam 2000-2001

161

Schedule of meetings and activities – Vietnam 2000-2001

2000

12th December Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) - meeting

13th December Morning Star Kindergarten, Hanoi International School

14th December Viet Bun Kindergarten, data collection

MOET - seminar

15th December Dong Da Kindergarten - data collection

18th December Institute of Psychology - meeting

19th December Institute of Psychology - seminar

20th December UNICEF and UNDP Library research and meetings

21st December Ba Ding Kindergarten - data collection

22nd December Australian Embassy, Paul Davies - meeting

23rd December Hanoi Cultural Palace - data collection

24th December Hanoi Cultural Palace - data collection and meetings

2001

2 January National Teacher Training College for Early Childhood

Education, # 3 - meeting

3rd January Lan Anh Kindergarten - data collection

5th January Experimantal Kindergarten - data collection

Ho Chi Minh City Art Gallery -children’s exhibition

7th January Ho Chi Minh City Children’s Cultural House - data

collection

8th January Bong Sen 2 Kindergarten, Cu Chi - data collection

9th January Minh Dang Kindergarten, Vung Tau - data collection

11th January National Teacher Training College for Early Childhood Education, #3

- Seminar and discussion

162

APPENDIX E

Lesson Plan

163

Introduction

Today we are here to talk to you about something you are all experts about. We are

going to talk to you about play. Now I would like you to think what you like to do

when you play. Do you like to play?

Children are invited to share their answers.

We are now going to pass around some pictures that other Vietnamese children have

drawn and shown us what they like to do when they play. (A collection of pictures

from the Our World collection (Piscitelli, 1993) that depict children’s play lives).

Children are given time to examine the pictures and discuss the pictures with other

children.

I want you to put your hand up and tell me what you see in you picture.

Children discuss their ideas with the group on what they see in the pictures.

Pictures are handed back.

Now I want you to close you eyes and imagine yourself playing.

Are you playing:

Inside or outside?

At home/at school/on the street?

With your friends/alone?

With your parents, brothers and sisters?

With animals/ with your toys/with nature?

What do you like to do when you play?

Now that you have this image in your head, I would like you to stand up and sit at

your desks and draw this picture that you have in your head.

Children given opportunity to draw and discuss their stories with researchers during

this exercise or on completion.

164

APPENDIX F

Data sets

165

Appendix F - Data Sets Contains 48 pages of children’s drawings not available online. Please consult the hardcopy thesis available from the QUT Library.

APPENDIX G

Comparison” stage – coding the data

214

Ba Dinh Kindergarten, Hanoi 20/12/00

Barbara Piscitelli Suzan Vujanovic

Le Van Hao Le Thi Khanh

Phan Thi Mai Huong Picture code

Sex Age Stories Name Stories Images

BD 1 M 5 Running around; play like dragon; many friends in the garden

Viet Trung

BD 2 F 5 See-saw in the garden with my friend Thuy Duong

BD 3 M 5 Play indoors at home Thai Son

BD 4 M 5 Play outside in the grass Le Hiep

BD 5 F 5 Play alone outdoors with flowers Pham Nguyet Nga

BD 6 M 5.5 Tank and soldiers at Military Museum

Duc Anh

.BD 7

M 5.5 One cat, two trees at home Quang Minh

BD 8 M 5 Trucks and tanks at home Hai Long

BD 9 F 5 School, friends and sliding board Trong Khoi

BD 10 M 5 House; I play in the garden, run around tree and play with flowers

Quynh Nga

BD 11 F 5 Exercise in the front garden Tran Giang Huong

BD 12 F 5 Play alone at home skipping rope Ngan Giang

BD 13 F 5 Play alone at home with the cat Truc Quyen

BD 14 M 5 Four friends in the flower garden Hui Hai

BD 15 M 5 Exercise at school with friends in the playground while the supervisor watches

Tuan Anh

BD 16 F 5 Playing with my friend in the school playground

Vo Thuy Trang

BD 17 F 5 Playing in school with the merry go round and see-saw

Minh Hang

Legend Alone Organised games Friends School Family Park Pets/animals Flowers/nature Outdoors Cultural festivals Indoors Learnt drawing Equipment Toys Imagination Home

215

APPENDIX H

Statement of consent

216

Appendix H – Statement of consent

Contains 10 pages of letters of consent not available online. Please consult the hardcopy thesis available from the QUT Library.

APPENDIX I

Ethical Clearance

228

Appendix I – Ethical Clearance Contains a 1 page memorandum not available online. Please consult the hardcopy thesis available from the QUT Library.