Date of Award

10-16-2023

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Child Development

First Advisor

Judson Everitt

Abstract

This is an ethnographic study of peer culture in the block play area of an early childhood classroom. Researchers have continued to position block play as an essential activity in early childhood classrooms. William Corsaro’s (1985, 1990, 1992, 2003, 2020) work on peer culture in young children and theory of interpretive reproduction is the framework that guided the methods and theoretical lens of this study. I was a participant-observer, using an “atypical adult” technique, in the block play area in a 4-5-year-old classroom with 22 children during a full school year. The children navigated how to build and play socially with peers, while also trying to have control over their own structure and ideas. Data collection utilized video and audio recording observation sessions, followed by the creation of field notes synthesized from the recordings. Analytic methods were guided by Emerson et al. (2011) and included a two-phase process to categorize, find themes, and identify patterns. The three main findings of this study were about (a) the strategies and experiences of children joining, or being joined, during play, (b) how children navigated the complexities of trying to build together socially while still having control over their play, and (c) the types of friendships developed and fortified during block play. All of the findings involved identification of cultural routines, which were produced and reproduced by children, and guided behavior and interactions. The physical blocks and structures were found to play a key role in children’s peer culture. Children can make the blocks be anything, and they do. Blocks became ships, pizzas, lasers, and more. Blocks do not on their own turn into objects; children make that happen collectively with each other. Children are taking both the blocks and the pedagogical theories behind them and making it all their own. Children have collective agency to manipulate the world around them.

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