Recruitments, engagements, and partitions: managing participation in play

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the social practices children use to manage participation in play activities. Part of a wider research project looking at children's physical activity in play, this article considers the role of social interaction in shaping active play. The focus is on how children get others to take part in play they have initiated, and how inclusion and exclusion in play is managed. The data examined are video-recordings of seven- to eight-year-old children's play with toys and boxes in groups of four. The analysis identifies three interactional strategies used to manage play participation: recruitments, engagements, and partitions. We discuss the design and use of these strategies within the play activity. The paper contributes to studies of children's play interaction, and argues for the importance of understanding children's social practices in studies of physical activity in play. Implications for interventions aimed at encouraging active play are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Active play
• social interaction
• primary school
• conversation analysis

Acknowledgements

We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their feedback, and would like to recognise the invaluable contribution made by colleagues from the Institute of Youth Sport at Loughborough University, namely: Dr Mary Nevill, Dr John Morris, Dr Trish Gorely, Susie Brown, Gail Matthews, Hayley Musson, Cathie Taylor, Sophie Hobson, and James Dorling. Finally, we express our gratitude to the pupils and staff of the two project schools for their participation in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Carly W. Butler is Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology in the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University. She is founding editor of forthcoming journal, Research on Children and Social Interaction (Vol. 1, 2016), and member of Loughborough's Discourse and Rhetoric Group. Her research focuses primarily on children's play and interaction, family interaction, and helpline interactions. She has a particular interest in methodological issues in the study of social interaction, and the use of conversation analysis to study children's interactions.

Dr Rebecca Duncombe is a Teaching Fellow in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University. She worked initially as a primary school teacher before starting her Ph.D. at Loughborough University. Her research interests include: primary physical education (PE), high-quality teaching and learning in PE, issues of inclusion in PE, the promotion of physical activity and health, and physical development in the early years (ages 0–5).

Dr Carolynne Mason is a Lecturer in Sport Management in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University. She was also recently a researcher within the Faculty of Education at Cambridge University (November 2008–August 2011) and is an Associate Tutor for the Open University. Her research interests include: young people's participation and citizenship; inclusive educational practice; involving children and young people in the research process; engaging ‘hard to reach groups’ in/through sport and physical activity; and the role of sport and physical activity in promoting social inclusion and social justice.

Dr Rachel Sandford is a Lecturer in Young People and Sport in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University, having previously worked as a Senior Research Associate with the Institute of Youth Sport. Her research interests include: positive youth development through physical activity and sport; youth identity formation and physical culture; youth disaffection and social exclusion/inclusion; and the physical activity and sporting experiences of Looked After Children.

Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the British Toy and Hobby Association who funded the project and have encouraged the dissemination of project findings.