Nursery World - Who am I? (1)

In the second article of his series on types of play, Philip Waters looks at how role play can help children to explore their own identity and that of others As children grow and develop they are continually exploring what it is that identifies them as being different from, and a part of, the society and culture to which they belong. Role play supports this by being one of the most natural media for exploring the notion of 'Who am I?'

In the second article of his series on types of play, Philip Waters looks at how role play can help children to explore their own identity and that of others

As children grow and develop they are continually exploring what it is that identifies them as being different from, and a part of, the society and culture to which they belong. Role play supports this by being one of the most natural media for exploring the notion of 'Who am I?'

Playing with identities

Role play enables children to discover both who they are as individuals and who they are in relation to others. For the most part children use role play to explore ways of being that are not necessarily personal, social or interpersonal in nature, but rather exaggerate the characteristics or traits of persons known to them, for example family characters: a parent, sibling or grandparent; localised characters: doctor, teacher or shop-keeper; characters from the media: newsreader or cartoon characters; or even different states of being: asleep, unconscious, dead or excited.

However, during this exploration of roles children absorb many characteristics of other people's identities, which in turn subtly alters their own identity.

For children, the first part of establishing an identity is to realise they exist as an individual, a sense of self as the 'I', or as psychologists call it, the existential self. Here the child develops an awareness of their ability to act on the world, and of their uniqueness.

The second aspect of developing a sense of self is the self as 'me', the categorical self, whereby the child, having established an appreciation of their own existence in the world, begins to place themselves in relation to others. You can distinguish between the 'I' and the 'me' as the 'me' being the identity we show openly to others, and the 'I' as our most inner, personal identity, or true identity.

Self-esteem

The interaction which takes place between the 'I' and the 'me' has quite an effect on the child's self-esteem. If the 'me' encounters acceptance and praise from others then the 'I' will develop a positive internal identity, which will be reflected back through the 'me' as having high self-esteem.

Alternatively, if children receive negative responses then the 'me' will internalise these negativities so that the 'I' develops a low value of itself and will therefore project through the 'me' a low self-esteem.

Self-esteem can have a dramatic impact on children's development, affecting both their ability to play and learn, but also their general health and mental well being. Therefore, it is important for playworkers to realise the significance of role play as not only being enjoyable and explorative, but also for its powerful therapeutic features.

Planning for role play

When planning for role play, the playworker needs to consider five specific influences on children's self-esteem: intellectual competence, how the child feels about their intelligence; locomotor competence, how competent the child feels in sports and games; social acceptance, how popular the child feels with peers; behavioural conduct, the extent to which the child feels he or she behaves appropriately; and physical appearance, how 'attractive' the child feels.

With these influences in mind, playworkers can provide an environment that enables exploration of the child's sense of self, but also the 'playing-out' of roles that can help the child deal with conflicts. For example, an angry child may be able to vent their anger by playing a role which allows for shouting, such as an angry parent. This will require sensitive adults who can take on roles assigned by children to help them explore issues.

Perhaps the most important consideration, however, is that children must have permission to play roles that are different from their own, whether that involves a change in gender, culture or belief, and where this can be achieved without humiliation or judgement.