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The Backyardigans - International Super Spy (Lyrics) | cause i'm an international super spy

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Analytical response 1: urban location (music/sound)

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Analytical response 1: urban location (music/sound)

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Flagstaff Gardens is a lush and colourful location in a gridlocked urban location. This meant my senses were immediately driven to visual and aural engagement, recognising the deafening nature of the traffic, construction and chatter from the large crowds moving through the gardens. With aesthetic environments that provide opportunities to explore, rest and investigate, I was immediately taken back to the nostalgia of playground antics and the large group games my peers and I would collaborate on that had objective set rules and a specific outcome/s from the gameplay in the wide-open space. Considering how natural settings enhance a child’s understanding of their world being 3-dimensional, I felt it imperative to embed the sounds I heard above me to create an experience that embodied the definition of temporal; sounds and movements in the game are momentous and have an immediate consequence on the pace of the game, directly impacting players as individuals and as a team. This ultimately enables game play that considers multi-faceted learning – for example, proprioceptive skills are engaged when the “spies” learn to apply agility as to not be seen or ‘caught’ by “police”, auditory skills are alert as children anticipate the sound of helicopters above and visual tracking is embedded through being on the look-out for logical spaces to hide and looking out for “police” on the move trying to catch the “spies”. Malaguzzi’s (1996) 100 languages of the child is considered as a vital element of the game, enabling children to undertake a litany of roles and apply their creativity by utilising the skills sets they have already consolidated to evoke emotion and establish meaning to their play – eg. logic and reason, cause and effect, critical thinking, negotiation, and delegation.

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Flagstaff Gardens sitting centrally amongst the urban city sprawl - no wonder noise was such a factor for my game!

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Anayltical response 2: autonomy and symbolism in temporal art play (movement and drama)

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Anayltical response 2: autonomy and symbolism in temporal art play (movement and drama)

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The essential element of my experience is that there is no boundary to the play; the children are afforded the autonomy to move in unique patterns based on their specific objective, establish dialogue that enriches the complexities of the dramatic nature of the game, and utilise the natural environment as a mechanism to come up with their own symbolisms and play representations. It is imperative for me to move beyond seeing the dramatic arts as a simple means of creating a product accepted by society and consider how I can diversity this understanding within in my curriculum by considering the art process as intrinsically motivated connections with oneself. Diversifying this perspective reinforces Daldry and Hornbrook (1997)’s perspective that the motivation for participation and mean-making within temporal arts is driven by psychological influences and by a child’s developing sense of self. This new understanding will ultimately inspire me to look beyond the surface level of the children’s imaginary play, and offer greater periods of uninterrupted play to actively observe the nature of their mean-making, considering how they integrate drama, sound and movement seamlessly into their play.

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L-R: Police HQ, the Spies 'secret' hideout, Spies HQ

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Police HQ: the brickwork around this tree made it seem as though it bore great significance in the gardens, being a major element of the park. I felt it created a central location for the gameplay to be initiated at

Hideout: The bright colours and density of the bushes immediately took me back to being a child and using my favourite element of risky play: 'disappearance' or 'getting lost' play as a means of finding secret places to convene - which worked well when my game required a lot of sneakiness and agility

Spies HQ: the broadness of the tree so close to the streets made it stand out significantly and the tape around it made it look like it was 'inaccessible' - this made it seem like an ideal spot for spies to linger and loiter, convening their schemes and considering the best route to accessing the police HQ.

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Analytical response 3: personal reflection as an educator 

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Analytical response 3: personal reflection as an educator 

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Stanton-Chapman (2014) highlights the importance of educators recognising whether their scaffolding is warranted by applying observational skills, and seamlessly entering and exiting the play if it relevant to do so. Whilst establishing my game, I considered the artefact and the aesthetic of the environment the game is played in, considering where educators may provide input to ‘enhance’ the play or how I would personally provide extensions of thinking to encourage children to consider different rules and boundaries within the game. Consequentially, it has allowed me to reflect on how I may be holding back children’s play opportunities by unintentionally overseeing or ‘managing’ the game from the side to eliminate risks and monitor/regulate children’s behaviour and boundary choices. This has caused me to consider the implications of my actions and how it may not necessarily always be relevant to provide pointers to the children, as they ultimately are capable of facilitating their own play using their own creative thinking skills and enmeshing temporal art elements as a means of establishing emotive play experiences – and utilising my due diligence to maintain my job in ensuring the children’s safety and wellbeing on their behalf.

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Daldry, S. and Hornbrook, D 1997, Education and Dramatic Art, viewed 5/03/23 <https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203134351/education-dramatic-art-stephen-daldry-david-hornbrook>

Malaguzzi, L 1996, The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education, viewed 4/3/23
<https://www.scirp.org/(S(351jmbntvnsjt1aadkposzje))/reference/ReferencesPapers.aspx?ReferenceID=1298530>

Stanton-Chapman, T 2014, Promoting Positive Peer Interactions in the Preschool classroom: The Role and Responsibility of the Teacher in Supporting Children’s Sociodramatic Play, viewed 5/03/23 <https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10643-014-0635-8>

Harvard-style referencing