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The Presence and Significance of Imaginative Play in the Lives of Mexican-American Adults

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The Presence and Significance of Imaginative Play in the Lives of Mexican-American Adults The Presence and Significance of Imaginative Play in the Lives of Mexican-American Adults BY ANTHONY T. PERONE III A.B., Cornell University, 1994 M.Ed., University of Illinois at Chicago, 2005 THESIS Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Chicago, 2013 Chicago, Illinois Committee: Artin Göncü, Chair and Advisor Pamela Quiroz, Educational Policy Studies Stacey Horn William Schubert, Curriculum and Instruction Suzanne Gaskins, Northeastern University This dissertation is dedicated to communities who create and share playful, meaningful experiences. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation could not have been done without the support of so many people. First, I would like to thank those whose support of my research has brought me to this point. My advisor, chair, and mentor, Artin Göncü, has been instrumental and steadfast in supporting my initial interests in a cultural approach to imaginative play and education and in developing those elementary ideas into robust and engaging scholarship. It has been an honor to work with him over these years and I could not have imagined a more dedicated, nurturing, and compassionate advisor. I also thank my committee members Suzanne Gaskins, Stacey Horn, Pamela Quiroz, and William Schubert for their interest in my work, thoughtful comments, offers to help, and suggestions for growth that have made me and this dissertation better. In addition to my committee, other scholars have also been inspirational to my approaches to teaching, learning, and research. I am fortunate to have learned from Bill Ayers and his consistent reminder to learn the ―meaning for actors in situations,‖ guides the way I learn from the participants in my research. I also send love and gratitude to Lois Holzman of the East Side Institute for Group and Short Term Psychotherapy and Carrie Lobman at Rutgers University for co-creating play spaces with me at professional conferences, in print, and in conversations and for building my understanding of Vygotskian theory and its practice in the world. My work at the Center for Literacy at the University of Illinois at Chicago has been one of the most treasured learning and teaching contexts of my life, and my colleagues‘ support of my teaching, learning, and research was never failing and always appreciated. I send heartfelt thanks to Barbara Burger, Susie Karwowski, Shelley Maxwell, and Maureen Meehan. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (continued) My dear friends have also contributed to the joy and completion of this dissertation process. I would like to express love and appreciation to Barbara Abel, Dolores H. Arteaga, Jenine Arteaga, Angela Pons Clifford, Ruben De Santiago, Cheryl Foster, Denise Gallegos, Erin Hillier, Arturo Hernandez, Jo-Elle Munchak, Sandra Oliva, Judy Razo, Shelli Shadday, Richard Ruane, Cindy Shelton, Juan Carlos Sánchez, John Snakenborg, and Sharon Volkman. I would also like to send love and light to my Bikram yoga community: my teachers Aura Dukynaite, Charles Golubski, Nevette Bailey Hill, Cat Levine, Liz Olson, Gianna Purcell, Jessica Rask, Allan Santos, Charles Staples, Beth Stein, and Jon Sulik and fellow yogis Kate Citrin, Karen Gomez, Julie Keck, Bryant Kim, Jeff Kocinski, Dan Moran, Jen Palma, Jenn Poupard, Borislava Quaintance, Sara Semal, and Christine Weyant. Certainly, I am grateful to the 16 passionate, thoughtful, and playful participants in this study whose interest in my work and whose willingness to share the meanings, presence, and benefits of imaginative play in their lives made this study possible and joyful. It was an honor to learn from and about them and I am thrilled that our conversations are represented in this study. Finally, I would like to thank my family. In particular, love and gratitude are sent to my mother, Magda, my sisters Jenn, Kristen, and Sarah, my brother, Tim, my brothers-in-law Tom and Rick, my nephew Tommy, my nieces Carissa and Madeline, my aunt, Rita, my uncle, Rich, and my cousins, Susan and Annie. ATP iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………… 1 II. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND RELATED LITERATURE….. 10 A. Overview……………………………………………………………. 10 B. Expectation 1: Imaginative play is a life-span activity…………….. 11 1. Definitions of ―play‖ and ―imagination‖………………………… 11 2. Life-span engagement in imaginative play………………………. 12 3. Sources of representations: Lived, anticipated, and fantastic…… 14 4. Substantive issues represented in play: Motivations for engagement in life-span imaginative play…………………………………….. 17 5. Contextual supports and constraints of imaginative play across the lifespan 23 C. Expectation 2: Self-reported imaginative play episodes for the adults of Mexican heritage will address themes of cultural/community affiliation, ethnic identity, and gender…………………………………………. 28 D. Expectation 3: Participants will report benefits of the engagement in their imaginative play across multiple developmental domains and contexts. 33 1. Benefits of imaginative play across the lifespan………………. 33 2. The presence of and possibilities for imaginative play in formal learning environments………………………………………….. 36 III. METHODS……………………………………………………………... 39 A. Recruitment and participants……………………………………….. 39 1. Recruitment………………………………………………………. 39 2. Participants……………………………………………………….. 43 B. The interview protocol……………………………………………… 44 C. The interviews………………………………………………………. 47 D. Interview summaries………………………………………………… 48 E. Data analysis – a priori and emergent codes………………………... 59 F. Units of analysis and reliability……………………………………… 64 IV. RESULTS……………………………………………………………….. 69 A. Expectation 1……………………………………………………….. 69 1. Definitions of ―play‖ and ―imagination‖………………………… 70 a. ―Play‖…………………………………………………….. 70 b. ―Imagination‖…………………………………………….. 70 2. Life-span engagement in imaginative play……………………… 72 3. Sources of representations………………………………………. 73 a. Lived, anticipated, and fantastic experiences………………. 73 b. Emergent themes reflecting lived, anticipated, and fantastic experiences………………………………………………… 76 v TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) CHAPTER PAGE 4 Substantive issues represented in play: Motivations for engagement in life-span imaginative play………………………………….. 81 5. Contextual supports and constraints of imaginative play across the lifespan…………………………………………………….. 86 a. Imaginative play partners…………………………………. 86 b. Imaginative play locations………………………………… 88 c. Support and prevention of imaginative play across the lifespan 91 d. Secret play…………………………………………………... 94 B. Expectation 2……………………………………………………….. 96 1. Self-reported and probed responses to the themes of cultural/community affiliation, ethnic identity, and gender…… 96 a. Cultural/community affiliation……………………………. 96 b. Ethnic identity…………………………………………….. 99 c. Gender…………………………………………………….. 100 2. Themes of cultural/community affiliation, ethnic identity, and gender in vignettes……………………………………………. 102 a. Vignette reflecting theme of cultural/community affiliation 102 b. Vignette reflecting theme of ethnic identity……………… 103 c. Vignette reflecting theme of gender…………………….... 105 C. Expectation 3………………………………………………………. 107 1. Benefits of imaginative play across the lifespan………………. 107 a. Benefits of imaginative play in adulthood, and in childhood and adolescence………………………………………………. 107 b. Similarities and differences with respect to the benefits of imaginative play in childhood and adulthood……………. 114 2. The presence of and possibilities for imaginative play in formal learning environments………………………………… 116 a. Examples of imaginative play in the participants‘ formal learning environments……………………………………………… 116 b. Participant suggestions for imaginative play in formal learning environments……………………………………………… 119 V. DISCUSSION…………………………………………………………. 123 REFERENCES………………………………………………………... 146 APPENDICES………………………………………………………… 153 Appendix A……………………………………………………….. 154 Appendix B……………………………………………………….. 166 Appendix C……………………………………………………….. 175 VITA………………………………………………………………….. 189 vi LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE I. SUMMARY OF A PRIORI CODES AND EMERGENT CODES 65 ACROSS THE STUDY‘S 3 EXPECTATIONS II. IMAGINATIVE PLAY EPISODES REFLECTING LIVED, ANTICIPATED, AND FANTASTIC EXPERIENCES ACROSS THE LIFESPAN 74 III. INTERPRETIVE IMAGINATIVE PLAY THEMES BASED ON LIFESPAN, SELF-REPORTED EPISODES 77 IV. INTERPRETIVE IMAGINATIVE PLAY MOTIVATIONS BASED ON LIFESPAN, SELF-REPORTED EPISODES 82 V. SOLITARY AND SOCIAL PARTICIPATION IN IMAGINATIVE PLAY ACROSS THE LIFESPAN 87 VI. IMAGINATIVE PLAY LOCATIONS ACROSS THE LIFESPAN 89 vii SUMMARY The present study was conducted to examine the self-reported meanings, presence, and developmental and educational benefits of life-span imaginative play of second-generation young adults of the community of Mexican origin. Three expectations guided this study. First, it was expected that participants would report life-span engagement in imaginative play activity and that their play would reflect developmental differences. Second, it was expected that the participants‘ imaginative play episodes would reflect themes of cultural/community affiliation, ethnic identity, and gender. Third, it was anticipated that the participants would claim that their imaginative play activity has yielded developmental and educational benefits across multiple domains and contexts. To conduct this inquiry, a derived etic methodology involving one-time interviews with the 16 participating adults was employed. The participants were asked their age, place of
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