Applying a Cultural Prism to the Study of Play Behavior of Black Children

Research into the play behavior of children in general has been extensive (for reviews see Fein, 1981; Roskos, Christie, Widman, & Holding, 2010). Developmental theorists including Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erikson describe play as among the most critical contexts for children's social, emotional and cognitive development (Fantuzzo, Coolahan, Mendez, McDermott, & Sutton-Smith, 1998). Studying the play of children offers an opportunity to assess multiple aspects of their functioning. According to Borowitz, Hirsch, & Costello (1970), play is the natural "work" of children and the symbolic expression of their personalities. From an educational perspective, a child's play is believed to reflect the degree to which they can impose their own sense of structure and sequence on the external environment. It also reflects not only the degree to which their perceptual and cognitive structures have been developed but also the extent to which they have been integrated and can be applied to new situations.Not surprisingly, research of the play behavior of children in general has been extensive (for reviews see Fein, 1981; Fisher 1992; Roskos et al., 2010). In 1992, Fisher completed a meta-analysis of studies of play and concluded that play competencies account for moderately large effect sizes in predicting early language and socio-emotional developmental outcomes. It is important to note; however, that developmental processes are known to differ according to culture and context (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998 and other scholars caution against generating data from non-diverse samples of children to Black American children in regard to social-emotional research overall and play research in particular (Fantuzzo et al., 1998; Coll et. al., 1996). In this article, we argue for the need to adopt a multifaceted perspective grounded in the sociocultural contexts in which Black American children's development and socialization occur when examining and understanding play. We introduce a perspective that we label a "cultural prism" that serves this purpose and describe its various facets. Using this cultural prism, we review the extant literature on play among Black American children, describe the methodological strengths and challenges of these studies, and discuss future directions for constructing a paradigm for research and practice.Studies of Play and Black childrenAs noted, while research on the impact of play competencies on children's outcomes, particularly in promoting resilience, has been quite extensive, there is limited empirical investigation of play among Black children.2 This is a critical problem for multiple reasons. As described, the developmental socialization processes that occur in the context of play are significant. However, meaningful implications for instruction are lacking if not informed by relevant cultural processes. In addition, research demonstrates that play competence promotes resilience among children at risk for negative outcomes in multiple domains of development. (Fantuzzo & McWayne, 2002; Mendez, Fantuzzo, & Cicchetti, 2002) Indeed, play is a source of resilience to which all children have access regardless of race, gender, or socioeconomic status.Though research is limited, several key studies have demonstrated the role of play in promoting resilience among Black children. These studies are most likely to focus on lowincome, Black preschool children and describe promotion of learning readiness skills. (For a review, see Bulotsky-Shearer et al., 2011). Fantuzzo and colleagues (e.g., 1998, 2004) have published a series of papers on play behaviors among urban, Head Start children, and have included Black children in their samples. Of note, their work has validated rating instruments to assess play within Black American-majority samples of children and has demonstrated the salience of early play competencies in promoting classroom competencies (Fantuzzo, et. al., 1998; Fantuzzo, J. …