“If you are entertained, you don’t learn anything”

Keys for the analysis of contemporary children’s play

Abstract

The article presents the main findings of a research project (PICT 2015-1329) whose general objective was the identification and analysis of the appropriations of the play in the context of the school but as a means to achieve ends not directly related to play. The hypothesis that organized the research argued that, in contemporary urban contexts, there is a particular definition of the game supported by different actors who practice, use, propose and are linked to it. The investigation was developed in the Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires and in the city of La Plata. The methodological approach was qualitative and the information gathering tool were interviews carried out during 2018 and 2019 in both cities with boys and girls between 6 and 9 years old, who attended public schools and who had at least one brother or sister in primary school. The findings that we will present here are related to representations of play and learning at school and at home. What can you learn from a game? What can be learned by playing? We will return to the word of the informants to present evidence about the categories that we built to deploy the analysis