Elly Singer

Play and playfulness are basic features in early childhood education. The elements of play are pleasure, a sense of freedom, and the co-construction of shared meaning through the use of rules or rhythms. Play and learning are closely related in early childhood. But when the focus on the educational benefits of play becomes too strong, the most essential feature of play is lost: children’s pleasure. Young children in group settings often have to adapt to the teachers’ demands related to security, hygiene, and social norms and values. But the playfulness of the teachers helps to overcome differences in power in the caregiver-child relationship and prevents young children from becoming overburdened with strict rules and group discipline. Play and playfulness are a resource of shared pleasure and creativity in learning processes.

The ambiguous results of existing intervention programmes show the need for new ways in research on aggression among children. The present study focuses on the children’s own perspective on their aggressive behaviour. Based on a constructivist approach, the inner logic of narratives about peer conflicts of 64 children in Dutch special education was analysed. Contrary to the much used dichotomy of reactive and proactive aggression, we found a more differentiated picture. Children use aggression: to get understanding for their situation; to escape from the conflict situation; because of inner conflicts; to get revenge; and for the fun of bullying. The study makes clear that, from the perspective of the children, aggressive behaviour is closely related to the peer culture at school. Moreover, some children need individual treatment and supports, because of specific concerns related to selfregulation that make them behave aggressively.