toys – EDUC 342: Child Development & New Technologies https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu Thu, 28 Jan 2016 07:54:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.6.1 Week 4 Response https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-4-response/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-4-response/#respond Thu, 28 Jan 2016 07:54:42 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1262 I was uncomfortable with Pellegrini and Jones’ conclusion that “Children play longer and in more complex ways when they interact in same-gender groups and with gender-preferred toys,” because when I think of gender-preferred toys I think of games like Barbie Girls. This causes me to wonder – what is the deciding factor for a toy’s gender appeal? If all the avatars in Barbie Girls had occupations outside of the service industry, but the avatars remained female, would young girls still see the game as targeted towards girls? In other words, are the games themselves dictating gender roles, or are the societal norms that the girls enter with overriding everything else? If games could be shaped to appeal to a specific gender, while disregarding societal norms (e.g. women in subservient roles) then games could be used as a very empowering tool.

Finally, I was intrigued by the fact that girls used less fantastical language when they were playing in mixed-gender groups and with toys perceived to be for males or gender-neutral. This reminds me of stereotype threat, where despite equal levels of intelligence/talent, someone belonging to a certain group with a perceived stereotype may perform worse because they are scared of confirming that stereotype. It was interesting to see how early on in child development this appeared.

]]> https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-4-response/feed/ 0 Week 4 Readings – Thu https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-4-readings-thu/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-4-readings-thu/#respond Wed, 27 Jan 2016 08:43:30 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1206 I always heard how play time is important for children but never thought to ask myself why. From the readings the reasons why have become a little more clear, which has led me to see how what children play with is really important. You can’t just tell a kid to go play and expect it to be beneficial; you have to make sure that the quality of play or what the kid is playing with is good. The Black et al reading pointed out to me just how things I thought were minor could significantly influence a child. For example, how the Barbie adventure where she is essentially treated as a male Genie’s source of entertainment teaches a girl to be more subservient. This kind of insight is exactly what I wanted to get out of this class.

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