ABS134 - Dialectical processes in Children’s Negotiation in Play Activity. Introducing the notion of Negotiagency

I will present the findings of my thesis (Waermö, 2017), which is based on three articles (Waermö, 2016a, 2016b, 2016c). The research question is: What are the mechanisms in dialectical processes of collectividual action and collective object transformation in children’s play activity? 

 

Observational data reporting on 10-11 years old primary school children’s breaktime play was analysed within a CHAT framework. Play is referred to as playfully accomplished activity (van Oers, 2012, 2013, 2014). Analytical tools were the conceptualization of the dynamic of demands and motives (Hedegaard, 2014), the notion of micro-adjustment (Zittoun, 2009, 2014), the principle of double stimulation (Vygotsky, 1997), and the notion of the collectividual (Stetsenko, 2005, 2008, 2013). The micro level mechanisms in dialectical processes of collectividual action and collective object transformation are unpacked. Negotiation of the hierarchy of demands, of rules and of involvement discerns as core mechanisms in dialogically emerging processes. The children's negotiation is a continuous elaboration of the conditions to establish and maintain boundaries of playfully accomplished activity. The notion of negotiagency is introduced, uncovering that breaktime play literacy does not occur in the children’s minds apart from social interaction but develops in and through negotiation. Negotiagency refers to collectividual agency for negotiation as transformation. It draws upon an understanding of negotiation not solely in terms of social interaction but as dialectical exchange as well as the fundamental mechanism in the emergence of agency. The dialectical processes of collectividual action and collective object transformation in play activity are enabled through negotiation.