The Children’s Playground in the Context of Cultural-Historical Psychology

The article describes the possible application of the principles of cultural-historical approach and activity theory to the inspection of toys and play environments. A children’s playground is treated as cultural means or artifact created by adults for starting a child’s activity. In terms of cultural and historical psychology, psycho-pedagogical analysis of a playground is based on the identification of the play value level and the compliance with the objectives peculiar to the age. Analysis and design are based on the understanding of the playground as a single space, where each element has the potential for any children’s development activity — games, communication, experimentation, etc. The following criteria of psychological and pedagogical inspection are identified and well-grounded: the principle of orientation to age-related peculiarities, the principle of high play value, the principle of transparency of objects, the principle of supporting acceptable risk, the principle of taking account of visitors’ activity levels, invitation to dialogue — the principle of dialogueness. The use of these principles in the course of designing playgrounds is illustrated by examples. These show that the conceptual apparatus of cultural and historical psychology may be used not only to explain the mechanisms and forms of mental development, but also for the analysis of particular conditions of a child’s mental development and design of play environments.

1. Asmolov A.G. Kul’turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya i konstruirovanie mirov [Cultural-Historical Psychology and design worlds]. Moscow: MPSI, 1996. 768 p.
2. Geil Ya. Goroda dlya lyudei [Cities for People]. Mos- cow: Al’pina Pablisher, 2012. 276 p.
3. Gibson Dzh. Dzh. Ekologicheskii podkhod k zritel’nomu vospriyatiyu [An ecological approach to visual perception]. Moscow: Progress, 1988. 464 p.
4. Glazychev V. L. Urbanistika [Urbanistiks]. Moscow: Publ. Evropa, 2008. 220 p.
5. Kotliar I.A., Sokolova M.V. The Attractiveness of Street Children Playgrounds. An Empirical Study. Psikho- logicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie [Psychological Science and Education], 2014. Vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 54—63.
6. Kotliar I.A., Sokolova M.V. Ploshchadka priklyuchenii kak primer realizatsii prava rebenka na igru [The platform ad- venture as an example of the child’s right to play] [Elektronnyi resurs]. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie psyedu.ru [Psy- chological Science and Education], 2014. Vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 81—90. Available at: http://psyedu.ru/journal/2014/2/Kotlyar_Soko- lova.phtml (Accessed 07.02.2016). (In Russ., Abstr. in Engl.).
7. Kotliar I.A., Sokolova M.V. Approaches to psycho- pedagogical examination of game playgrounds [Elektronnyi resurs]. Sovremennaya zarubezhnaya  psikhologiya  [Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology], 2016. Vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 5—15. doi:10.17759/jmfp.2016050101. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)
8. Leont’ev A.N., Rozenblyum A.N. Psikhologicheskoe issledovanie deyatel’nosti i interesov posetitelei Tsentral’nogo Parka kul’tury i otdykha imeni Gor’kogo [Psychological research activities and interests of the visitors of the Central Park of Cul- ture and Rest of Gorky]. In Voiskunskii A.E. (eds.) Traditsii i perspektivy   deyatel’nostnogo   podkhoda   v   psikhologii:   shkola A.N. Leont’eva [Traditions and perspectives of the activity approach in psychology: A. N. Leontev`s School]. Moscow: Smysl, 1999. 429 p.
9. Oborudovanie igrovykh ploshchadok. Chast’ 1. Os- novnye trebovaniya bezopasnosti i metody ispytanii [Equip- ment playgrounds. Part 1: General safety requirements and test methods] [Elektronnyi resurs].FGPU “Standartinform”. Available at: http://www.standards.ru/document/4191103. aspx (Accessed 05.09.2016).
10. Rubtsov V.V. Sotsial’no-geneticheskaya psikhologiya razvivayushchego obrazovaniya: deyatel’nostnyi podkhod [So- cio-genetic psychology developmental education : the activity approach]. Moscow: MGPPU, 2008. 416 p.
11. Smirnova E.O., Abdulaeva E.A. Usloviya stanovleniya prostranstvennogo obraza “Ya” v rannem vozraste kak pervoi formy samosoznaniya [Conditions for Development of the “Self” Spatial Image as the First Form of Self-Consciousness in Early Childhood]. Kul’turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya [Cul- tural-Historical Psychology], 2009, no. 3, pp. 16—24.
12. Smirnova E.O., Salmina N.G., Abdulaeva E.A., Filip- pova I.V., Sheina E.G. Psikhologo-pedagogicheskie osnovani- ya ekspertizy igrushek [Psychopedagogicalbases expertise toys]. Voprosy psikhologii [Questions of psychology], 2008, no.1, pp. 16—26.
13. El’konin B.D. Intermediary Action and Development [Mediation action and development]. Kul’turno-istoricheska- ya psikhologiya [Cultural-Historical Psychology], 2016, no. 3, pp. 93—112.
14. Elkonin B.D. Proba kak konstrukt obrazovatel’noi sistemy [Trial as a construct of the educational system]. Mate- rialy 9 nauchno-prakticheskoi konferenciiPedagogika razvitiya: kliuchevye kompetentnosti i ih stanovlenie (g. Krasnoyarsk, 25— 27 aprelia 2002 g.) [Proceeding of the Ninth Scientific and Prac- tical Conference Pedagogy development: key competences and their formation]. Krasnoyarsk: Publ. KGU, 2003, pp. 122—132.