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You Can't Say You Can't Play
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 372.11023
EAN: 9780674965904
ISBN: 0674965906
Label: Harvard University Press
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 144
Publication Date: July 16, 1993
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Studio: Harvard University Press
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Editorial Review: Who of us cannot remember the pain and humiliation of being rejected by our classmates? However thick-skinned or immune to such assaults we may become as adults, the memory of those early exclusions is as palpable to each of us today as it is common to human experience. We remember the uncertainty of separating from our home and entering school as strangers and, more than the relief of making friends, we recall the cruel moments of our own isolation as well as those children we knew were destined to remain strangers. In this book Vivian Paley employs a unique strategy to probe the moral dimensions of the classroom. She departs from her previous work by extending her analysis to children through the fifth grade, all the while weaving remarkable fairy tale into her narrative description. Paley introduces a new rule-"You can't say you can't play"-to her kindergarten classroom and solicits the opinions of older children regarding the fairness of such a rule. We hear from those who are rejected as well as those who do the rejecting. One child, objecting to the rule, says, "It will be fairer, but how are we going to have any fun?" Another child defends the principle of classroom bosses as a more benign way of excluding the unwanted. In a brilliant twist, Faley mixes fantasy and reality, and introduces a new voice into the debate: Magpie, a magical bird, who brings lonely people to a place where a full share of the sun is rightfully theirs. Myth and morality begin to proclaim the same message and the schoolhouse will be the crucible in which the new order is tried. A struggle ensues and even the Magpie stories cannot avoid the scrutiny of this merciless pack of social philosophers who will not be easily caught in a morality tale. You Can't Say You Can't Play speaks to some of our most deeply held beliefs. Is exclusivity part of human nature? Can we legislate fairness and still nurture creativity and individuality? Can children be freed from the habit of rejection? These are some of the questions. The answers are to be found in the words of Paley's schoolchildren and in the wisdom of their teacher who respectfully listens to them.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Great Book by a Great Lady
This book shows the heart and soul of the great Vivian Paley who I had the pleasure of meeting when she visited our graduate school class this spring. You'll find insight not only into the child's mind and how children can be educated, but how children (and as they grow to be adults) are damaged by exclusion. An inspiration for this Ph.D. student.
Rating: - Loved it!
This book expresses what many of us know inherently, but Paley finds a way to say it, to bring it into your conscience, and to do it with a lyricism that is her writing "voice." It makes me wish she were my Kindergarten teacher...well, not really, since I still love my dear Mrs. Shabay and Miss Reezak!
If you're a teacher or a parent, the focus is on what is important about play, and most especially, the KINDS of play kids engage in. Makes me want to set up a "dress up" room in my ... Read More
Rating:  - good premise, could have improved the execution of the book
I picked up this book at my daughters' school parent lending library- a school that works hard to implement policies like 'you can't say you can't play' (YCSYCP) and it often works. It certainly works inter-age but problems remain between age-mates. I, too, was a rejected child many times and hate to see any child rejected.
The author teaches kindergarten in a Chicago laboratory school and is troubled by the behaviour of children who are excluded and the children who exclude. She explores the ... Read More
Rating: - Great premise, execution lacking
I picked up this book at my daughters' school parent lending library- a school that works hard to implement policies like "you can't say you can't play" (YCSYCP) and it often works. It certainly works inter-age but problems remain between age-mates. I, too, was a rejected child many times and hate to see any child rejected.
The author teaches kindergarten in a Chicago laboratory school and is troubled by the behaviour of children who are excluded and the children who exclude. She explores the ... Read More
Rating:  - Be objective when reading this book
Mrs. Paley's premise is simple and built on two premises, the classroom is a public institution, and children do not have the right to exclude another child from playing with them. Because school is public territory, privacy does not exist, not in friendships, playtime, or stories. Students must include everyone in the public arena of school. Paley decides that her class needs YCSYCP. Please consider one outcome of YCSYCP.
Gender Typing. We must understand the class. This class exhibits two ... Read More
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