{"id":1102,"date":"2012-01-19T09:57:47","date_gmt":"2012-01-19T14:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/?p=1102"},"modified":"2012-01-15T22:54:06","modified_gmt":"2012-01-16T03:54:06","slug":"genesis-of-the-self","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/2012\/01\/19\/genesis-of-the-self\/","title":{"rendered":"Genesis of the Self"},"content":{"rendered":"

Below is a guest post from Dr. Timothy Gongaware<\/a>, a Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.<\/em><\/p>\n

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In many of my classes, I have students explore George Herbert Mead\u2019s discussions regarding the genesis of the self. Although the phases of play and game seem to be very well spelled out, I like to see just how well students can actually identify them and use that as a chance to explore what they may look like in the actual activities of others. In the classroom, I solicit example stories of children\u2019s behaviors and activities, and we have fun exploring them and their variations in some depth. For the social psychology course I teach online, however, I give the following assignment:<\/p>\n

After completing the assigned reading, take some time to consider what might be good examples of the phases in the genesis of the self. They are, in fact, all around us all of the time. After considering the phases for a while, search the internet (e.g., YouTube) to find video examples of both play and game.<\/em><\/p>\n

By Tuesday evening, you should complete the following on the \u201cActivity 2.1\u201d discussion board: post a link to the examples; provide a proper definition of the concept of play and game; and, provide an explanation for how the video appropriately represents the related concept (extra credit will be given for a clear and well defined example of “pure play”). Then, by Wednesday evening, come back to read what others have posted and respond to, comment on and explore at least two of the examples.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Since it is not as well spelled out in Mead\u2019s discussions, students typically find it more difficult to grasp the idea of \u201cpure play\u201d which precedes and helps to better develop the play and game of older individuals. This difficulty is often confounded by a common misunderstanding I\u2019ve discovered among students who have previously been taught or read about GH Mead\u2019s ideas. Specifically, students have indicated an understanding that “imitation” is the first thing babies do on the road to self genesis So, in addition to exploring Mead\u2019s lengthy assertion that a baby\/child cannot imitate until after they have begun to develop a sense of self (until after they develop at least a rudimentary ability to play), I encourage students to give concerted attention to the engagement of \u201cpure play\u201d by offering extra credit for posting clear and\/or fun examples.<\/p>\n

The clip below was recently submitted by a student as an example of pure play for the assignment and has become one of my favorites. The clip condenses a 4 hour video of a baby at play down into 2 minutes.<\/p>\n