TITLE:
Social Development in a Game Context
AUTHORS:
Ana Lucia Petty, Maria Thereza C. C. de Souza
KEYWORDS:
Social Interaction, Playing Games, Intervention
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.5 No.12,
August
28,
2014
ABSTRACT: Social development is a fundamental subject that challenges professionals
who work with children and teenagers. Questions such as how to behave
adequately, what limits must be defined, and at the same time, how to stimulate
autonomy and create a cooperative environment, are daily made, but solutions
are not always satisfactory. The aim of this paper is to present a possible contribution
to the discussion, describing highlights of a successful initiative. The practice
in seeing children with learning disabilities at the Laboratory of Studies
about Development and Learning (University of Sao Paulo), also identifies the
same questions and there is a permanent search for creative solutions. For the
last 25 years, groups of children from the Fundamental School were seen by
professionals who organized activities in a game context, challenging them to
play, develop reasoning and construct favourable attitudes. Results show that
playing games in an intervention context stimulated changes in attitudes and
social behaviour. As a consequence, it enabled children interact and establish
a better quality of relation, based on cooperation and mutual respect.