An International Toy Story: Making Serious Literacy Learning Fun
Abstract
New and expanded definitions of literacy offer both possibilities and challenges for educators. The richness of these definitions gives a broader perspective to what it means to be literate, while the challenges they pose include finding ways to give students opportunities to engage in all aspects of literacy. This article describes the potential of using toy design and toy making to foster traditional literacy skills, cultural awareness, and scientific and technological understanding. Using a Web site as both an exemplar and staring point for our exposition, suggestions are put forward for engaging students in literacy acts, in the fullest sense of the term.
Introduction: An Enhanced View of Literacy
Definitions of literacy are evolving, and information and communication technologies (ICT) have contributed to this evolution. For example, the introduction of hypertext challenged the idea that reading and writing were exclusively linear, and multimedia forced us to think about literacy more as a semiotic activity than as simple decoding of text and ascribing meaning to it. Many of the evolving definitions and descriptions of literacy are grounded in sociocultural perspectives (Leu, 2000; Reinking, 1998).
In addition to changing definitions of “traditional” literacy -- that is, reading and writing -- it is now common to hear educators speak of mathematical, cultural, scientific, and technological literacies. During a discussion of this topic, a graduate student at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, where we both teach, threw up his hands in despair and said, “Literacy is everything.” He paused and then said, “Therefore, literacy is nothing.” His first philosophical statement was intriguing; the second represented frustration at having to cope with the need for a broad understanding of a complex idea.
Like the graduate student, we have trouble envisioning all that a transformed definition of the word literacy might encompass. However, our intellectual musings have translated into a practical consequence in that we look at Web sites in a new light. Thousands of sites exist that do not mention literacy. They might be devoted to informing readers about country music, Stonehenge, the Berlin zoo, bird migration patterns, or any other topic, but if we look beyond the stated aims, Web sites often provide fertile opportunities for literacy learning.
An exploration of one site, WorldPlay, shows some of the literacy learning possibilities that can emerge when students engage in toy design and toy making. The distinction between the two activities may not appear important, especially to readers interested primarily in literacy, but in the field of design and technology, it is critical. Designing -- whether a toy, an article of clothing, or a chocolate bar -- involves the generation, development, and communication of ideas. It is creative because it requires imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are both original and of value. Its purpose is to initiate change in the made world, to shape our environment. Making follows designing; it uses tools, equipment, materials, and components to make available the ideas of the designer in the form of products. Both designing and making can play a significant role in bringing about change in a student’s cognitive skills -- that is, in promoting learning -- and both are literate acts, in the fullest meaning of the term.
The Culture of Toys
Recently, Candice, a teacher candidate at Queen’s University, asked me [Larry Miller] for assistance in locating information on toys. Her associate teacher had asked her to prepare for a 2-week unit on the topic, but had offered little guidance about aims, subject and learning integration, resources, and possible activities. Although the vagueness was vexing, I encouraged Candice by pointing out the freedom she had been given. “Don’t go to the provincial curriculum guidelines yet,” I cautioned. “Let’s make a web about toys and see where it leads.” Candice and I sat together at the computer to see what sources the Internet offered, immediately discovering that a keyword search on “handmade toys” produced an endless listing of dot.coms. The sites were full of toys, all for sale. However, hidden among these dot.coms were small gems, and the toy web was about to expand.
From our search results, one entry with the title “An African Encounter Led to the ‘Culture of Toys’” captured our interest. That Web page, which displayed an article that had first appeared in the Emory University magazine Emory Report, led to two individuals with a toy story to tell. The article related the origins of WorldPlay, a nonprofit organization the two had founded.
I wanted to spend more time reading the article, but Candice was like a truffle pig seeking out those culinary delicacies. She found the WorldPlay site, and she was devouring it. “Larry, just look! I can use the toys to teach reading, culture, science, and technology.” The conversation sounded like the scene in the movie Awakenings, when Robin Williams asks Robert DeNiro, who has just woken from a long comatose state, what he wants to do that day. DeNiro replies, “Everything!”
Candice no longer needed assistance and, bubbling with toy ideas, she began developing the unit. Using her creative ideas, she planned to consult the provincial guidelines to look for a goodness of fit with the curricular goals. I recalled the article on my browser and read on. I learned that in 1989, while in Kenya to coordinate a medical conference, a man by the name of Neil Shulman had noticed children playing with toys made from found materials, such as discarded Coca-Cola cans. This experience was part of the spark for the creation of WorldPlay, which was designed to teach children about creativity, culture, and recycling.
Something nagged at me as I learned more about how WorldPlay developed. The name Neil Shulman lurked somewhere in my mind, but why? It was at this point that I called upon my colleague Malcolm Welch, coauthor of this article, because his specialty is design and technology education. I thought that Malcolm would be interested in WorldPlay and could add suggestions about how the site might be used. Malcolm, too, thought he knew Neil Shulman’s name, but couldn’t quite place it.
A further search revealed another Emory Report article on Neil, this time about a children’s book entitled The Germ Patrol. In the article, we discovered why we knew the name. Neil Shulman is Doc Hollywood! No, Neil is not Michael J. Fox, who played the title role in the movie of that name, but the script of that movie was based on Neil’s novel What, Dead Again? As well, Neil was one of the movie’s producers.
An examination of the Doc Hollywood Web site, along with more searching on the World Wide Web, disclosed the extent of Neil Shulman’s talents and interests: professor of medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, author of medical reference books, writer of children’s books, stand-up comedian, novelist...and designer of sliding roofs for log cabins. “Sliding roofs for log cabins?” we thought. Sure enough, there was another article in the Emory University magazine describing Neil’s moonlighting as an architect. Neil, who says in the article that he is “a bit of a bulldog manic idealist,” designed a sliding roof for his urban cabin so he could view nature from the backyard.
The articles and Doc Hollywood site were enlightening, but questions remained. Sleuthing led to Sharon Mnich, cofounder of WorldPlay and now its webmaster, who contacted Neil on our behalf. Our correspondence prompted Neil to share an article we hadn’t found ourselves. With the seductive title of “Toy to the World: Discovering That the Greatest Gift of All Is a Child's Imagination,” Neil’s piece in Atlanta Magazine answered most questions about WorldPlay. The Kenyan story was fleshed out: Neil told of a journey to a remote village, where he and Zack Gakunji, a member of the Kenyan parliament, were to introduce children to television. The children were unimpressed with the solar-powered television as well as with a program that showed a singing-and-dancing troupe of American performers. However, after the demonstration, they shared their toys, handmade from recycled material. As Neil relates, he got excited:
In an age where we are inundated with mass-market toys with every conceivable gimmick, the toys that children make in their own backyards reflect the things that interest them in their everyday world. Now, my mission is to expose the world to the unique inventiveness of a child’s mind through the toys he or she creates. The toys are made from bottle caps, soda cans, wire, sticks, rocks, buttons, and such. They are the toys which kids make and play with, no matter what their economic status. The uniqueness of these toys is that their value is not related to money, but to their ability to fuel the creative imaginations of young minds, minds that can turn trash into treasure. (Shulman, 2000, p. 70)
Also in the article, we discovered why Neil had asked Sharon to join him in this enterprise:
It was back in Atlanta where I met Sharon Mnich, the lady who brought magic to my mission. She grew up in Zimbabwe, where her grandparents were missionary doctors. During apartheid, she would sneak across the street on her way to school and do the unspeakable; she broke the law at the age of seven by making friends with a little black girl....
When I met Sharon, we immediately connected. One of her favorite hobbies was collecting toys that kids make around the world. Bingo! We formed WorldPlay Inc., a nonprofit [organization] to celebrate the creativity of children through the toys they make.
Sharon and her husband, Marc, were launched into a traveling extravaganza to discover new toys. They went on research expeditions to...China, Iceland and Brazil to find young toy makers. (Shulman, 2000, pp. 70, 72)
Through corresponding with Sharon, we discovered Neil had a small aspect of Sharon’s story wrong. Actually, her great-grandparents were missionary doctors. Her grandfather was a bush pilot, and grandmother was a writer.
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WorldPlay: The Web Site There are several components to the WorldPlay Web site, but we turned first to the Toy List, where we were treated to images of toys from countries including Bonaire, Brazil, Italy, Romania, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. (Readers should be aware that the WorldPlay site is undergoing modifications, and some changes may appear after this article is published. One planned change is the addition of more toys from more countries.) Each image comes with a brief description of the region where the toy originated or an outline of its history. Thus, we are given a cultural context for the original design, which may have evolved over many decades or even centuries. For example, the cork snake from Italy (shown to the right) reflects the importance of the winemaking industry in that country, and the ready availability of corks. Materials and directions for making the toys depicted and described also are included. |
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Another found material, bottle caps, plays an essential role in constructing the bottle cap man from South Africa, shown below left. Grass-head clowns from Brazil, below right, which can be considered the original Chia Pet (those plants that grow in clay pots in the shape of animals, so often seen on ads on U.S. cable television), are both amusing and ingenious.
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Central to each toy are found materials that can be easily recycled for use in construction. Thus, to make an attitude doll, a toy from Bonaire shown at the right, one needs empty plastic soda bottles, scrap pieces of cloth, and an old sock. More commercial supplies, such as rubber cement, paper clips, and wire, may be used in making the toys, but the emphasis is on materials that others might simply throw away. WorldPlay has gone beyond simply locating toys that can be made with found materials by sponsoring or participating in special events related to toys. For example, a conference held at Emory University brought together children and academic experts in toy design and making. Another event featured elementary school children who were winners in a toy-designing contest. Finally, the WorldPlay site presents a unique opportunity in that readers may submit toys. Students may offer toys that are handed down from generation to generation, which could include a recounting of the history of the toy and its place in the submitter’s culture. However, they can also design toys, keeping to the spirit of WorldPlay by using found material. This material may be unique to the country in which the designer lives or something that is, sadly, left behind by tourists (e.g., suntan lotion bottles found in resort areas). |
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Toys and Curricula
Like Candice, the teacher candidate, we are truffle pigs. We continued to seek out additional toy stories; simultaneously, we began to think about curricular possibilities for toys.
Literacy and Culture WorldPlay offers obvious applications in literacy learning and developing cultural understanding. In literacy, reading the directions for the toys and constructing them is an authentic way to foster skills in following directions. The act of making the toy, with its resulting product, is an activity containing a built-in evaluation tool. The goal here is to replicate the original “recipe.” Just as we were making our final revisions to this article, we were alerted to another obvious literacy application related to toys and toy making. Lindy Gigliotti, a teacher in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told us about Galimoto, a children’s book by Karen Lynn Williams. Set in Malawi, it tells the story of a boy who makes a galimoto, a toy vehicle made out of old wire. (TeacherLINK, a site based at the University of Utah offers a lesson plan for using this book in the social studies curriculum.) Not-so-obvious applications of literacy learning can also be enhanced through the Web site. For example, WorldPlay asks participants -- classes or individuals -- to make toy submissions. Seeking out toys that meet the criteria (use of found materials, a toy native to an area) may involve research; moreover, if the toy is submitted to the webmaster, children must tell something about its place in society or the area of origin. Equally important, directions for making the toy must be written. These activities focus on literacy skills and the making aspects of technology (rather than the designing aspects, which will be discussed later) because students need to seek out toys that already exist. We appreciated the rich possibilities in the toys featured in the WorldPlay site for developing cultural awareness, but were uncertain how to transform the potential into action. Our colleague, Eva Krugly-Smolska, who specializes in developing students’ cultural knowledge and understanding, offered an anthropological definition of culture, devised by Bullivant (1981), that helped us see the fit: Culture can be thought of as the knowledge and conceptions, embodied in symbolic and non-symbolic communication modes, about technology and skills, customary behaviors, values, beliefs and attitudes, a society has evolved from it historical past, and progressively modifies and augments to give meaning to and cope with the present and anticipated future problem of its existence. (p. 19) When we looked at the cup-and-ball toy from Mexico shown to the right, many of the components of this definition of culture became clear. The background information provided for the toy is a cultural lesson demonstrating values, beliefs, and attitudes: In Mexico, there is a strong belief that everything has a use and a purpose. Many times, new things can be made from the refuse found in the busy streets of a tourist area such as Tijuana. Many Mexicans make their money from selling things that they make to tourists who come to visit the bustling border town. While parents whittle wooden cup and ball toys for the tourists, their children can often be found alongside them, making their own cup and ball. While not as elaborate as their parents’ version of the toy, this cup and ball is just as much fun to play with. The cup is made from a common tourist cast-off, empty film canisters, while the ball is simply a piece of balled up tin foil. This type of learning could be approached from two fronts. First, children could be asked to make toys from countries around the world as described at the WorldPlay site, examining what each toy said about the culture of origin. Second, if they planned to submit a traditional or new toy to WorldPlay, the children could think about how the toy speaks to their own culture. Why are flotsam and jetsam a staple of toys found in coastal regions? Why are corn husks used to create dolls in some American states? Does the toy say anything about how the society of origin thinks about the environment? To support this type of learning, teachers and students can use a search engine to discover Web sites devoted exclusively to the topic. For example, a site supported by the Punjabi government offers a link entitled Society and Culture: Folk Toys of Punjab, which describes the history of Punjabi toys and their relation to culture. Science and Technology The value of toys in the curricula does not stop with literacy and culture; indeed, two of the most productive uses lie within science and technology. These two areas of inquiry and endeavor frequently are included when expanded definitions of literacy are cited. At the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University, Andréa Mueller and I [Malcolm Welch] frequently use toys in our teaching and research -- in fact, it is fair to say we feature them. Andréa, a science professor, teaches a course entitled “Using Toys to Play with the BIG Ideas of Science” in which students learn about the scientific concepts that become apparent when designing and playing with toys. Further, the teacher candidates in the course observe and interview children playing with toys to learn about their thinking. Designing can be thought of as a graphic literacy act, and technology educators can foster and expand this idea. Approaching toys from a technology perspective, I have carried out research into their design by creating a novel task, one that has been readily adapted in an elementary school setting (Welch, Barlex, & Lim, 2000). The activity could be used to stimulate students in designing an original toy, perhaps one that could be submitted to WorldPlay. The task, in which many of the fundamental acts of designing are embedded, involves creating a toy for a bedridden friend. The directions for the activity are as follows: The context: Your best friend has had an accident. While not seriously hurt he/she is confined to bed in the hospital for two weeks. Not able to move very much, and able to use only a bed tray as a play surface, your friend has told you he/she is becoming bored and wishes for a new toy or game to play with. You have decided that when you visit next time you will take a toy or game you have designed and made. You now have to make some decisions. The design brief: Design and make a toy or game that will amuse and intrigue a bed-ridden hospital patient aged approximately 12 years and that can be played with on a bed tray. (Welch, Barlex, & Lim, 2000, p. 131) This task can be rewritten for younger children, but the general point is that it provides an authentic context for designing. And part of designing includes literacy skills -- if one accepts the word literacy in a broad sense. Consider the following from the activity guidelines (Welch, Barlex, & Lim, 2000, p. 131), meant to stimulate thinking analogous to the prewriting process in composing: Designing a toy or game for a friend in the hospital The nine items below will help you begin thinking about designing a toy or game for a bedridden friend. Try to answer them all before you begin developing a solution. It may seem that such questions would elicit responses related to the electronic games ubiquitous in today’s society, but the context, constraints, and guidelines quickly eliminate electronic games as candidates for this design-and-make task.
The thinking, researching, sketching, and writing required in this activity are literacy acts; they just also happen to foster technological capacity. David Barlex, a visiting scholar at Queen’s University and director of the Nuffield Foundation’s design and technology projects, informed us that numerous other design projects in which literacy learning is embedded are available from the Nuffield Web site, where activities for children under age 11 and from 11 to 16 years can be found. The Possibilities Abound Toys are universal, and they represent one of those topics that, when put into a planning web, spawn fertile ideas for teaching and learning -- in literacy, cognate subjects, art, design and technology education, and culture. WorldPlay is a site that can stimulate such thinking, but the World Wide Web is rife with additional possibilities. In our Web meandering on the topic, we found The ToyMaker, a commercial site that offers myriad ways to make hanging bird toys. Frequently, found materials were used in construction of these birds. Another site revealed that children have found ways of helping others through toy construction. Elementary schools in the Tucson Unified School District in the U.S. state of Arizona presented handmade toys to young children at the local Ronald McDonald House. Toy stories are not just for the movies. They have the potential to open fascinating literacy worlds to teachers and children who are ready to partake of this learning adventure. References Bullivant, B.M. (1981). Race, ethnicity and curriculum. Melbourne, Australia:
Macmillan. Leu, D. J. (2000). Literacy and technology: Deitic consequences for literacy education in an information age. In M.L. Kamil, P.B. Mosenthal, P.D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research: Volume III (pp. 743-770). Mawah, NJ: Erlbaum. Reinking, D. (1998). Introduction: Synthesizing technological transformations of literacy in a post-typographic world. In D. Reinking, M.C. McKenna, L.D. Labbo, & R.D. Kieffer (Eds.), Handbook of literacy and technology: Transformations in a post-typographic world. Mawah, NJ: Erlbaum. [Note: This book is reviewed elsewhere at this site.] Shulman, N. (2000, December). Toy to the world: Discovering that the greatest gift of all is a child’s imagination. Atlanta Magazine, 69-73. Welch, M., Barlex, D., & Lim, H.S. (2000). Sketching: Friend or foe to the novice designer? International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 10, 125-148. About the Authors Larry Miller is a professor in the Faculty of Education, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and editor of the International Perspectives department of this e-journal. Reach him by e-mail at millerl@educ.queensu.ca. Malcolm Welch is an associate professor of technology education at Queen’s University. His research interests include two- and three-dimensional modeling as an educative experience, methodological issues arising from the application of qualitative research methods to the analysis of students’ design strategies, how research findings can inform classroom practice, and integration of science and technology in the elementary curriculum. This research is conducted with colleagues at several sites in the United Kingdom, including the Nuffield Foundation and Brunel University. He has worked on major curriculum projects in England, the United States, and Canada, and has coauthored six textbooks. Reach him by e-mail at welchm@educ.queensu.ca. Photographs and graphics included in this article are reproduced by permission of WorldPlay, Inc. Photos of cork snake and bottle cap man by Marc Mnich; photos of cup-and-ball toy, grass-head clowns, and attitude doll by Rick Strebe. To print this article, point and click with your mouse anywhere on its text; then use your browser's print command. Citation: Miller, L., & Welch, M. (2001, April). An international toy story: Making serious literacy learning fun. Reading Online, 4(9). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/international/inter_index.asp?HREF=/international/miller7/index.html Reading Online, www.readingonline.org
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Posted April 2001
© 2001 International Reading Association, Inc. ISSN 1096-1232