Chapter 2: Girls and Boys, Work and Play: Gendered Meanings and Participation in Early Childhood Education

When young children enter their first school classroom, most quickly learn that one of the most important activities taking place there is work. This special kind of work is different from what mom and/or dad do when they say they are going to work. School work is undertaken in a new social grouping, the class, and the formation of this collective is made possible through the activities of this specialized work (Kamler, Maclean, Reid, & Simpson, 1992). At the same time, play, which in the preschool years tends to be interwoven with daily activities in a fluid manner, is separated out and given its own time and space. Divisions between work and play become more starkly outlined.