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The popular culture produced for, by, and/or about children. Children's culture is not
"innocent" of adult political, economic, moral or sexual concerns. Rather, the creation of
children's culture represents the central arena through which we construct our fantasies about the
future and a battleground through which we struggle to express competing ideological agendas.

   !"#"$

The eyes of looking at and interpreting children's play is different from culture to culture.
Individuals with a strong influence from Euro-American cultural heritages look at, interpret,
explore social phenomena on an individual basis. Especially when a person is raised by a Euro-
American nuclear family, individualism is more apparent than when a person is raised by an
extended or multigenerational family. The Euro-American ethnic perspective usually perceives
that a family is composed of a few individuals.

This individually oriented cultural mind-set shapes the researchers', practitioners', and parents'
approach, understanding, and description of child's play phenomena within that paradigm. It also
leads them to see interaction with the child based on that culturally shaped mode. For example,
they are looking at whether the child can be in control of the play object, whether the individual
child realizes that there are other individual(s), whether he or she is able to interact with them,
how much same-age peer interaction occurs; or whether the individual child is able to negotiate
with other individual(s) in a group play (Howes, 1980; Parten, 1933).

Psychologist Mildred Parten (1933) recorded the changing nature--"development"--of young

children's play from age two to age five. Parten's categories of children's social play have been
frequently used since then. We still view her categories of child's play as a meaningful
framework within which to examine the increasing social maturity of the child (Hughes, 1995).
Her theory was based on the following developmental stages: (1) Solitary play. It is the lowest
level of social play. The child plays alone and independently even if surrounded by other
children. It is mentioned as typical of two-year-olds play; (2) Parallel play. The child plays
independently at the same activity, at the same time, and in the same place. The child is aware of
the presence of peers but each child plays separately; (3) Associate play. It is described as a
common among three- and especially four-year-olds' play. The child is still focused on a separate
activity but there is a considerable amount of sharing, lending, taking turns, and attending to the
activities of one's peers; and (4) Cooperative play. It is described as a high level of play that
represents the child's social and cognitive maturity. The children can organize their play and/or
activity cooperatively with a common goal and be able to differentiate and assign roles.

Influenced by Parten's theory, Howes (1980) and Howes, Unger, and Seidner (1989) present a
similar developmental theory of child's social play: (1) Parallel play. Children engage in similar
activities but do not pay any attention to one another; (2) Mutual regard. The child has an
awareness of others but shows no verbalization or other social behaviors. The child only engages
in a social act in similar or identical activities by making eye contact; (3) Simple social
exchange. The child engages in similar activities along with other social behaviors such as
talking, smiling, offering toys to peers; (4) Complementary play. The child shares common
fantasy themes or engages in joint activities with a common goal, but makes no effort to
integrate his/her own activities with another's; and (5) Reciprocal complementary play. The child
begins to show a differentiation of complementary roles. One child is the leader in an activity,
and one is follower (Johnson, Christie, & Yawkey, 1987; Hughes, 1995).

Following Parten's, Howes' and others' work, practitioners, educators, and parents who are from
families with a strong influence of Euro-American culture tend to stress the cognitive benefits of
child's play or the acquisition of individual independent social skills through play. They show
thoughtful appreciation for child's play as a chief aspect of young children's everyday cognitive
and social experiences that are individually oriented, independently based, or toy- or object-
oriented (Johnson, Christie, & Yawkey, 1987).

Families with a strong African-American, Asian-American, or Hispanic-American background

tend to be somewhat more group-oriented in their understanding of social phenomena compared
to families from Euro-American cultures. There is a high tendency to have extended or
multigenerational family structures. The individual is recognized as a member of the family
group. They perceive family as composed of group members rather than individuals (Becerra,
1988; Devore & London, 1993; Kain, 1993; Kitano, 1988; Locke, 1992; McAdoo, 1993; Min,
1988; Mindel, Habenstein, & Wright, 1988; Sanchez-Ayendez, 1988; Slonim, 1991; Staples,
1988; Stewart & Bennett, 1991; Szapocznik & Hernandez, 1988; Tran, 1988; Wilkinson, 1993;
Williams, 1970; Wong, 1988). Within these cultural contexts family interdependence and family
reliance are highly encouraged and expected. Thus, researchers from these cultural contexts
focus on: whether the child receives frequent multi-age family interactions; within the family
interaction, whether the child is emotionally happy and enjoys the play; whether the child is
psychologically safe and relies on the family members in various forms of play. Based on this
cultural frame of observing child's play, researchers report that during infancy and toddlerhood
and even up to preschool children receive frequent child/parent, child/adult, multi-age child/child
or child/children play opportunities within one's own family culture. The very young child is
often in the middle of attending multi-age family-member play interactions, various forms of
physical play with parents or multi-age family members. There is much eye contact, offering and
receiving of toys, sharing, lending, turn-taking, and even organized cooperative play, which is all
categorized by the Euro-American perspective as a high level of child's play and occurs in
preschool years or older (Roopnarine, Hossain, Gill, & Brophy, 1994; New, 1994). Non-
European researchers, teachers, and parents are somewhat more people-oriented, socioemotional,
and multi-interactional rather than, individual-, sociocognitive-oriented.

Researchers and teachers with a strong Euro-American perspective tend to make sense of child's
play and development based on how or what the child can do sociocognitively for oneself as an
individual in the social context. With Asian-, African-, or Hispanic-American perspective the
focus is on how the child can socioemotionally interact with family members and others as a
group member. Therefore, these culturally different perspectives create a somewhat different line
of understanding in child's play and their development. Even further, they value child's play and
the developmental phenomena in culturally different ways.
We all have a culturally shaped frame of mind set. This culturally grounded phenomenon tends
to lead people to believe that their ways of looking at things are universally acceptable, which
may not be true. Thus, we all can become culturally blind.

The Cultural Programs Division supports a variety of cultural exchange programs that further
our nation's foreign policy, foster America's artistic excellence and promote mutual
understanding and respect for other cultures and traditions. Our hope is to encourage cross-
cultural understanding and collaboration by sharing the rich artistic traditions of the United
States with foreign audiences. American arts and culture reflect our nation's democratic
principles, showcase the diversity of our society, and provide an excellent vehicle to engage and
connect with audiences abroad. The ability of cultural programs to promote mutual
understanding and create a platform for ongoing international relations makes them a critical
component of our public diplomacy efforts. Cultural diplomacy transcends borders, languages
and generations, demonstrates our common humanity, and fosters an appreciation of other
cultures while conveying the unique spirit and values of America.

The Cultural Programs Division of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs carries out a
range of cultural exchange programs based on the goals of the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961. The
Division's activities encompass programs in the visual arts, performing arts, film, arts education,
arts management, and cultural studies. Individual programs in each of these disciplines may
range from public exhibitions and public performances to educational outreach activities such as
screenings, master classes, production workshops and any of the broad range of arts activities
that support the arts and humanities field in the U.S. and around the world. Some programs are
supported through grants to U.S. non-profit arts and educational institutions as well as grants to
individual cultural representatives. American participants in these programs are professional
artists, filmmakers, musicians, educators and other arts specialists. Reciprocity is a key
component of these exchange programs, with American and overseas participants enriching one
another's work through exposure to other cultures, ideas and ways of thinking. The cultural
division also generates new programs and initiatives that build on important opportunities and
public/private partnership opportunities. As with all of our public diplomacy exchange programs,
our cultural exchanges seek to empower, educate, and engage foreign audiences and American
participants to foster a sense of common interests and common values and offer people
throughout the world a positive vision of hope and opportunity that is rooted in America's belief
in freedom, justice, opportunity and respect for all.