Joint attention in the Installations for Play

Abstract

The objective of this study is to show the development of joint attention processes in the Installations for Play, a context created as an intersubjective space of relationship that offers objects in a transformable space inspired by the aesthetics of contemporary art and a psychopedagogical foundation that includes the history of childhood's relationships with its environment. Authors such as Moore and Dunham (1995) generalize the use of the expression “joint attention” and Michael Tomasello (2007) refers to it as a triadic behavior in the sense that it involves the coordination of interactions between the infant, the objects and people. As a privileged way of establishing communication between adults and children from birth, it is essential to promote the emotional, social, cognitive and affective development processes of human beings. This work is especially interested in the cultural development of childhood from the processes of joint attention, the functionality of objects and the intersubjectivity of symbols, shared and accompanied in the contexts of Installations for Play. The result is presented through different “play stories” (from a narrative research methodology) visually documented and narrated through the actions and relationships observed and recognized in a group of girls and boys aged 1-2 years and another of 2- 3 years within the framework of the first cycle of nursery school.