Exploring synergies between playwork as reflexive practice and constructivist grounded theory

Charmaz (2014, p. 344) suggests that ‘a reflexive stance informs how the researcher conducts his or her research, relates to the research participants and represents them in written reports’. As playworkers, we position ourselves outside of children’s play, as observers looking in, often, though not always, trying to make sense of what we observe. How we interpret children’s play, our interventions and those of our peers and colleagues, is influenced by our own lived experiences, our biographies and the history we bring to the play setting. This article explores the place of reflexivity in playwork and proposes that when researching children’s play from a playwork perspective a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach responds to some of the unique characteristics of playwork and the ambiguity of children’s play.