Investigating the lived experience of an after-school Minecraft club

475 Pages·2017·49.96 MB·English

Investigating the lived experience of an after-school
Minecraft club
BAILEY, Chris J <http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1969-5001>
Available from Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at:
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BAILEY, Chris J (2017). Investigating the lived experience of an after-school
Minecraft club. Doctoral, Sheffield Hallam University.
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Investigating the Lived Experience of an
After-School Minecraft Club.
Christopher James Bailey
A thesis submitted in partial fu lfilment of the requirements of
Sheffield Hallam University
for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
February 2017
ProQuest Number: 10694185
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Acknowledgements
'There is no difference between what a book talks about and how it is made. ’
(Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p.4.)
This thesis was made with the generous support of many others.
Firstly, the biggest thank you must go to my supervisors, Cathy Burnett and Guy
Merchant. I could not have wished for a more knowledgeable and enthusiastic
supervisory team. Their support, encouragement and friendship has been
invaluable.
Thank you also to my family. I will be forever grateful to Jess, who encouraged
me from the beginning; to Ava, who arrived a few months after I started, making
life even more interesting; to my Mum and Dad; Janet and Alan; Simon and
Helen.
I am in debt to the staff and children at the school where I conducted this study,
particularly the club participants who made this such an exciting project to be
part of.
Thank you to Sheffield Hallam University, who made it possible for me to focus
on this work full time. Thank you also to University staff and my fellow doctoral
students. I have valued our conversations and the support that comes with
feeling like part of a group.
Finally, to friends, new and old, thank you!
Abstract
Investiga ting th e Lived Experience of an after-school M inecraft Club’
This qualitative study seeks to explore and illuminate the lived experience of a
group of ten and eleven year-old children, playing in and around the popular
multiplayer, sandbox videogame, Minecraft, during a year-long after-school club.
Drawing on the work of Deleuze and Guattari (1987) the research employs a
playful and emergent methodology, referred to as rhizomic ethnography’, which
provides a suite of approaches as a means of exploring the complexity of the
social world. This poststructuralist study also builds upon existing research
around play, New Literacy Studies, new literacies, space and place,
multimodality, multiliteracies and virtual worlds. The accounts that constitute
this thesis draw from a pool of rich and varied data, generated using a number of
participatory and visual methods, including child-produced video, audio,
screencasts, photography, fieldnotes and virtual model-making discussion
sessions. In response to this data, this thesis takes a novel approach to
representation, drawing on a range of modes. This results in a hybrid text that
includes comic strips, illustration and audio, as a means of transcribing and
representing the complexity that is the children’s lived experience.
Using different selections of data, I investigate the lived experience from three
alternative but interconnected perspectives, employing the Deleuzian trope of
the plateau. Firstly, I examine how the children’s play worked across the on and
off-screen spaces in this complex hybrid site. With a particular focus on the
children’s construction of the virtual community that they named ‘Banterbury’, I
demonstrate how the game itself shaped the club. Secondly, I show how the
children’s interactions regularly drew on aspects of their lives outside of the club,
revealing the club as a social site of play, driven by a range of resources from
children’s everyday experiences and wider culture. Thirdly, through a focus on
the club’s soundscape, I reveal how the children’s play often had a mischievous
and exuberant quality. Finally, reading across, between and beyond these three
plateaus, I conclude by examining how the lived experience of the club was
characterised by an emergent playfulness. Therefore, as well as contributing to
the existing literature on virtual world play and demonstrating methodological
potential for application in other contexts, this thesis also offers new insights into
what constitutes the emergent dimension of play. This has implications for how
we consider the kind of opportunities provided for children to interact and drive
their own play experiences, with or without technology.
NOTE: An alternative, comic strip version of this abstract, using the same text,
can be found on the following four pages.
'INVESTIGATING THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF
AN AFTER-SCHOOL MINECRAFT CLUB'
CHRIS BAILEY, SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY
f THIS QUALITATIVE ^
STUDY SEEKS TO
EXPLORE AND
ILLUMINATE THE LIVED PLAYING IN AND AROUND THE
EXPERIENCE OF A POPULAR MULTIPLAYER,
GROUP OF TEN AND SANDBOX VIDEO SAME,
ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD MINECRAFT, DURING A YEAR
CHILDREN... LONG AFTER-SCHOOL CLUB.
DRAWING ON THE WORK OF DELEUZE AND GUATTARI (1 987 )..
' THIS RESEARCH N REFERRED TO AS
EMPLOYS A PLAYFUL 'RHIZOMIC
AND EMERGENT ETHNOGRAPHY'...
METHODOLOGICAL
v APPROACH... >
WHICH PROVIDES A SUITE OF x
APPROACHES AS A MEANS OF
EXPLORING THE COMPLEXITY OF
v THE SOCIAL WORLD. >
THIS POST-STRUCTURALIST STUDY ALSO BUILDS UPON EXISTING
RESEARCH IN A NUMBER OF AREAS...
VIRTUAL MULTIMODALITY
WORLDS
NEW
LITERACY
STUDIES
NEW
LITERACIES
SPACE
AND
PLACE
THE ACCOUNTS THAT CONSTITUTE THIS THESIS DRAW FROM A POOL OF RICH
AND VARIED DATA, GENERATED USING A NUMBER OF PARTICIPATORY AND
VISUAL METHODS, INCLUDING...
CHILD-
PRODUCED VIDEO,
AUDIO, SCREENCASTS,
PHOTOGRAPHY,
V FIELDNOTES... ^
AND VIRTUAL
MODEL-MAKING
DISCUSSION
SESSIONS.
IN RESPONSE TO THIS DATA, THIS THESIS TAKES A NOVEL APPROACH TO
REPRESENTATION, DRAWING ON A RANGE OF MODES.
THIS RESULTS IN A HYBRID
TEXT THAT INCLUDES COMIC
STRIPS, ILLUSTRATION AND
AUDIO...
AS A MEANS OF
TRANSCRIBING, THINKING
WITH THEORY AND r
REPRESENTING THE I \ V
COMPLEXITY THAT IS THE / \ \
CHILDREN'S LIVED / \ \
EXPERIENCE^^/ A '
iv
USING
DIFFERENT SELECTIONS OF
DATA, I INVESTIGATE THE LIVED
EXPERIENCE FROM THREE
ALTERNATIVE BUT INTERCONNECTED
PERSPECTIVES, EMPLOYING THE
DELEUZIAN TROPE OF THE
PLATEAU.
FIRSTLY, X EXAMINE HOW THE CHILDREN'S PLAY CROSSED THE ON AND OFF-SCREEN SPACES IN
THIS COMPLEX HYBRID SITE.
WITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS
I DEMONSTRATE HOW THE
ON THE CHILDREN'S
GAME ITSELF SHAPED THE
CONSTRUCTION OF THE
CLUB
VIRTUAL COMMUNITY THAT
THEY NAMED 'BANTERBURY'
SECONDLY, I SHOW
HOW THE CHILDREN'S
INTERACTIONS REGULARLY
DREW ON ASPECTS OF THEIR
LIVES OUTSIDE OF THE
CLUB-
REVEALING THE
CLUB AS A SOCIAL SITE OF
PLAY, DRIVEN BY A RANGE OF
RESOURCES FROM THE
CHILDREN'S EVERYDAY
EXPERIENCES AND WIDER
CULTURE.
V
THIRDLY, THROUGH A
FOCUS ON THE CLUB'S
SOUNDSCAPE...
^ I REVEAL HOW THE N
CHILDREN'S PLAY OFTEN HAD
A MISCHIEVOUS AND
k EXUBERANT QUALITY. >
THIS THESIS ALSO OFFERS NEW INSIGHTS
FINALLY, READING ACROSS, BETWEEN AND
INTO WHAT CONSTITUTES THE EMERGENT
BEYOND THESE THREE PLATEAUS...
DIMENSION OF PLAY.
I REFLECT ON HOW THE
LIVED EXPERIENCE OF THE
CLUB WAS CHARACTERISED BY
AN EMERGENT PLAYFULNESS.
THIS HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR HOW WE
CONSIDER THE KIND OF
OPPORTUNITIES PROVIDED FOR
THEREFORE, AS WELL AS CONTRIBUTING
CHILDREN TO INTERACT AND DRIVE
TO THE EXISTING LITERATURE ON VIRTUAL
THEIR OWN PLAY EXPERIENCES,
WORLD PLAY AND DEMONSTRATING
METHODOLOGICAL POTENTIAL FOR
APPLICATION IN OTHER CONTEXTS...
WITH OR WITHOUT TECHNOLOGY.
Vi
Table of Contents
VOLUME ONE
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... i
Abstract............................................................................................................................. ii
Comic Strip Abstract............................................................................... iii
Table o f Contents........................................................................................................vii
List o f Figures..............................................................................................................xiii
List o f Appendices....................................................................................................... xv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION............................................................................. 1
1.1 Introducing Minecraft Club.................................................................................... 2
1.2 Introducing Minecraft:.............................................................................................4
1.3 The Study...................................................................................................................7
1.3.1 A im s.....................................................................................................................7
1.3.2 Contributions.....................................................................................................8
1.4 The Thesis................................................................................................................ 9
1.4.1 Organisation.......................................................................................................9
1.4.2 Multiple Modes................................................................................................ 11
CHAPTER TWO: SITUATING THE STUDY............................................................. 13
2.1 Introduction............................................................................................................14
2.2 Framework for Research....................................................................................... 14
2.2.1 Children’s Play........................... 14
2.2.2 New Literacy Studies (NLS)...........................................................................17
2.2.3 Multimodality and Multiliteracies................................................................23
2.2.4 New literacies................................................................................. 26
2.2.5 Space and Place............................................................................................... 27
a. Space.................................................................................................................28
b. Place.................................................................................................................29
2.3 Poststructuralist Paradigm.................................................................................. 30
2.3.1 What is poststructuralism?............................................................................. 31
2.3.2 Exemplifying poststructuralist studies.........................................................33
2.3.3 What does poststructuralism offer for this study?................ 36
vii