Paper short abstract:

Drawn from an ethnography of Ghanaian weavers, this paper examines the link between work and play in early childhood socialisation and considers the impact both have on the formation of the social networks and strategies that craftspeople come to rely upon in adulthood.

Paper long abstract:

Drawing on a broader ethnography of the working and educational lives of Agbamevo Kente weavers and their families in Agotime, a border town in south-eastern Ghana, this paper takes the perspective that children are actors within their own, distinct communities of practice to argue that the processes of socialisation fundamental to the formation of adult craftspeople are rooted in childhood experiences of play and work.

Looking at how the social strategies and networks used by adult weavers are established in childhood, the paper examines how play, work and learning overlap and are mutually constituted in the experience of Agotime children. Considering that weaving has historically been a form of household work, the home and the neighbourhood are taken as key sites of childhood socialisation. The important part played by sibling and peer care-taking will be linked to discussions of family structure, fostering practices and the gendering of household work within Agotime's community of weavers. The rich social networks children develop and engage in through play and work with siblings, neighbours, friends and classmates will be considered in terms of how these peer-networks enable learning. Similarly, children's role play is analysed in relation to the diverse and sophisticated problem-solving strategies of adult craftspeople.

Through critical engagement with the complex social lives of Agotime children, it is hoped that this paper will contribute to broader debates surrounding apprenticeship and craft learning as well as discussions of the part childhood experience plays in socialisation into work and education.