THE CHALLENGE OF PLAY
PAT KANEWWW.THEPLAYETHIC.COM
Midlothian Childcare and Early Years Partnership ‘Quality Event’, Dalkeith Campus, March 13th 2010
‘Finding the joy’ in quality service for children, in education and care
What is my play expertise?
1.I AM A HUMAN BEING/COMPLEX MAMMAL! (more later)
2. Like you, play is part of how I make my living...
My definition of play:
“play is taking reality
lightly”
“it begins in childhood, then
never stops”
“play is taking reality lightly”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKQxpJRHGec
“it begins in childhood & never stops”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXXm696UbKY
Play is the most natural thing we do…
… because play is core to our development as social, cognitive
and emotional beings
…it’s a zone where we test out potential scenarios & skills for
living, without cost, without fear & with joy, because we want to
Play’s the most natural thing we do- Sports and the arts- Creativity, humour in organizations- Family & communal festivity- Irony, jokes, flirtation- Daydreaming, visualization- Scientific, artistic innovation
...we adults constantly “take reality lightly” - all day, every day
ALL THE GREAT PEOPLE GET THIS CENTRALITY OF PLAY TO OUR LIVES... Eg GOOGLE
LARRY PAGE MADE A INKJET PRINTER OUT OF LEGO AS A STUDENT....
BOTH WENT TO MONTESSORI SCHOOL...
ALL THE GREAT PEOPLE GET THIS CENTRALITY OF PLAY TO OUR LIVES... Eg, PHILLIP PULLMAN
“To sustain the virtue of a nation, we need to remember how the private connects with the public, the poetic with the political. We need to praise and cherish every example we can find of imaginative play, of the energy of creation, of the enchantment of art and the wonder of science... [If a nation] told its children such stories, they might grow up to feel that virtue was in fact as interesting as vice.”
ALL THE GREAT PEOPLE GET THIS CENTRALITY OF PLAY TO OUR LIVES...
Eg,US!Workers in Sure start, playgroups, childminders, 0-3 and 3-5 nursery staff, wrap-around care and afterschool clubs... & play advocates like me ...
And (it would seem) the Scottish Government’s Curriculum for Excellence...
…Play as way of realising our true nature as healthy, sociable, capable human beings. Very encouraging!
Active Learning in Scotland’s ‘Curriculum for Excellence’
Who doesn’t get it?Some academic dispute
“...Learning through play remains vulnerable because it is not always predictable, and is likely to lead children and practitioners in unplanned directions.“Early Years Research: Pedagogy, Curriculum andAdult Roles, Training and Professionalismby Members of the British Educational ResearchAssociation Early Years Special Interest Group, 2002 (p.16)
THAT’S THE POINT OF PLAY!Play workers must hold out to defend free, messy rough-and-tumble play as well as directed, purposive play – the full spectrum of play – bringing maximum benefits
Stuart Brown,Play, 2009A must read For latest research
Who doesn’t get it? Some teachers....
“CFE is intended...to give the [secondary] teacher some creativity and freedom in the classroom”Larry Flanagan, EiS
“Primary schools are well-ahead in planning and have started CFE...it’s because secondary sector is so exam-based that teachers are worried”Professor Brian BoydNewsnight Scotland, 9 March 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rgjsv
"Our concern is that the skills-based approach works wonderfully in a primary school situation where cross-curricular is the norm but that there hasn't been the time taken to think through the implications of it in different subject areas in secondary.” SSTA general secretary Ann Ballinger
WE NEED “FREE, CREATIVE” SCOTS FOR THE FUTURE... BUT WHERE DO THEY BEGIN?
PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE COLLECTIVE NURTURING OF CHILDREN HAVE A GREAT PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
NOT JUST TO KEEP A CHILD SAFE & SECURE...
BUT TO USE THAT SAFETY TO ALLOW THEM TO FULLY PLAY...
& THUS SEED THE POTENTIAL FOR VITALITY, JOY & CURIOSITY THROUGHOUTTHEIR LIVES
WHAT’S THE CHALLENGE OF PLAY TO THOSE PROVIDING QUALITY SERVICE TO CHILDREN?...
Find your OWN joy- Do a ‘play history’: recall your most glowing moments of play – and recall exactly how you were feeling at that moment...& hold on to those feelings (S.Brown, Play)
Stay with the research... Things are moving fast & in the right direction, esp. in neurosciencewww.theplayethic.com, www.ltsscotland.org.uk, http://americanjournalofplay.press.illinois.edu
MY PERFECT ADULT PLAY – JOY MEETS RESEARCH...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne6tB2KiZuk
THE CHALLENGE OF PLAY
PAT KANEWWW.THEPLAYETHIC.COM
+44 (0)7718 588497
‘Finding the joy’ in quality service for children, in education and care
