The Playful University Club’s April Monthly Meeting, titled “Are we entering the age of play?”, was hosted by Professor Alison James. As a National Teaching Fellow, Principal Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy, and a LEGO Serious Play facilitator, Alison is known for her creative and playful approach to teaching. She used her extensive teaching skills to deliver a session that was incredibly engaging and interactive. Her session was supported by findings from her own research into the value of play in Higher Education, as well as the research of countless other academics.

We were encouraged to open our minds to creative learning by the introductory activity, where Alison invited us to look at different rocks and tell her what images we could see – animals, birds, water, ice – it was fun and eye-opening to find out what others thought the rocks looked like. It showed us in a playful way how different people can have different perspectives, even when it seems like we’re all looking at the same problem. We also brought jars of small items, such as beads, rice or dried beans. She asked us to consider how our things were different from each other, and how they could be microscopic differences, or more obvious ones. They represented the fractional differences in the ways we perceive play (of course, they were also ideal to play with while listening!)

Alison then moved on to talk about playful & creative approaches to pedagogy, bringing in information from scholars like Miguel Sicart, author of Play Matters. In particular, she structured the talk around Brian Sutton Smith’s 7 rhetorics of play:  

1. Play as fate – controlled by destiny, e.g. through games of chance
2. Play as power – expression of power, e.g. sports & competition
3. Play as progress – development, e.g. children learning through play & animal play
4. Play as collective/community identity – play used to construct social identities, e.g. celebrations & festivals
5. Play as the self – play to relax, e.g. individual hobbies
6. Play as imaginary – creativity and innovation through play
7. Play as frivolity – play which goes against the social order, e.g. memes, gifs and banter

We had been asked to bring an object or image which relates to each of the rhetorics, and we loved holding them up to the camera and explaining why they embody that type of play. We also considered which form of play we use most, and which we prefer, encouraging us to think about our activities and what skills students and educators actually learn from them. Some found the self to be an important part of play, because it increases joy, while for others, it’s a way of shaping collective identity. 

Alison encouraged us to think about how different scholars have different beliefs about play. For some, it is simply for exercising and engaging the brain, while for others, it’s a series of involuntary reactions, which free you from yourself (in many ways, the game plays you!). Biologists see play as instinctive, but know that the pressure to play doesn’t create a healthy playful environment. But do we have to prove the value of play? Or is play valuable in and of itself? Alison feels we should concentrate not on the positive impacts of playfulness, but on enjoying the journey.

Here’s what attendees liked about the session:

“I’d love to have more sessions with her and her co-creators. Bringing in our own creativity, thoughts, and experiences”

“It was enjoyable all the way through”

Thank you for this wonderful session, Alison!