pat kane: the power and potential of play

THE POWER AND

POTENTIAL OF PLAY:

2 STORIESPAT KANE

WWW.THEPLAYETHIC.COM

LTS ‘PLAY AND ACTIVE LEARNING CONFERENCE,

GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, OCT 3,

2009

My definition of play:

“play is taking reality

lightly”

(distilled from Plato, Schiller, Sartre, Huizinga,

Erikson, Winnicott, Baudrillard, many

others…)

Two big stories about the power and potential of play in

our society and culture

Play is the most natural thing we do

Play is the strangest thing we do

Play is the most natural thing we do (1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKQxpJRHGec

Play is the most natural thing we do (2)

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 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 in organisations- family & communal festivity- irony, jokes, flirtation- daydreaming, visualisation

..we constantly

“take reality lightly” - all day, every

day

…Play as way of realising our true nature as healthy, sociable, capable human beings

From “Building the curriculum - active learning”

Another story about play….Play is the strangest thing we do

When we think about who is a “player” (other than sports)…

Not very positive connotations…

For masculinity, politics or business…

Another story about play….Play is the strangest thing we do

Information and bio-technology - making our fantasies into realities… Will they be good fantasies? Who shapes the soul of the player?

Do we need a “play ethic?”

Only one story about play - like

sleep or nutrition, it functions to

generate human adaptability through

potentialising… what happens when

we have tools to make those

potentials real?

‘Active learning’ should be about shaping and forging

that play ethic

But you must be aware of the complex, ambiguous nature of play…

‘rough-and-tumble-play’ (boys), ‘mean girls’ (girls), bullying

how to distinguish between… - the necessary turbulence and negotiation and social learning of rough play - and hurtful dominance (see Stuart Brown, Play)

The challenge of play to active learning

A school - or a ‘shkole’?

The challenge of play to active learning

Shkole did not just mean “having time”, but also a certain relation to time: a person living an academic life could organise one’s time oneself - the person could combine work and leisure the way they wanted --- Pekka Himanen

The challenge of play to active learning

It’s not so idealistic…take

‘s

20% rule

A ‘ground of play’ at the heart of their

organisation…

Shouldn’t we prepare kids for this future?

Play for all stages of learning, not just “early” learning… why should it stop?

THE POWER AND

POTENTIAL OF PLAY

PAT KANE

WWW.THEPLAYETHIC.COM

Playethical@gmail.com

Thank You!!!