The Power of Play in Higher Education

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-liv

   PDF

2. Making a Case for the Playful University

   • Alison James

   Pages 1-19

3. Trainers and Developers

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 21-21

      PDF

   2. Exploration: Becoming Playful—The Power of a Ludic Module

      • Sandra Sinfield, Tom Burns, Sandra Abegglen

      Pages 23-31

   3. Exploration: ESCAPE! Puzzling Out Learning Theories Through Play

      • Jennie Mills, Emma King

      Pages 33-41

   4. Exploration: ‘I Learned to Play Again’ The Integration of Active Play as a Learning Experience for Sports Coaching Undergraduates

      • Richard Cheetham

      Pages 43-53

   5. Sketch: The Training Game

      • Scott Roberts

      Pages 55-56

   6. Exploration: Play in Practice—Innovation Through Play in the Postgraduate Curriculum

      • Sophy Smith

      Pages 57-66

   7. Exploration: Experiences of Running a ‘Play and Creativity’ Module in a School of Art & Design

      • Gareth Loudon

      Pages 67-74

4. Wanderers and Wonderers

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 75-75

      PDF

   2. The Dark Would: Higher Education, Play and Playfulness [i]

      • Rebecca Fisher, Philip Gaydon

      Pages 77-91

   3. Exploration: Playing with Place—Responding to Invitations

      • Helen Clarke, Sharon Witt

      Pages 93-101

   4. Exploration: Cabinets of Curiosities—Playing with Artefacts in Professional Teacher Education

      • Sarah Williamson

      Pages 103-111

   5. Sketch: Playful Pedagogies—Collaborations Between Undergraduates and School Pupils in the Outdoor Learning Centre and the Pop-Up “Playscape”

      • Chantelle Haughton, Siân Sarwar

      Pages 113-116

   6. Sketch: Teaching and Learning Inside the Culture Shoe Box

      • Hoda Wassif, Maged Zakher

      Pages 117-119

5. Experimenters and Engagers

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 121-121

      PDF

   2. Exploration: Dopamine and the Hard Work of Learning Science

      • Lindsay Wheeler, Michael Palmer

      Pages 123-130

   3. Exploration: Play in Engineering Education

      • Bruce Kothmann

      Pages 131-140

   4. Experiencing the Necessity of Project Management Through the Egg-Dropping-Challenge

      • Tobias Seidl

      Pages 141-143

   5. Exploration: Public Engagement Activities for Chemistry Students

      • Dudley Shallcross, Tim Harrison

      Pages 145-158

This book examines the increasing popularity of creativity and play in tertiary learning, and how it can be harnessed to enhance the student experience at university. While play is often misunderstood as something ‘trivial’ and associated with early years education, the editors and contributors argue that play contributes to social and human development and relations at a fundamental level. This volume invalidates the commonly held assumption that play is only for children, drawing together numerous case studies from higher education that demonstrate how researchers, students and managers can benefit from play as a means of liberating thought, overturning obstacles and discovering fresh approaches to persistent challenges. This diverse and wide-ranging edited collection unites play theory and practice to address the gulf in research on this fascinating topic. It will be of interest and value to educators, students and scholars of play and creativity, as well as practitioners and academic leaders looking to incorporate play into the curriculum. 

• Universities and play
• Learning through play
• New learning techniques
• Higher education adapting to learning through play
• Playful learning
• Pen portraits
• learning and instruction

“This book is a unique and timely contribution to the field of play and learning in Higher Education. It presents voices from practitioners across the sector demonstrating the extensive scope and scale of engagement with playful forms of learning. Through a series of in-depth case studies and vignettes of playful practice, this book inspires and convinces. It is packed full of examples and ideas, bringing together theory with experiences from the field. A must for creative educators everywhere!” (Professor Nicola Whitton, Durham University, UK)

“The importance of play as an ecology for learning and discovery is often overlooked in tertiary education so these author/editors are to be congratulated for bringing together such a diverse and valuable set of pedagogical narratives about how play is being used to encourage learning and creativity in higher education. This is a ‘must read’ book for tertiary educators who are interested in and who care about the creative development of learners and themselves.” (Professor Norman Jackson, University of Surrey, UK)

“Academics are a justifiably sceptical lot and love to privilege logical and analytical thinking. To get us out of our routinized ways of creating meaning, assigning merit and judging worth we need to draw senses and powers other than purely rational cognition. Play galvanizes creativity, inspires action and triggers different ways of building knowledge. It's also an insurrectionary force that challenges bureaucratized and silo-ed thinking and practice. In this visionary book packed with wonderful vignettes, exercises, techniques and suggestions you will find ways to rethink and broaden your teaching and academic practice.  Product warning: this book changes lives.” (Professor Stephen Brookfield, University of St Thomas, USA)

 

• University of Winchester, Winchester, UK

  Alison James

• Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK

  Chrissi Nerantzi

Alison James is a National Teaching Fellow and Professor of Learning and Teaching at the University of Winchester, UK.


Chrissi Nerantzi is a National Teaching Fellow and Principal Lecturer in the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.

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