Play in School – Toward an Ecosystemic Understanding and Perspective

Abstract

Based on a design-based research project and long-term observations of children’s play in school, this article develops the concept of play order, which points to interaction, coherence and holistic orientation as central values for the approach to play in school. Through concrete empirical analysis, the article shows how play in school is established and maintained, and how school as context interacts with play, which is often in ways that undermine the space and opportunities play is given. Based on existing research, the article is critical of the tendency to accord a secondary role to play in school or to instrumentalize play as a didactic tool for learning. The article links to existing play theory, but at the same time develops the concept of play order, through an ecosystemic understanding, which makes it possible to look holistically at how play in school can be integrated and provided for. Considering that more and more pedagogues are working in schools and directly involved in teaching, and afterschool clubs (SFO) are increasingly handling schooling tasks, the authors of the article argue that play is worthy of recognition in both practice and theory.

Acceptability and effectiveness of the “Education in Action—ABALL1” intervention program in primary school-aged children

“…Recent studies highlight the importance of learning through play (Parker et al, 2022 ; Skovbjerg and Sand, 2022 ). Notwithstanding, the development and implementation of an intervention approach focused on promoting learning and socioemotional skills are still underexplored.…”

“…The first years of a child's life play a pivotal role in their development (Gleitman et al, 2011). The theory of cognitive development, proposed by Piaget, is divided into four stages (Piaget and Inhelder, 1969;Ginsburg and Opper, 1988;Singer and Revenson, 1997). As a child enters the stage of concrete operative thinking (7 to 11 years old), processes such as logical reasoning begin to emerge.…”

“…Academic skills such as reading and writing open the child's perspective to their surroundings. During this stage, essential experiences for cognitive development contemplate active learning, such as overt motor behavior (e.g., Singer and Revenson, 1997). Learning concepts are paramount for a child's school performance.…”

Legens bevægelser i skolen

“…Bateson), men saerligt "this is not what this playing is about". Legepraksisserne må altså hele tiden relatere sig til legens orden, både for at bekraefte, hvad legen ikke handler om, hvad der ikke er meningsfuldt i netop denne sammenhaeng, mens noget andet er, for at udvikles andre steder hen, eller for at overskride den helt, og den afkraeftelse, udvikling og afvikling sker gennem legepraksisser (Skovbjerg og Sand, 2022).…”

Could a playful approach to teaching be a path to resonant connections? Experiences from teacher education in Denmark

“…However, this way of putting one-sided emphasis on thinking and cognition in education seems to entail risks of overlooking the bodily and sensuous aspects of learning, which again entails a risk of emotional stress, because the body is always there in the classroom no matter if the body's needs are addressed or not. Even broader approaches like educational entrepreneurship (Sjøvoll et al, 2011), 21st Century Skills (OECD, 2019, practical expertise (Jensen et al, 2022a), sustainability pedagogy (Lund, 2020), learning through play (Skovbjerg and Sand, 2022), seem to downplay the role of the body and senses when it comes to higher education. In our research context, the effort to employ playful approaches to learning in teacher education is an example of an educational development in which the students' bodies are instrumental to succeed, which is described in this paper.…”