A guiding principle or ‘dimension’ of this site is the importance of play. As a guiding principle, ‘play’ informs the way this site will be curated.
Play is important to development of linguistic competence, and to cultivate love of literature and the life-long learning habits developed by harnessing intrinsic motivation.
Play can be a four-letter word in some circles.
If your notion of play mistakes genuine ‘play’ for shallow entertainment, or a type of study devoid of rigour, then I assure you, I will use the term ‘play’ in it’s best sense: We describe our most gifted musicians and athletes as ‘playing’ an instrument or a sport. In so doing, we respect the countless hours of dedication, concentration, discipline, and sacrifice to attain mastery. We celebrate those who strive with ambition to achieve competence to ‘play’ at the highest levels.
Reading can be ‘play’. Many great authors experience what Neil Gaiman recounts the moment he felt desire to write, while reading the works of C.S. Lewis: Gaiman recalls the very moment he recognized an author was playing with language and narrative devices. Writing can be ‘play’.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes the abundant research on the role of play in development of healthy children and families:
Play is so important to optimal child development that it has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child. This birthright is challenged by forces including child labor and exploitation practices, war and neighborhood violence, and the limited resources available to children living in poverty. However, even those children who are fortunate enough to have abundant available resources and who live in relative peace may not be receiving the full benefits of play. Many of these children are being raised in an increasingly hurried and pressured style that may limit the protective benefits they would gain from child-driven play. Because every child deserves the opportunity to develop to their unique potential, child advocates must consider all factors that interfere with optimal development and press for circumstances that allow each child to fully reap the advantages associated with play.
Kenneth R. Ginsburg, MD, MSEd, and the Committee on Communications
and the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health
In his book, Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul, Dr. Stuart Brown resists temptation to define the concept of play:
Though I have studied play for decades, I have long resisted giving an absolute definition of play because it is so varied…Another reason I resist defining play is that at it’s most basic level, play is a very primal activity. It is preconscious and preverbal–it arises out of ancient biological structures that existed before our consciousness or our ability to speak. For example, the natural tussling of sibling kittens just happens. In us, play can also happen without a conscious decision that, okay, I’m going to play now. Like digestion and sleep, play in its most basic form proceeds without a complex intellectual framework. Finally, I hate to define play because it is a thing of beauty best appreciated by experiencing it. Defining play has always seemed to me like explaining a joke–analyzing it takes the joy out of it.
Stuart Brown, M.D., Play.
Although Brown resists defining play, for the purpose of distinguishing properties of play he settles on seven components:
- Apparently purposeless (done for it’s own sake)
- Voluntary
- Inherent attraction
- Freedom from time
- Diminished consciousness of self
- Improvisational potential
- Continuation of desire
Dr. Brown could be writing about creative writing, or sport, mathematics, music, or drama. Or it could be a general statement about learning.