The Importance of Play in Education

The new media skill Jenkins (2009) presented of “play” just may be my favourite. Play refers to experimenting with one’s surroundings in order to effectively problem solve. This is extraordinarily helpful within an educational context.

Play has always been important in shaping children’s minds and developing their relationship with the world around them. When a person, regardless of their age, is genuinely interested in something, they are much more likely to learn than they are when presented with topics that are uninteresting. While this may seem obvious, it begs the question as to why teachers do not utilize playing more when teaching the curriculum.

I can recall an instance when I was in fifth grade and we were learning about Ancient Egypt and mummification. I have always had rather morbid interests, so this fascinated me. It caught my attention even more when my teacher gave us a “creative assignment” which essentially meant that we were asked to convey information in an interesting and engaging way. There was a strict rubric to follow, but as long as we adhered to that, we could do pretty much anything we wanted.

This gave so much room to play and experiment with different ways to present information. In the end, I chose to make my own mummy. This was over 10 years ago and I am still able to recall exactly how, when and where I made this project simply because my teacher chose to allow the students to play and discover different ways to present information.

Within the world of dramatic arts, playing is incredibly important because otherwise, nothing would ever be accomplished, which may be why it is often disregarded as an easy subject, because through playing students learn the drama curriculum faster and easier than most other subjects. Playing is one of, if not the most important new media skill because it allows for creative freedom and expression. 

The mental attitude that surrounds play is stimulating in ways that traditional learning is not. Though it is important to note, that play does not focus solely upon having fun, but rather upon the engagement of the learner (Jenkins, 2009).

The struggle is to maintain that balance of fun, engagement and learning within play. Once that balance can be achieved, the students will learn without even realizing it.

Works Cited

Jenkins, H (et al). (2009) "Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21^st Century". The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning. The MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts.