Keynote speaker at the Playful University conference at Aarhus university on the 8th of august 2019 in Aarhus Denmark.

1. The Playful
University
Prof. Alison James
NTF PFHEA
University of Aarhus
08.08.2019
Finn Stone
LEGO Stilettos

3. https://triallan.com/2019/01/08/simple/

4. “We all play occasionally, and we
all know what playing feels like.
But when it comes to making
theoretical statements about
what play is, we fall into silliness.
There is little agreement among
us, and much ambiguity”
Brian Sutton Smith
The Ambiguity of Play (1997:1)
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester

5. Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester

6. Play types…
☟ ☟
• Interior/mental
• Collective/solitary
• Performative/interactive
• Contests
• Celebrations and festivals
• Dangerous/deep play
• Playful
Features
• Repetitive
• Exaggerated
• Reversed
• Unusual
• Attenuated
• Physical Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester

7. Common* tropes of play
• Spontaneous/Undertaken freely
• Fun/Rewarding
• Intrinsically motivated
• With no fixed goal
• Player is protected from consequences
• Indicates wellbeing/positive mood
• Enough in itself
• Other world/space
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester
(*but not always the case in ‘educational play’)

8. https://sciencefiction.com/2016/12/27/bens-best-
sciencefiction-com-films-2016/

9. Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester

10. Imagination
Wider
World
Expanding
Horizons
Learning &
Teaching
Strategy
2018 – 2022
Intention
and
Context

11. Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester

12. Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester

13. https://www.game-learn.com/gamification-6-must-read-
articles/

14. https://marlowefireandsecurity.com/solutions/compliance/inn
ovation-day/
VerBon Cheung: I will work with students in the field of creative writing and digital media design to create the gaming
components for the workshops in the upcoming academic year in S2.
By the end, I will collect feedback from the PS2813 students to evaluate: a) the changes in the level of anxiety from week
1 to week 12, b) the changes in the level of efficacy in learning statistics, and c) level of satisfaction
I will evaluate level of engagement by comparing the attendance of the workshops in 2019-2020 from that in 2018-2019
L&T
Innovation
Funding

15. Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester

16. Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester
Play Jam?

17. Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester

18. Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester

19. Using techniques from dolphin training in behavioural psychology
inventing board games to teach history or ward management in nursing
(Wardopoly) or for reinforcing concepts within wildlife conservation
(zoology)
Outdoor learning centres and pop up “playscapes” (diverse)
Raft-building, sheep dog handling (team/leadership building)
Pattern, magic and problem-solving in mathematics
Playful public engagement activities led by students (chemistry) which
encourage audience participation
Juggling in functional biology and plant science classes
Exploring conceptions of space using LEGO on an MA in Museum Curation
Cabinets of curiosities teacher ed./culture shoeboxes in dental education
Play, games and invention for sports science and coaching
Word play, places of wonder, theatre, games, escape rooms, simulation ….

20. What does an institutional strategy for
creativity, imagination and play need?
1. It needs an understanding of play
that is wise, nuanced and complicated

21. What does an institutional strategy for
creativity, imagination and play need?
2. It needs to accommodate a spectrum
of play and playfulness, rooted in those
wise interpretations, and including
those which conflict

22. What does an institutional strategy for
creativity, imagination and play need?
3. It needs institutional and individual
fearlessness

23. What does an institutional strategy for
creativity, imagination and play need?
4. It needs to normalise these things

24. What does an institutional strategy for
creativity, imagination and play need?
5. It needs visibility, support for
participation and all-level buy in
https://www.topsecrets.com/is-everyone-replaceable/

25. What does an institutional strategy for
creativity, imagination and play need?
6. It needs exploration and discussion,
through internal, external (global !)
networks
https://twitter.com/world

26. What does an institutional strategy for
creativity, imagination and play need?
7. In building these,
dispel (contextual) mythologies
https://www.deviantart.com/hewytoonmore/art/Mythologies-Typhon-2018-728021792

27. What does an institutional strategy for
creativity, imagination and play need?
8. openness to developing a new
(non instrumental) institutional culture

28. “I’ve been doing lots of this – I
just did not know it was play”
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester

29. Play with
purpose
Play for
experimentation
Play as failure
Play as
freedom
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester

30. Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester

31. alison.james@winchester.ac.uk
https://engagingimagination.com
@alisonrjames
THANK YOU! ANY QUESTIONS? (If no time, find me later or via details above)