My presentation to Midlothian Childcare and Early Years Partnership ‘Quality Event’, Dalkeith Campus, March 13th 2010. More on the Play Ethic available at www.theplayethic.com

1. THE CHALLENGE OF PLAY PAT KANE WWW.THEPLAYETHIC.COM Midlothian Childcare and Early Years Partnership ‘Quality Event’, Dalkeith Campus , March 13th 2010 ‘ Finding the joy’ in quality service for children, in education and care

3. My definition of play: “ play is taking reality lightly” “ it begins in childhood, then never stops”

4. “ play is taking reality lightly” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKQxpJRHGec

5. “ it begins in childhood & never stops” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXXm696UbKY

6. Play is the most natural thing we do… … because play is core to our development as social, cognitive and emotional beings … it’s a zone where we test out potential scenarios & skills for living, without cost, without fear & with joy, because we want to

8. ALL THE GREAT PEOPLE GET THIS CENTRALITY OF PLAY TO OUR LIVES... Eg GOOGLE LARRY PAGE MADE A INKJET PRINTER OUT OF LEGO AS A STUDENT.... BOTH WENT TO MONTESSORI SCHOOL...

9. ALL THE GREAT PEOPLE GET THIS CENTRALITY OF PLAY TO OUR LIVES... Eg, PHILLIP PULLMAN “ To sustain the virtue of a nation, we need to remember how the private connects with the public, the poetic with the political. We need to praise and cherish every example we can find of imaginative play , of the energy of creation, of the enchantment of art and the wonder of science... [If a nation] told its children such stories, they might grow up to feel that virtue was in fact as interesting as vice.”

10. ALL THE GREAT PEOPLE GET THIS CENTRALITY OF PLAY TO OUR LIVES... Eg, US! Workers in Sure start, playgroups, childminders, 0-3 and 3-5 nursery staff, wrap-around care and afterschool clubs... & play advocates like me ... And (it would seem) the Scottish Government’s Curriculum for Excellence...

11. Active Learning in Scotland’s ‘Curriculum for Excellence ’ … Play as way of realising our true nature as healthy, sociable, capable human beings. Very encouraging!

13. Who doesn’t get it? Some teachers.... “ CFE is intended...to give the [secondary] teacher some creativity and freedom in the classroom” Larry Flanagan, EiS “ Primary schools are well-ahead in planning and have started CFE...it’s because secondary sector is so exam-based that teachers are worried” Professor Brian Boyd Newsnight Scotland, 9 March 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rgjsv "Our concern is that the skills-based approach works wonderfully in a primary school situation where cross-curricular is the norm but that there hasn't been the time taken to think through the implications of it in different subject areas in secondary.” SSTA general secretary Ann Ballinger WE NEED “FREE, CREATIVE” SCOTS FOR THE FUTURE... BUT WHERE DO THEY BEGIN?

14. PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE COLLECTIVE NURTURING OF CHILDREN HAVE A GREAT PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY NOT JUST TO KEEP A CHILD SAFE & SECURE... BUT TO USE THAT SAFETY TO ALLOW THEM TO FULLY PLAY... & THUS SEED THE POTENTIAL FOR VITALITY, JOY & CURIOSITY THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES

15. WHAT’S THE CHALLENGE OF PLAY TO THOSE PROVIDING QUALITY SERVICE TO CHILDREN?... Find your OWN joy - Do a ‘play history’: recall your most glowing moments of play – and recall exactly how you were feeling at that moment...& hold on to those feelings (S.Brown, Play) Stay with the research... Things are moving fast & in the right direction, esp. in neuroscience www.theplayethic.com, www.ltsscotland.org.uk , http://americanjournalofplay.press.illinois.edu

16. MY PERFECT ADULT PLAY – JOY MEETS RESEARCH... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne6tB2KiZuk

17. THE CHALLENGE OF PLAY PAT KANE WWW.THEPLAYETHIC.COM [email_address] +44 (0)7718 588497 ‘ Finding the joy’ in quality service for children, in education and care