Play Matters

A book I found meaningful in my study of play and fun in teaching is Play Matters by Miguel Sicart. I began this teaching adventure by trying to make classes more “fun.” After I read Sicart’s book, my understanding of “fun” in teaching expanded. I realized that fun is only a piece of the puzzle. Sicart helped me understand that play is the umbrella under which games and fun exist. Play can be fun, but also play can not be much fun at all. When my students do a role-play to assess a client for suicidality, that is not much fun but it is, in fact, play. Sicart said “Play is not necessarily fun. It is pleasurable, but the pleasures it creates are not always submissive to enjoyment, happiness, or positive traits.” 

Sicart also thoughtfully describes the difference between play, playfulness, games, and fun. He describes the overlapping qualities but the nuances that make them different things. He argues that play brings us together, is resistant to formalized understanding, is a way of engaging with the world, and is an activity of production. He highlights the value and importance of play and also acknowledges that this culture resists play. “Of course, the world might resist. In fact, many situations, context, and objects are specifically designed to resist playfulness. Regardless of the positive values we give as a society to creativity and play, there is still a tension between labor and expression, between functionality and emotions. The functional design focused on efficiency and productivity.”

Go ahead and check it out!

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/play-matters