Un-play

This week's blog post is exactly the state that I am currently in. What is un-play? I'm honestly not sure, but it's definitely a state of 'un'. Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT in a state of not-play. On the contrary, I'm at the stage of my life when I'm so embroiled in thinking about play that when I have to actually sit down and write about it, I just stare at the screen. Like so. Part of it is because of the qualifying exams fast approaching next week, and the other is because I've just been thinking so much about it that it's difficult to put into words without writing an essay. For instance, my apprenticeship paper is to define play based on cognitive, biological and sociocultural learning theories. After which, I will work on designing play for learning. See why I can't keep my thoughts to just a paragraph? UN-PLAY (It's like saying unbelievable, just not.) A part of me is irritated at authors who claim that perspectives that try to define play narrows or limits the possibilities of play. For the purposes of learning and the culture accountability in education however, that is almost inevitable. Moreover, specializing does not necessarily mean that theorists are strapping themselves down. What's so terrible about committing oneself to a position? We all have our beliefs and perspectives. I think the key position to assume is to be candid about the assumptions that one has and to be clear about why one is using the approach. A defensible position - oh wait, I know what this is. I'm preparing for my defense subconsciously. Maybe? UN-PLAY!