Play, Development
& Social Justice

The Institute’s Leader for Education and Research, Dr. Carrie Lobman, leads the Institute’s Play, Development and Social Justice initiative, which engages and connects educational leaders and performance activists of all stripes to advance and promote opportunities for play and performance everywhere. Their challenge: Play and Joy Are Social Justice Issues!

Throughout the calendar year, Carrie hosts public workshops that bring together play activists and advocates working variously in the areas of early childhood education, TESOL, medicine, dementia care, criminal justice, in corporate environments, etc. to share and advance playful approaches to developmental learning.

A Pro-Play Manifesto

People need ‘playgrounds’ to continue to develop throughout their lives!

We are living at a time of an unprecedented loss of play among people of all ages. Today’s children have fewer opportunities for free play than previous generations and adults are working more, playing less and plagued by increased stress.

The loss of play — and of opportunities for playfully engaging with the world — is particularly pronounced in poor communities. In many instances, the opportunity to engage in pointless play has become a luxury – especially for children who, in and out of school, are drilled and “remediated” rather than related to as playful, creative, improvisational learners.

At the Institute, we see access to pathways for development as a social justice issue and play as an inseparable ingredient of personal and societal development. We are a hub for scholars, practitioners, and activists who are using play in innovative ways to address social problems, build community and engender hope.

Articles

Lobman, C. (2023). Curating playful environments for development. In O.S. Jarrett, V. Stenhouse, M. Patte & J. Sutterby (Eds.), Play and Social Justice across Systems of Inequity. Peter Lang Publisher.

Perone, A. & Lobman, C. (2023). Improv as inclusive play: Co-creating learning ensembles in higher education. In O.S. Jarrett, V. Stenhouse, M. Patte & J. Sutterby (Eds.), Play and Social Justice across Systems of Inequity. Peter Lang Publisher.