Philosophy for the Playful University: Towards a Theoretical Foundation for Playful Higher Education

TY - CHAP

T1 - Philosophy for the Playful University

T2 - Towards a Theoretical Foundation for Playful Higher Education

AU - Nørgård, Rikke Toft

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Although higher education today is focused on creativity, imagination, innovation and personal growth, this is largely embedded within frameworks of marketisation, knowledge production and performance economies. Over the past 40 years, the university and higher education worldwide has found itself subject to a neoliberal agenda of corporatisation, up-skilling, employability and accountability. As a consequence, higher education institutions and academic life are being reconfigured and corporatised to account for these shifts growing out of ‘new capitalism’, ‘the knowledge economy’ and ‘the accelerated university’. The present chapter seeks to provide an antidote to this through creating a foundation for the playful university and playful higher education. A groundwork for what it means to be intentionally and substantially playful, that in turn can constitute a well-founded way forward for the university as a playful force in the world. Reading into prominent works on play philosophy, play theory and key texts on play and playfulness in higher education, three significant play frames arise: (1) playful curiosity; play as life and force within higher education exploratoriums; (2) playful creativity; play as form and act within higher education experimentariums; and (3) playful communality; play fellowship and play culture within higher education collaboratoriums. These three play frames are instrumental in substantiating the notion of the playful university and constituting a foundation for the emergence of playful higher education.

AB - Although higher education today is focused on creativity, imagination, innovation and personal growth, this is largely embedded within frameworks of marketisation, knowledge production and performance economies. Over the past 40 years, the university and higher education worldwide has found itself subject to a neoliberal agenda of corporatisation, up-skilling, employability and accountability. As a consequence, higher education institutions and academic life are being reconfigured and corporatised to account for these shifts growing out of ‘new capitalism’, ‘the knowledge economy’ and ‘the accelerated university’. The present chapter seeks to provide an antidote to this through creating a foundation for the playful university and playful higher education. A groundwork for what it means to be intentionally and substantially playful, that in turn can constitute a well-founded way forward for the university as a playful force in the world. Reading into prominent works on play philosophy, play theory and key texts on play and playfulness in higher education, three significant play frames arise: (1) playful curiosity; play as life and force within higher education exploratoriums; (2) playful creativity; play as form and act within higher education experimentariums; and (3) playful communality; play fellowship and play culture within higher education collaboratoriums. These three play frames are instrumental in substantiating the notion of the playful university and constituting a foundation for the emergence of playful higher education.

KW - Playful

KW - Higher Education

KW - Higher education futures

KW - Play philosophy

KW - Play theory

KW - university

KW - Videregående uddannelse

KW - Leg

UR - https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-69628-3_10

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-69628-3

DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-69628-3

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 978-3-030-69627-6

T3 - Debating Higher Education: Philosophical Perspectives

SP - 141

EP - 156

BT - The University Becoming

A2 - Bengtsen, Søren S. E.

A2 - Robinson, Sarah

A2 - Shumar, Wesley

PB - Springer

CY - Cham

ER -