Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/enhancing-our-work-through-playful-professional-practice/5024766/
This article was written as a result of the learning gained through playful work and collaboration with Mothercraft staff and partners. A special thank you goes to Alexandra Mazina, Patricia Santos, Athena Skliros and Ellen Drolette for sharing their contributions.
I would be surprised if anyone reading this article would debate either the professional joy, or the benefits to children, of engaging with them in play, as this is part of what motivated many of us to work in early care and education in the first place! Furthermore, as this edition of Exchange magazine demonstrates, there seems to be increasing worldwide interest in understanding why and how play is actually the work of young children.
Sadly, though, I have noticed that our playfulness is generally left to our time with children and rarely makes it into our adult interactions and other work tasks. This is understandable given the high levels of passionate engagement, professionalism and work ethic demonstrated in the field. We simply understand the importance and impact of what we do and, therefore, take our work very seriously—as we should.
However, as the proverb goes, “all work and no play make Jack a dull boy.” I ...