Realising the potential of play in Scottish education

Abstract

This is the closing paper in a Scottish Educational Review collection on Making Space for Play in Scottish Education. The paper reflects on the key conclusions from the six papers and three notes that comprise the collection. It identifies a baker’s dozen of priority actions for those concerned to enrich Scottish education through play, i.e. (i) establishing a shared sense of purpose for play; (ii) crafting a coherent position among those with an interest in promoting play; (iii) acknowledging the role of play in achieving many of the wider goals of school education; (iv) not only promoting the radical potential of play to enhance education, but also thinking critically about it; (v) reflecting on the benefits of playful learning for pupils, wider society and classroom teachers; (vi) sharing exemplars of playful learning and the process through which it is introduced; (vii) reviewing the resources that are available; (viii) specifying minimum play(space) standards; (vix) strengthening the evidence base; (x) reflecting on the significance of the changing nature of play; (xi) engaging practitioners on the value of playful learning beyond the early years; (xii) involving the wider school community in embracing play; and (xiii) supporting teachers and other educational practitioners to utilise playful learning, while being cognisant of the demands and pressures on their time.