The schools are going back, the new uni term is just around the corner, this winter squash is ripe from my allotment, the nights are slowly starting to close in, it must be time for another newsletter?
Our friends in Denmark, the Network for Practice-Based Research in Play and Playful, have an event coming up they’d like to invite international attendees to on Wednesday 1st October, 9:30-15:00 at University College Copenhagen, Campus Carlsberg, Humletorvet 3, DK-1799 V
Please register here: https://forms.office.com/e/hJrxbq0qqK
As always, the network brings together practitioners, designers, artists, cultural professionals, NGOs, researchers, and more – but this time, we also aim to expand with an international orientation, welcoming participants and playmates from other regions and countries. The day will include workshops, talks, co-creative activities, and of course, PLAY! There will also be plenty of opportunities to connect, reflect, and talk across disciplines and roles. This day’s theme is “Slow Play, Slow Pedagogy”, inviting us to explore, deepen, and develop new understandings and possibilities for action, where play and playfulness contribute to the slow, the thoughtful, the calm, the lingering, and the nourishing. Look forward to workshops, talks, co-creation, and naturally, PLAY! And as always, there will be time and space to meet and mingle across boundaries.
More about the network: https://playful-learning.dk/nyheder/invitation-netvaerk-for-praksisnaer-forskning-i-leg-og-det-legende/
Closer to whom for some of us, is more news from RE:PLAY. They will develop and evaluate a playful learning design framework that supports teachers in higher education to learn how to create and facilitate playful experiences for their students, but want to build on what already exists as much as possible rather than re-inventing the wheel, so please get in touch with them if you are developing or using a framework, toolkit, guidelines, or methodology that is relevant to playful learning design.
Liz Cable and Laura Mitchell are guest editing a special issue on Table-top Games for Learning: Designing and using tabletop games in learning, teaching & assessment. Get your thinking hats on and get your papers submitted to this by 1st October please! https://www.journalofplayinadulthood.org.uk/news/161/ (Table-top games include any kind of analogue games played inside the classroom and around a table; including boardgames, card-games, escape games, investigative games, role-playing games, and those with some digital elements creating hybrid games for classroom play.)
Rosie Jones and Andy Walsh will also be editing a special issue, this one on Playful Leadership: Playful attitudes, approaches and activities in leadership and management. Papers due for this one by 1st December please! https://www.journalofplayinadulthood.org.uk/news/162/ (By leadership, we mean both formal or informal leadership experiences or positions.) Just submit on the normal journal page but mention it’s for a special issue for either of these calls 🙂
Papers for both of these calls (or any other articles you want to submit) should go through our normal submissions page where they will be subject to peer review. Just note in the submission if they are for one of the special issues so we can send them in the direction of the correct (guest) editors.
Our next in-person event is coming up in November, hosted by Manchester Metropolitan University! The theme for the day is THE FUTURE OF PLAY. Whether you’re working with new technology, imagining playful futures or making a rocket out of tinfoil and loo rolls, we want to celebrate and develop a vision for the future. The event will take place from 12pm on Thursday 27th November to 2pm on Friday 28th November. There is no fee for attending and lunch will be provided on both days. Attendees will need to take care of their own accommodation and evening meals, but we will book an exciting venue for an informal group dinner on the Thursday night. PLA meet-ups are member-driven, and we’re able to offer a limited number of one-hour slots for colleagues to showcase new ideas, run play-tests and share their thinking. This isn’t a place for formal presentations, but a chance to run interactive sessions to inspire others and demonstrate playful practice. If you’re interested in using one of these slots, let us know below. We’ll curate a programme and formally invite presenters to contribute by the end of October. Use the form to sign up to attend (plus for more info!), and to let us know if you’d like to contribute to the day. If you have any questions please contact John (j.lean@mmu.ac.uk).
Last, but not least, information about LEGEND for anyone working in legal education! We are delighted to announce the launch of the brand-new website for the LEGEND Network (Legal Educational Games Evaluation Network Dissemination): Visit the LEGEND Website
LEGEND is an international network dedicated to exploring and advancing the use of game-based learning in higher education, with a particular focus on legal education. Our mission is to disseminate innovative practices, evaluate their impact, and build collaborative communities that support sustainable integration of games in teaching and learning.
The website provides a hub for this work, built around three distinct areas:
- LEGEND Hangouts – our bi-monthly events showcasing innovative practice. Video recordings are hosted on the site with links to our brand-new YouTube channel.
- Research Repository – a growing collection of evidence-based examples, resources, and best practices. If you have research within the broad field of game-based learning, we would love to feature it here.
- LEGEND Blog – short-form writing and reflections to support accessible and timely dissemination, especially valuable in times of increasing academic pressures.
At its heart, LEGEND is about collaboration. We are actively building interdisciplinary links, and we warmly welcome anyone with an interest in game-based learning — whether in law, education, technology, design, or other disciplines.
To mark the launch, we are also showcasing our first LEGEND Hangout:
Dr Rafael Savva – Using Minecraft Education Edition for Teaching Corporate Governance and Sustainability
Dr Savva demonstrates how Minecraft Education Edition can be used to engage, inspire, and excite students on the complex topics of corporate governance and sustainability. His work is a powerful example of how serious play can foster collaboration and unlock often-overlooked skills in legal education. Watch here: https://youtu.be/10Wpun4pm8YIf
If you are interested in joining the network, contributing research, or simply exploring the innovative use of games in education, we invite you to visit the site and sign up to become a member of LEGEND.