Play in School – Towards an Ecosystemic Understanding and Perspective

Based on a design-based research project and long-term observations of children’s play in school, this article develops the concept of play order, which points to interaction, coherence and holistic orientation as central values for the approach to play in school. Through concrete empirical reflections, the article shows how play in school is established and maintained, and how the school as a context interacts with play. Based on existing research, the article is critical of the tendency to accord a secondary role to play in school or to instrumentalize play as a didactic tool for learning. The article links to existing play theory, but at the same time develops the concept of play order, which makes it possible to look holistically at how play in school can be integrated and provided for. As many pedagogues are increasingly working in schools and directly involved in teaching, and as after-school clubs (SFO) handle schooling tasks, the authors of the article emphasize that play is worthy of recognition in both practice and theory.