Date of Award
5-1932
Degree Type
Bachelors Essay
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Department
Education
First Advisor
George E. Vander Beke
Abstract
The value of play in education is no longer questioned by those who have studied the subject.
Play is an element in education. There is no contrast between play and education. Knowledge is useful only so far as it promotes efficiency in the practical affairs of life. It is in play that the child gains control of his body, acquires accuracy and precision in motion and judges distances, sights, and sounds.
The most fundamental lesson of character training is sportsmanship. It would be well worth putting play into the curriculum for this reason alone. Play is the most perfect democracy. On the playground there is no rich or poor, high or low. There is almost complete equality among those who play together.
Play is the serious activity of the child and may be compared with the work of the adult. All good work is done in the spirit of play. Play is its own reward. The great men of all ages have had this play interest in their work. Raphael found just as much joy in his work of painting a Sistine Madonna as does a child who draws on the sidewalk.
Our school work must be adapted to this play interest.
This thesis is an attempt to explain the value of play in education by tracing the use of play from early times to the present; and its use in a modern curriculum as a preparation for a democracy.
Recommended Citation
Hayes, Esther M., "The History of Play in Education" (1932). Bachelors’ Theses. 567.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/bachelor_essays/567
Comments
A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Marquette University College of Liberal Arts in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Philosophy.