What is play? Why do we play? What can play teach us about our life as social beings? In this critical investigation into the significance of play, Henning Eichberg argues that through play we can ask questions about the world, others and ourselves. Playing a game and asking a question are two forms of human practice that are fundamentally connected. This book presents a practice-based philosophical approach to understanding play that begins with empirical study, drawing on historical, sociological and anthropological investigations of play in the real world, from contemporary Danish soccer to war games and folk dances. Its ten chapters explore topics such as: play as a practice of search playing, learning and progress the light and dark sides of play playing games, sport and display folk sports, popular games, and social identity play under the conditions of alienation. From these explorations emerge a phenomenological approach to understanding play and its value in interrogating ourselves and our social worlds. This book offers a challenging contribution to the interdisciplinary field of the philosophy of play. It will be fascinating reading for any student or researcher interested in social and cultural anthropology, phenomenology, and critical sociology as well as the ethics and philosophy of sport, leisure studies, and the sociology of sport. .

The authors of Make Just One Change argue that formulating one’s own questions is “the single most essential skill for learning”—and one that should be taught to all students. They also argue that it should be taught in the simplest way possible. Drawing on twenty years of experience, the authors present the Question Formulation Technique, a concise and powerful protocol that enables learners to produce their own questions, improve their questions, and strategize how to use them. Make Just One Change features the voices and experiences of teachers in classrooms across the country to illustrate the use of the Question Formulation Technique across grade levels and subject areas and with different kinds of learners.

A thought-provoking re-examination of children's play drawing together insights and experiences across fields such as education, sociology, philosophy and psychology to encourage an inter-disciplinary approach.

The psychological dependence of humanity on playing is huge. Its nature and functional utility are unclear. These linked yet contradictory issues have created the intrigue that has fed philosophical thought for more than two hundred years. During this period, philosophy transferred many of the subjects of its analysis to the aegis of the humanities that it spawned. Each of them pays close attention to human play and studies it with its own methods of theoretical and experimental research. Thus, what was once a general philosophical comprehension of human play has branched out into different directions, definitions, and theories. This new book represents a renewed general view of human play. The unique quality of the volume lies in its fairly rare interdisciplinary methodology, encompassing a broad spectrum of the humanities: philosophy, anthropology, sociology, and the history of play, and behavioral analysis of playing, which have been done by the author. As a result, the volume ends with the proposition of a new general approach to human play that is named by the author “play field theory”. Such an approach makes reflections on play, sport, and culture a source for all scholars studying play, by widening their knowledge through both a new general view and their familiarization with notions from neighboring fields and disciplines.

While Jordan was in the University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Center, fighting for his life those two weeks from complications of a heat related injury, Tonya and I couldn't stop asking ourselves, as parents, what did we miss? What questions didn't we ask to keep Jordan safe? If we didn't know these questions, how many other parents don't know what questions to ask? There were several questions that we didn't ask, not because we didn't care to know: the simple fact is that we didn't know the right questions to ask regarding the safety and well-being of our only son. We assumed as well as trusted-as so many parents of student athletes in America do when we let our student athletes play at the youth, high school, and collegiate sports level of competition. Through our experience of losing a child to a completely preventable injury, this book will not only educate but empower every parent, coach, and student athlete who reads it. Readers will be educated on the signs and symptoms of heat related injuries, player safety, and questions to ask all coaches to keep your child safe while they are playing any sport at all competition levels. "We never want another parent to feel what we felt losing Jordan."