Chronicle of Higher Ed: Temple's Hirsh-Pasek on the value of play

A Chronicle Review article featured top play researcher Kathy Hirsh-Pasek of Temple and her efforts to fight what she says is a "play crisis." When it comes to the value of play, Hirsh-Pasek declares: "The science is clear." For her, the universality of play is part of the evidence of its value. Why would we do it if it didn't confer an evolutionary advantage? She concedes that some of the play research is more suggestive than slam-dunk, and that cleaner, stronger studies would be welcome. But she also argues that we already know enough to conclude that play matters, and that failing to preserve it in the lives of children could be a disaster. "Even if we don't understand it perfectly, it's silly to take play away from society," she says. "It's like taking love away. It's crazy."
Feb. 20, 2011 | Chronicle of Higher Education