A Moral Case for Play in K-12 Schools

This original book makes a moral case for play as an essential role for character development, sparking curiosity, wonder, imagination, and teamwork beyond recess and throughout academia based on both library and school centered research in non-sectarian and faith-based K-12 institutions.

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In A Moral Case for Play: The Urgency of Advancing Moral Ecologies of Play in K-12 Schools, Levingston argues that schools must make room for character-building play because of its essential role in moral development. He utilizes field-based research, including interviews and observations from hallways, classrooms, playgrounds and lunchrooms at Catholic, Jewish, Progressive, Quaker, single-gender, and other non-sectarian schools. Levingston's timely new insights and explanations of the moral ecologies of play build on and intersect with the work of anthropologists, fellow educators and education-researchers, folklorists, medical researchers, psychologists, and STEAM educators. This book demonstrates that beyond physical and social play at recess, students need to engage in role-playing, along with language, number, kinesthetic, and imaginative play. Offering a new definition of play, Levingston's research shows how schools can create unique ecologies that promote moral growth, creativity, and a sense of community in any academic program.