Josh Luckens interviews Dr. Lisa Forbes and Dr. David Thomas, the co-founders of Professors at Play, an organization that invites professors to explore the transformative power of play in the higher education classroom.

They are the co-editors of the Professors at Play PlayBook, an anthology of playful teaching techniques applicable across the disciplines, sourced from their network of nearly 1,000 professors from across the globe, and available as a free download. They discuss the complex ways that play creates relational safety in the classroom, how play can enliven content and spark more lasting learning, and why playful teaching brings them so much joy as professors.

Dr. Lisa Forbes is a Professor of Counseling at the University of Colorado, Denver. Dr. David Thomas is an Architecture Professor at the University of Colorado, Denver, and the Executive Director of Online Programs at the University of Denver. Paraphrasing them:

• In the serious play of the course, students have to creatively figure out how to write new laws by applying real concepts in imaginary contexts, helping them to learn how to think like lawyers, rather than simply be imparted with information that lawyers should know...and genuinely enjoying the process of learning collaboratively.
• When we find joy in teaching, our passion is contagious. When we are genuinely curious and playful, when we model authenticity and vulnerability, when we allow ourselves to learn alongside our students in the play of teaching and learning, we not only transform our classrooms, we walk a path of redemption that touches the soul of our institutions.

Editors: Sarah W., Josh Luckens, Megan Hamilton Giebert, and LaToya Hinton

(May, 2023)

Additional resources:

• Professors at Play: Transforming Higher Education Though Play (website)
• Join the Professors at Play community's global listserv (website with link to join Google group)
• Professors at Play PlayBook: Real-world techniques from a more playful higher education classroom (book with free download)
• The Process of Play in Learning in Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study (article by Dr. Lisa Forbes)
• Playful Teaching Pyramid (infographic)