Playwork (Minor) (Certificate)

• Playworkers support and facilitate children’s play by providing the space, time, and materials to create and direct their own playful experiences.
• American parks, zoos, children’s museums, after school programs, camps, schools, and recreation associations regularly hire playworkers to develop and facilitate playful environments for children.
• Playwork is a respected profession throughout the world with a strong presence in Europe, Scandinavia, and Japan.
• The Minor is endorsed by Leeds Beckett University in the United Kindgom, the premier Playwork degree program in the world, and by Skills Active, the premier Playwork accrediting body in the United Kingdom.

Playwork Minor Course Descriptions

PROFSTUD 330 - (3) - The Play and Playwork - Practice and Provision course introduces students to the history of playwork provision and prominent theoretical perspectives on the value of play for children.

PROFSTUD 331 - (3) - The Playwork Exploratory Practicum course requires students to partner with a community agency in creating multifaceted play opportunities and experiences for children emphasizing enjoyment and participation in an environment facilitating free choice.

PROFSTUD 332 - (3) - The Playwork - Principles, Policies, and Practices course builds upon the practical and theoretical elements of PROFSTUD 330 and 331 by critically examining a range of play and playwork theories and their implications for playwork practice.

PROFSTUD 333 - (3) - The Creative Playwork course provides students with the skills and competencies necessary to develop a creative approach to their playwork practice, to consider the importance of creative play in fostering whole child development, and to develop and facilitate creative play spaces for children and youth.

PROFSTUD 334 - (3) - The Childhood & Society course provides students with the opportunity to extend, expand, and explore the debate on the nature and meaning of childhood as articulated in the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child and its implications for play and playwork theory and practice at the local, state, national, and global level.

PROFSTUD 335 - (3) - The Playwork Professional Internship course provides students with the opportunity to explore a diverse range of playwork provision across a broad range of community agencies and to ensure that their personal goals are met in planning, preparing, and evaluating their role as both reflective practitioners and active learners within the context of the agencies.

(*) Courses, which are offered in both online and face-to-face formats, will be taught by BU faculty and Leeds Beckett University in the United Kingdom.