The play as a process of subjectivation and its justification in the curriculum of Physical Education

Abstract

The concept of “play” has a long trajectory within the educational philosophical discourse in Western culture. This article makes a genuine contribution to this discourse with the objective of justifying the educational value of play within the Physical Education curriculum. This article presents and classifies previous educational philosophical discourses that have justified the presence of play in the curriculum of Physical Education up to today; namely, socializing, functional, experiential, and vitalist justifications of play. Then, after having provided an overview of the issue, we will describe to what extent it is possible to conceive of play as a process of subjectivation with the potential to integrate the different curricular justifications. To do so, we will present and explain our understanding of the process of subjectivation in education, then, we will identify different philosophical attitudes implicit in such a process, and we will relate them to each of the curricular justifications discussed. To conclude, we will argue that this pedagogical approach provides a good starting point to analyze the future of Physical Education.