Teaching Excellence Award for Playful Learning!

The Playful Learning Association, which has strong connections to (and shares members with) the Manchester Game Centre, has received a prestigious Advance HE Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence. MGC member, John Lean, along with others in the Playful Learning team, were recently at the Advance HE Awards to celebrate their achievement.

The PLA is a cross-sector organisation dedicated to innovative approaches to adult education, using games and play, and has its roots at Manchester Met. Three colleagues from Manchester Met – James Charnock, Mark Langan and John Lean – were named on the winning bid alongside colleagues from Northumbria, Anglia Ruskin, Teesside, Sussex and Imperial College London.

Established in 2010, the Playful Learning Association focuses on: 

• The use of a wide range of games, both digital and traditional, online and real-world; 

• The practice and theory of play in learning; 

• The application of playful approaches with adults, in both formal and informal contexts. 

The Association's annual Playful Learning Conference, which John Lean co-chairs and which was hosted at Manchester Met from 2016 to 2018, played a significant role in the award submission. Numerous Games Centre members have contributed to this conference over the years so a huge thank you for their involvement. 

This highly competitive national award recognises teams that have made significant and lasting contributions to student learning and the teaching profession. Out of numerous applicants, the Playful Learning Association was one of just 15 winners selected through a rigorous three-stage process.