Gadamer’s Ethics of Play: Hermeneutics and the Other
To be completely honest, I found this to be quite heavy going. I haven’t studied for over 20 years and I found it hard to follow the text and had to look up every other word. I persisted with it, skimmed it over then re-read it a second time and it began to make some sense to me. One could argue that sometimes it’s better to communicate in language that is simpler and easier to understand, but I think reading material that is a bit more complex has forced me to properly digest it and think it over in more depth, and even discuss with others what they think the author is trying to get at.
Vilhauer, M. 2017. Gadamer’s Ethics of Play: Hermeneutics and the Other. Plymouth: Lexington.
‘Play is less of a thing a person does, and more of a thing done to them – or, better, an event in which one becomes caught-up. “All playing is a being-played… the game masters the players”.’ (p35)
The concept that play is an invisible entity that bundles players together and encourages them to interact is nice idea. Players are immersed in a game with a mutual understanding is this something which could possibly trancend all the usual barriers such as language, race, disability?
“Seriousness in playing is necessary to make the play wholly play. Someone who doesn’t take the game seriously [as in – ‘it’s just a game’] is a spoilsport.” (p35)
‘When one accomplishes the task of becoming “caught up” in the performance [or work of art], one reaches a state of… “being outside oneself”… [which] in a very basic way means opening yourself up to something “other” than yourself and allowing it to affect you.’ (p39)
I like this idea of being “caught up” and “being outside of oneself”, can play can encourage this state in students? In a trusting environment, could this relaxed state of mind be good for learning?
The TEF
The TEF is a national exercise that assesses excellence in teaching at universities and colleges, and how well they ensure excellent outcomes for their students in terms of graduate-level employment or further study.
There are systems in place to help ensure that all UK colleges and universities meet national quality standards; the TEF looks at what they are doing in addition to these standards. Participating universities and colleges can achieve a rating of gold, silver, or bronze. The TEF measures aspects that are important to students.
Questions: I can understand why the TEF exists but having worked at UAL for several years, I haven’t heard of this being mentioned – as there are other systems in place to ensure universities met their targets is the TEF really necessary? In order to achieve a higher rating it would be helpful if staff were made aware of this by line managers and how they should try and improve?
Today’s exercise made me realise I need to be more reflective and apply more reading. There have been so many interesting ideas and not enough time to see them all through! So frustrating!
We analysed the marking outcomes and applied this to a task in small groups. I found this very helpful as it forced me really think about what I need to do and still allows me time to make adjustments. I will definitely be doing this with my students – given the cuts in my hours I don’t think I usually have time to go over this or I assume they will analyse this in their own time, but having experienced this on the other side now I can see how beneficial this is.