text: PEDAL – serious research about play 
   
   What is PEDAL? 
   
   PEDAL is located in the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Education, and was launched in October 2015 with funding from the LEGO Foundation. Our mission is to conduct academic research into the role of play in young children’s education, development and learning to inform wider practice and policy. PEDAL is part of the Psychology, Education and Learning Studies Research Group at the Faculty. 
   
   Why research play? 
   
   Play is an integral part of a happy childhood. All children and most adults engage in playful activities, including physical play, play with objects, symbolic play, pretence play and games with rules. At the minimum, it is clear that play is enjoyed by its participants, and this alone indicates it has motivational value in relation to learning. 
   
   However, beyond this, little has been scientifically established about the possible benefits of human playfulness, and it is currently under-researched. Play advocates claim that it enhances learning, has a clear role in education, and supports emotional well-being, good mental health, creativity and social competence. As such, it follows that play may have the potential to contribute to economic, social and cultural development. 
   
   Through PEDAL's research, the role of play in children’s education, development and learning will be more widely understood by those involved in their care and education. New insights will inform effective evidence-based policy and practice – and will unlock a source of knowledge and inspiration that will improve children’s lives around the world. ||||| The Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge is consistently ranked in the top five in the world and now seeks to appoint a new Professor in the Faculty arising from an endowment to the University from the LEGO Foundation. 
   
   The generous grant from the LEGO foundation has funded the LEGO® Professorship of Play in Education, Development, and Learning and the Board of Electors now invites applications for this Professorship from outstanding scholars in the field of educational or developmental psychology in early years development and would particularly welcome applications from those working in the field of play and playfulness. 
   
   In association with the Professorship, the LEGO Foundation has further funded the establishment of a research Centre in Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL). The Centre will examine the importance of play and playfulness in education globally with an aim to produce research which supports excellence in education so that children are equipped with 21st Century skills like problem solving, team work and self-control. 
   
   Candidates for the LEGO® Professorship in the Faculty of Education will have an outstanding research record of international stature and the vision, leadership, experience and enthusiasm to act as Director of the newly established Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL). 
   
   Standard professorial duties include teaching and research, examining, supervision and administration. The Professor will be based in Cambridge. A competitive salary will be offered. 
   
   The University has engaged Perrett Laver to support the Board of Electors in this appointment process and further information is available at from Perrett Laver by emailing LEGO@perrettlaver.com. 
   
   Applications, consisting of a letter of application, a statement of current and future research plans, a curriculum vitae and a publications list, along with details of three referees should be made by emailing LEGO@perrettlaver.com no later than 20 January 2017. 
   
   Please quote reference JR10956 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy. 
   
   The University values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity. 
   
   The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK. ||||| The world’s first professor of play – funded by Lego – is being sought by Cambridge University. What is the job description? 
   
   There are only three days left to apply for what could be the most coveted job in education: the Lego professor of play, development and learning at the University of Cambridge. 
   
   The closing date for applications for the brand new, permanent post is this Friday, 20 January. The successful candidate will not only enjoy all the perks of a typical Cambridge professor – including a job that commands an average salary of £83,981 – he or she will also lead Cambridge’s newly established Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning (Pedal). 
   
   “The value of play is relatively under-researched,” says Prof Anna Vignoles, interim director of Pedal and a member of Cambridge University’s faculty of education. “You have people who are claiming that it enhances learning, that it’s important, that it’s good for children’s wellbeing. All of that might be true, but actually there’s remarkably little evidence for that. The aim of the Pedal centre is to conduct rigorous research into the importance of play and how playful learning can be used to improve students’ outcomes.” 
   
   Although the Lego Foundation, which owns 25% of the Lego business, will have no say over who is appointed, it is committed to funding the role in perpetuity and has already made a £4m endowment to the university. Of this, £2.5m has been put aside for the professorship. The remaining £1.5m is going to the Pedal centre, whose agenda will, in the future, be determined by the interests of the new professor. 
   
   The university is planning to offer the role to an academic who specialises in educational psychology, to enable the centre to step up its research capabilities in this field. “Children are now increasingly accessing early-years provision at very young ages,” says Vignoles. “There are a number of scholars who are working on interesting aspects of that in developmental psychology. We’re confident that we’ll attract an outstanding scholar.” 
   
   The Lego Foundation is hoping for a candidate with a “childlike mindset”: “an academic who is playful, extremely curious, open-minded, imaginative and creative – someone who can think of new ways of doing research and work across different disciplines,” says Bo Stjerne Thomsen, global head of research for the Lego Foundation. 
   
   Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lego’s global head of research, Bo Stjerne Thomsen, says the foundation wants to ‘encourage more playful learning in schools, rather than testing’. Photograph: Jonas Fotografi 
   
   The foundation believes play has a critical role for children, particularly in high-quality learning. “Play should be part of education,” says Stjerne Thomsen. “What we want is to get the UK government to encourage more playful learning in schools, rather than testing. If children are being taught with standardised assessments and results, those children will expect to receive assignments and be led towards pre-defined goals for the rest of their lives. 
   
   “But the skills you need now as an adult are collaboration, problem solving and coming up with ideas. In that sense, play is critical. You use your imagination to plan things, to predict outcomes, to understand how to solve a problem by looking at it from different perspectives. 
   
   “For us, this is a unique opportunity to build research and interventions that can inform government policy, and also teachers – who are very good at teaching, but need other perspectives on the curriculum.” 
   
   Vignoles, though, emphasises that the professor will not be expected to become an advocate for play to policymakers. “This is a research and teaching role, not an advocacy role. We don’t know what the impact of play is on particular outcomes. We’re going into this to investigate it.” 
   
   And Stjerne Thomsen says: “We hope the Lego professor will speak to the needs that exist in education right now – and we can point to what the attitudes to play are, how teachers teach and what parents expect from education. New research studies may fulfill gaps in academia, but we help our academic partners to address the question of how it would make sense for a government or teacher to use that research.” 
   
   The Lego Foundation chose Cambridge because of its interdisciplinary approach to play research and its expertise and credibility when communicating research to policymakers and practitioners, he says. “There is no department of play at any university and no institution takes responsibility for following the play literature and looking at interventions and outcomes in education. There is a lot of work even at the baseline for an academic institution to say what studies already exist and it’s very difficult to set up good studies.” 
   
   Academics have under-researched the potential value of play because the line between play, teaching and learning is hard to pin down, Vignoles says. “Using the latest technology to carry out research and collect data will be important. One of the most exciting projects the centre is working on at the moment is looking at outdoor play using GPS technology. The aim is to understand how children interact with their peers when they’re left in a playground situation, and how they congregate in groups and play. It’s an innovative way of studying what children are doing.” 
   
   It is the first professor of play in the world. “It needed to be a professorship because we have high expectations with regard to the standard of the research agenda,” says Stjerne Thomsen. “We wanted to attract someone who will build a whole team around him or her that can define studies in this area, someone who will be world-renowned for play.” 
   
   Applicants do not need to already hold a professorship. “There may be people applying for this post for whom this will be their first chair – it’s more about what they can bring in terms of their research,” says Vignoles. Applications close on 20 January. ||||| This could be you. (Picture: Getty Images/metro.co.uk) 
   
   Look, we all like to tell ourselves that we thrive on a little work-related stress. That we’re go-getters, and secretly enjoy spreadsheets and meetings and giving presentations. 
   
   Because we’re adults. And that’s what we do. 
   
   In a post #MeToo world, there's no room for sexual NDA's 
   
   But really, we’d quite like it if we could get paid to do the stuff we did when we were toddlers: napping, eating, and playing. 
   
   Finally, the good people of the University of Cambridge have created the job we’ve been waiting for our entire adult lives. Kind of. 
   
   While they’re not offering anyone money to take naps or collect Beanie Babies, the university is looking to hire someone who’ll be paid to play. 
   
   Yes, really. 
   
   (Picture: Rick Madonik/Toronto Star via Getty Images) 
   
   The University of Cambridge has invited people to apply for a new, permanent role as the Lego professor of play. 
   
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   The role offers a ‘competitive salary’ plus all the perks you’d expect as a professor at Cambridge, and will focus on leading the university’s newly established Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development, and Learning. 
   
   The centre will ‘examine the importance of play and playfulness in education’, with an aim of getting kids equipped with skills in problem solving, team work, and self-control. 
   
   (Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) 
   
   The successful applicant will also be required to do some teaching, research, examination, supervision, and administration. 
   
   So it won’t all be building rockets out of Lego – but that’ll likely be part of it. 
   
   The university states they’d particularly welcome applications ‘from those working in the field of play and playfulness’, but also any outstanding scholars in the fields of educational or developmental psychology. 
   
   The Guardian reports that The Lego Foundation is hoping for a candidate with a ‘childlike mindset’ – someone who’s ‘playful, extremely curious, open-minded, imaginative and creative.’ 
   
   (Picture: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/GettyImages) 
   
   If that sounds like you, you’ll just need to apply with a letter of application, a statement of current and future research plans, a CV, a publications list, and the details of three referees. 
   
   Oh, and the deadline’s in just three days, so you’d better put down your blocks and move sharpish. Applications close at the end of the day on 20 January. 
   
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target: – If you've been endorsed on LinkedIn for your three-dimensional thinking skills, spatial reasoning, or ability to stay calm under the pressure of missing plastic bricks, you might want to take a shot at the latest opening at Cambridge University, which Metro has labeled "dream job alert." The Guardian reports on the institution's latest employment opportunity for a Lego "Professorship of Play," which will involve advising students on the value of "play and playfulness" if you get the gig, as well as leading the new Center for Research on Play in Education, Development, and Learning, or PEDAL. The interim director of PEDAL says the importance of play often gets short shrift and that the new center and director will lead research into how students can benefit from "playful learning." The Lego Foundation has contributed a nearly $5 million grant toward the university's push toward play, which will require a scholarly type (namely, aces in educational and developmental psychology) with a "childlike mindset," an active imagination, and a high level of curiosity, among other desirable traits, says Bo Stjerne Thomsen, the foundation's head of research. Because of the job's uniqueness, the person hired will be expected to become "world-renowned" in that genre, he adds. If that alone isn't enough to coax you, perhaps the six-figure salary will: The job pays nearly $104,000 per year. Time's running out, though, with an application deadline of Friday. (Experts in Lego fighting need not apply.)