 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. 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). “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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
– 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.)