The author investigates why some women pursue women-only pinball tournaments and how the pinball industry represents them. He argues that women are absent from the top rankings not because of their biological differences from men but rather because of problematic social environments and the pinball industry's approach to representing women in games. Thus, pinball's culture involves gender-related issues similar to those in the broader game industry. Banfi discusses pinball's popularity in general and the growth of women-only leagues in reaction to harassment by male players, characterized, for instance, by the 2014 Gamergate scandal. He draws attention to women pinball players and how they are changing the culture surrounding tournaments, which often intersect with competitive gaming.
The authors trace the evolution of the involvement of parents and other care givers in play using research on the topic and identifying the gaps in this research. They note that parents and care givers are often the play partners of children who invite them into their play for various reasons, including to facilitate play, to observe play, and to engage actively in play. The authors examine cultural differences in attitudes toward play and highlight significant social changes involving play. They explore children's engagement in play with care givers in diverse family structures consisting of parents, single parents, same-sex parents, grandparents, and extended family members. They explore the influences on this engagement, including socioeconomic conditions, the availability of play environments and materials, and the impact of technology and care giver gender roles within diverse family structures. Throughout, the authors underscore the benefits of parents and other care givers becoming involved in their children's play, particularly in fostering the cognitive, social, and emotional development of the children.
The authors argue that playable fictions and analog game design can be an effective way to engage students in discussions about climate change and related scientific areas of exploration. They offer the example of a middle school climate science education unit grounded in the design, analysis, and play of board games and card games based on a study of middle school students in a workshop they conducted. They aim to help guide and inspire educators interested in the complex thinking involved in structured play.
The author looks at play-based learning as a concept that supports the holistic development of children, defining such learning as a continuum of a child-directed, collaborative, and adult-directed play and discussing the role of adults on this continuum. King introduces into the discussion the theory of the play cycle and reviews tensions in play-based learning between policy, practice, and the interpretation of play, using the play cycle and adult roles in it to focus on the process of play rather than on its outcomes, which also contributes to a developing understanding of play-based learning itself.
Best known for his parenting books The Hurried Child, All Grown Up and No Place to Go, Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk, and The Power of Play, David Elkind is currently professor emeritus of the Eliot-Pearson Department of sachusetts. Elkind's bibliography now numbers over five hundred items and includes research, theoretical articles, book chapters, and twenty-two books. He is a member of many professional organizations and is a past president of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). In addition to having been a consultant to state education departments and government agencies, Elkind lectured extensively across the United States, Canada and abroad. Key words-child development; childhood play; Jean Piaget; The Hurried Child
