For immediate release: Feb. 18, 2013

BLOOMSBURG — Professor Fraser Brown of Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom will speak about the therapeutic benefits of play for young children and propose a career concentration in playwork for Bloomsburg University’s students when he visits the university in early March.

The presentation, “An Introduction to the Field of Playwork,” will be offered on Monday, March 4, and Tuesday, March 5, at 6:30 p.m. in Hartline Science Center, room G38, and is open to the public free of charge.

Brown will discuss how the opportunity to play benefits the development of a child. The essence of play, he said, is that “we work to the child’s agenda. Most other adults who work with children bring an adult’s agenda.”

Brown has discussed the importance of play worldwide. He is a co-founder of the Aid for Romanian Children charitable trust and was the director of the playwork training agency, Children First. He also received the Chancellor’s Award for Innovation in Teaching, Learning and Assessment.

Brown’s presentation in collaboration with Michael Patte, professor of educational studies and secondary education, will be a part of the discussion about making playwork a career concentration at Bloomsburg University. Patte spent five months teaching and researching with Brown at Leeds Metropolitan University.

For more information contact Patte, mpatte@bloomu.edu or (570) 389-4026.

Bloomsburg University is one of 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. BU serves approximately 10,000 students, offering comprehensive programs of study in the colleges of Education, Business, Liberal Arts and Science and Technology.