Dangerous games: Play and pseudoplay in religious education

In Godly Play, an invitation is given for play with the language of God and God’s people: sacred stories, parables, liturgical actions and silence. Through this evocative language, through wondering, and through the community of players gathered, the deepest of invitations is issued – the invitation to come and play with God (Berryman, 2002). But what happens when, albeit with the best of intentions, play is substituted with activities emanating from a directive based on power, as opposed to an invitation, which are more concerned with the attainment of predetermined outcomes than with genuine play for its own intrinsic worth? Such occurrences often result in pseudoplay, which is understood to be the opposite of play. This paper argues that when pseudoplay occurs in the early years’ religious education classroom, dangerous games are instigated which can stifle both the spirituality of children and their learning in religious education.