Playfulness as a virtuous disposition: its affinity with dramatic play and aretaic practice

This study investigates the nature of playfulness as a personal virtuous disposition influential to the practice and growth of virtues. It is conducted within the playful space of dramatic play, in the context of the drama course of a teacher preparation programme. It combines two qualitative approaches, a single case study and a narrative inquiry. A small group of student primary teachers participated in the data collection process that rested both on direct and indirect narrative text-based methods: reflective diaries, the teacher’s journal, a semi-structured interview and photographs of the course’s workshops. The findings overall demonstrate that a nexus of internal and external conditions of the participants’ embodiment of dramatic play in synergy with their flow experiences encouraged the constitution of their playfulness as a virtuous disposition. In this aretaic space of their playfulness, they grew three virtues: parrhesia, friendship and self-knowledge.