Julie P. Jones

Julie P. Jones, PhD, is an associate professor at Converse University in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, where she has been a faculty member since 2013. She has taught grades 4 through 12 and now works in K–6 teacher education, maintaining an active research agenda focused on educational technology, curriculum, pedagogy, and urban planning, all with a strong emphasis on creativity and play.

Jones is co-author of The Playful Classroom: The Power of Play for All Ages (Wiley Jossey-Bass, 2020), written with Jed Dearybury, a practical guide that helps K–12 educators integrate play, art, creativity, and humor into classroom practice to make learning meaningful, relevant, and fun. She is also co-author of The Playful Life: The Power of Play in Our Every Day (2022), which extends their work on the role of play in supporting well-being and cognition beyond the classroom.