by Teaching staff
We make lasting connections through play, but the role of play in learning It’s an idea that continues to encounter resistance.
Part of the reason could be tone. We like our learning to be serious, intentional and academic. This is reflected through a parallel insistence on an outcomes-based learning system where learning objectives are determined and assessments are written in advance, and subsequent instruction is reviewed based solely on data taken from those assessments. (See “10 Ways Data Can Sabotage Your Teaching.”)
And the entire process itself is based on a bunch of depersonalized, industrialized “learning standards” that, while well-intentioned and designed to ensure a “common body of knowledge,” dictate the terms of learning from the outside looking in. . Arrogance must exist to determine in advance what a student will understand as a result of a learning experience! (I’m just praying Grant Wiggins isn’t reading this.)
As video games‘play’ suffers from a youthful connotation that’s unfortunate. Although more “professional” adults continue to play, those efforts are often disguised or excused with ridiculous conditions and explanations. Why apologize for creating your own goals and terms of interaction?
3 factors that make gaming exciting
Ultimately, play offers three critical components to an engaged mind: independence, willpowerand curiosity. None of this is to suggest that students should be given iPads, a box of Legos, and all the apps they want to download and have fun with. But it does suggest some marked changes in the way learning occurs.
Charles Darwin’s teacher said he wouldn’t amount to much because he spent too much time “playing” with insects.
But as the video explains, it’s never just about playing.
Image attribution by flickr user bobbyjames; A visual exploration of why play is necessary for learning
