Over the last 4 years, I have heard various educationists,
school leaders, teachers and policy makers talk - at various Education
conferences & in the media - about the enormous challenges in school
education.
Over time, I found a few recurring themes:
- Focus on Learning. Not Teaching.
- Create the joy of learning – and children will learn for life.
The biggest challenge seems to be around creating better
learning environments where children are fully engaged and where children
develop a love for learning.
As an engineer, when confronted with a problem, one tends to
focus on design - whether it involves making new things or tinkering with
existing stuff.
Try something new to make a change.
Mr. Einstein defined Insanity as “doing the same
thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Are most of our school leaders in a state of temporary
insanity? Doing the same thing and expecting different results?
Influencing any environment requires us to take into account
the individuals involved & their design principles.
And then try some new approach.
And when all other “scientific” approaches fail and the problem
is a crucial one, turn to Magic!
For solving this seemingly unsolvable problem of creating
better learning environments in schools, it is probably time to combine Systems
Design with Magic.
Let me explain:
It seems to me that most of the parents, educationists,
school leaders and other experts deeply concerned about creating a better
learning environment in schools are missing a simple point:
The best use of a
system is when you use it for what it was designed for.
And children are designed
to learn through play.
Across all species, the young ones learn through play. They
learn about their environment, their peers, their seniors, juniors, what hurts,
what doesn’t, what works, what doesn’t.
And so do young humans. From a few months, the human child
“plays” – with the mother, siblings, with toys
- and learns. Learns about how a smile elicits a positive response, how
a cry gets attention, how shapes fit into slots, how pressing a button creates
music, how moving the arm with the ball can make it bounce.
Through play, they learn.
Play is often confused with sport.
Play is when you start something because it sounds
interesting, try different things, see what works, what doesn’t, do it many
times learning something new every time – and have fun in the process.
Sport is one very well-defined form of Play. All kids love
it – because it involves Play.
As our advisor, Dr. George Selleck said:
“Play is an
scientific experiment conducted by children”
All parents & school leaders know that children love to
play. And given a choice, they will be out playing – instead of learning
English or Maths.
So, the “system” of the child is designed to play.
What does the “system” of education want to create? - Better
learning environments.
What is the system of education currently designed to do?
Deliver a consistent academic experience to all children, measure outcomes and
track progress.
Leveraging the design of the current education system,
understanding the design of the key constituency – children – and introducing
the Magic of Play might give us useful answers.
Magic? What magic?
Kids kick a ball around, run around in the playground, try
out new stuff, meet new friends – and you get better team players, kids who
understand the value of hard-work, discipline, kids who are more focused,
respect the rules, understand boundaries, kids who are fitter – physically and
socially.
All of this just by playing! No lectures. No teachers. No classes. Magic!
Over the last 10 years, I have seen the magic mesmerize
children, parents, teachers, school leaders & educationists.
So, the best learning environments will be those that incorporate
the Magic of Play into the design of the teaching-learning process. Play does
not mean sport. But there are lessons from the playground that can be
invaluable.
Children can “play” with science. Try out new experiments,
see how stuff works, how it reacts when you throw in a new item.
Children can “play” with geography. With history. With maths.
In order to understand how to create better learning
environments through Play, it is important to understand the “10 Laws of Play”.
Laws that I have postulated based on what I have learnt while watching kids
play & trying to get 200,000 children to play more over the last 10 years.
Here goes:
Universal Foundation of
Play: You play to have fun.
Fun does not mean children have to be laughing all the time.
Fun, as Dr. Selleck articulated beautifully, means:
1.
Children are deeply engaged in the activity.
2.
Children are connected to the group around them.
3.
Children are pushed slightly beyond their limits.
1st Law of
Play: You play with whatever you have.
Children are willing to work with constraints. They
innovate.
Small classrooms? No problem.
Limited time? No problem.
Shared resources? No problem.
As long as they can continue to play and have fun.
2nd Law of
Play: You choose the game. You make the rules.
Children make up rules as they go – in response to the
environment. If an angry neighbor is around, you get “out” if your ball hits
his window.
Change the game if you need to. Change the rules to include
new players, new constraints.
Don’t get stuck with how it was supposed to be done. Try a
new approach to teaching.
The goal is not to do it “properly”.
The goal is to play, learn and have fun in the process.
3rd Law of
Play: The more you play, the less you get tired.
If real play is happening, children can stay focused for a
very, very long time. They do not get tired. They do not get hungry. They do
not need to go to the bathroom. They
keep playing and learning.
You want kids to be engaged in class? Get them to “play”
while they learn.
4th Law of
Play: The more fluid the game, the lesser the captain matters.
Fluid games (like football & basketball) do not really
need a “captain” or a “leader” while the game is on. The situation creates the
leader. Structured games (like cricket) need a formal leader.
The teacher, instead of leading the class, can be the
cheerleader of the class. Urging the team in the right direction, anchoring the
learning to the school’s context and getting all the children involved in the
learning process.
5th Law of
Play: More scars = More fun = More learning
The scars are proof that they really tried, took a risk and
went beyond what was comfortable.
Mistakes are part of the learning process. Let kids
“fall”. That’s how they will really
learn.
6th Law of
Play: The more you play, the more you win.
As the child plays with the subject matter, the probability
of the “Aha!” moment increases. And this win is long-lasting and intrinsic.
7th Law of
Play: You need just one big win.
One big “Aha!” moment and the concept has been understood
for life.
8th Law of
Play: Respect the heroes. Don’t copy them.
Children learn from their teachers, their peers and from
their “heroes”. But each child has an individuality that needs to be supported.
Help children see what the “heroes” do & integrate the best practices into
their style.
9th Law of
Play: Mastery requires Practice. Lots of it.
Sport is probably the best teacher for this fundamental law
– of Play and of Life.
All children understand that unless they practice, they will
not get better. And their friends are getting better because they are
practicing – regularly and in large enough amounts.
Get them to play regularly and they will appreciate the
value of hard-work and discipline.
10th Law
of Play: The game never ends.
The child wants to keep playing. If it is too late, we
continue tomorrow. If it is raining, wait for the rain to stop – if they are
not allowed to play in the rain!
The game never ends. And the fun, the learning and the joy
of play never ends.
If we are able to get our children to experience the joy of
play at school, they will seek out play for life. They will seek out friends who also share
their passion for play, for exploring new things, for learning.
They will seek out opportunities for fun, for learning and
keep learning for life.
The oft-heard saying:
Give a man a fish and
you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a
lifetime.
should actually be re-worded this way (in the context of
learning environments in schools):
Give a child a lesson
and you teach him for a day. Teach a child to play and you teach him for a
lifetime.
The benefits of play, sport & physical activity in the
playground are well known to all educationists.
Fitter children. Physically fitter & socially fitter.
Better discipline.
Better focus.
Better teamwork.
Etc…
While, over the last 4 years, we have been trying to “Extend
the classrooms into the playground” - by bringing a structured inclusive approach, assessments, teacher
training and monitoring to the sports experience, it seems that the Playground also
has a lot to offer to the classrooms.
Integrating the 10 Laws of Play into the design of the
learning environment will help you create an environment that is aligned with
the design of the key constituency – the child.
And while the approach is tough and new, the teacher that
succeeds in integrating Play into the classroom will have created a magical
learning environment where kids want to be, where all kids learn and all kids
develop a joy from learning that will last for life.
Enjoy the Game!
