play & creativity for complex learning
TRANSCRIPT
Play & Creativity for
Complex Learning
Prof. Alison James NTF PFHEA
Edinburgh Napier University20.06.2019
#enltconf19Finn StoneLEGO Stilettos
How do you define play?
“We all play occasionally, and we all know what playing feels like. But when it comes to making theoretical statements about what play is, we fall into silliness. There is little agreement among us, and much ambiguity”
Brian Sutton SmithThe Ambiguity of Play (1997:1)
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester
Play types…☟ ☟
• Interior/mental
• Collective/solitary
• Performative/interactive
• Contests
• Celebrations and festivals
• Dangerous/deep play
• Playful
Features
• Repetitive• Exaggerated• Reversed• Unusual• Attenuated• Physical
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester
Common* principles of play
• Spontaneous/Undertaken freely
• Rewarding
• No end point
• Player is protected from consequences
• An indicator of well being
• Positive mood state
• Enough in itself
• Other world/space
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester(*but not always the case in ‘educational play’)
• It’s fun and without predetermined purpose (Brown)• About rapture, flow, the magical and extraordinary (Ackermann)• It stands outside ‘ordinary’ life and absorbs the players in its
own space, according to its own rules (Huizinga)• It’s not a matter of idleness or diversion but about “taking reality
lightly” (Kane)• There are too many types of play to name them all (Fagen)• Can encompass pastimes, recreation, entertainment, hobbies
(Sutton-Smith)• Play is defined by context – not what we do but how we do it
(Nachmanovitch)• Has a serious purpose (Kristiansen & Rasmussen)
.
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester
A global play group for women in which
‘We whole-heartedly promote periods of "recess" from the cares and duties of everyday
life in which Hatters gather for no other purpose than to play.’
https://www.redhatsociety.com/page/about_us
How can/does play support complex learning?
Johan Huizinga
It is central to navigating human
existenceOlder than culture
Animals knew how to do it
before civilisations emerged
Marian Diamond
brain size and enrichment
Stuart Brown
For funFor healthy brain
developmentTo ensure healthy
socialisation and combat deviancy
neoteny
Pat Kane
Play as a generator of originality,
growth and new development
Steven Nachmanovitch
for self expression and creativity:
“everything in nature arises from the
power of free play sloshing against
the power of limits”
Brian Sutton Smith
Survival:It is ambiguous andnot always innocent
7 (contrasting)Rhetorics of Play
Plato (allegedly)
One of the quickest ways of learning about someone
Gottfried Benn
Whoever wants to
understand much
must play much
Until recently play scholarshiphas mostly been outside HE
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester
Using techniques from dolphin training in behavioural psychologyinventing board games to teach history or ward management in nursing
(Wardopoly) or for reinforcing concepts within wildlife conservation (zoology) Outdoor learning centres and pop up “playscapes” (diverse)Raft-building, sheep dog handling (team/leadership building)Pattern, magic and problem-solving in mathematics Playful public engagement activities led by students (chemistry) which
encourage audience participation Juggling in functional biology and plant science classesExploring conceptions of space using LEGO on an MA in Museum Curation
Cabinets of curiosities teacher ed./culture shoeboxes in dental educationPlay, games and invention for sports science and coachingWord play, places of wonder, theatre, games, escape rooms, simulation ….
Sustainability & Science in The Power of Play
Vet School: Worms & Waste
Staff and students constructed wormeries using recycle materials and looked after worms for two weeks
Activity encouraged discussion on recycling and empathy within the role of the veterinary professional
Next project is to knit a zoo…
(Boyd and Roe)
Incorporating play into science classes to boost curiosity:
Learning produces pleasure in the form of small doses of dopamine and is triggered when we are challenged by new, intriguing or complex learning. A means of countering students seeing science learning as fact absorption and regurgitation
(Palmer & Wheeler)
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester
Arts and Management in The Power of PlayProf. Clive Holtham and Dr Tine Bech
Artist in Residency at Business School
• vital areas of management cannot be reduced to rational models and thinking, and need intuition
• Pedagogic rationale
• There was a strong interest in the business school in drawing on the residency to extend its existing arts-based management education and in turn, helping to improve the practices of business.
Spaces 2050
Creative Entrepreneur residency in Cass Business School, investigating how art, technology and play can create new systems of communication across the city and new ways of connecting with each other in public spaces
Residency explored how playful interactive spaces can help organisations innovate
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester
Play with purpose
Play for experimentation
Play as failure
Play as freedom
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester
Prof Alison James NTF PFHEA University of Winchester
https://engagingimagination.com
@alisonrjames
THANK YOU! ANY QUESTIONS? (If no time, find me later!)