Vulnerability and Play
by Lisa Forbes
What does vulnerability have to do with play? Well, lots. Let me explain. In this post – it’s twofold.
The First Fold
Brene Brown’s work on vulnerability and shame have a loads of value for education. Both teaching and learning. Vulnerability leads to desired student outcomes, valuable connections, and authentic classrooms. It makes what we do more effective and what students learn more meaningful.
In her book, Daring Greatly, Brene says: “Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity.” If we, for a moment, come out from behind our pedagogical theories and tools, we can admit that perhaps one of the most vital aspects of education is about creating meaningful and transformative human experiences. Vulnerability is the core and the heart of meaningful human experiences.
It’s curious, then, why both students and educators often attempt to avoid vulnerability when it holds so much value. It could be that it’s uncomfortable because vulnerability is often equated with weakness, or maybe it’s that we just don’t know how. So, we try to avoid vulnerability because we don’t want to appear weak, we don’t want to “fail,” we don’t want to lose our credibility or power – and probably several other reasons. Yet, when we dismiss vulnerability as weakness it means we have limited our efficacy and authenticity.
Yet, hypocritically, we expect that our students demonstrate vulnerability themselves. I don’t believe we can ask students to be vulnerable (i.e., try something new, be creative, risk making a mistake, be open, etc.) unless we are also modeling those things. Obviously, this is a much larger issue than I intended on writing about here but the connection to play is that play is often vulnerable – especially in a setting where play isn’t normally included or expected (e.g., higher education classrooms). When we open ourselves up to play and we include play into our teaching – that can feel vulnerable.
But if we are following the research and wise words of Brene Brown, being vulnerable in play is exactly what we need to do. Vulnerability through play allows for connection, belonging, innovation, creativity, joy, authenticity, accountability, etc. So, in my mind, we are doing ourselves (and our students) a huge disservice by avoiding or limiting play in the classroom.
Okay, Second Fold
This fold is all about living wholeheartedly – as Brene calls it. In her research, she began seeing people who just seemed to live better, more joyously than others – more wholeheartedly. Brene developed ten guideposts for living wholeheartedly and – you guessed it – cultivating play is one of them.
This seems easy enough. Just play…
It’s never that easy though. In a culture where play is seen as trivial or a waste of precious time, it’s hard to allow yourself time to play. The cultural message is this: in order to be successful and a serious adult, you must be overworked, stressed, and busy. Play is often seen as the opposite of work and productivity. So, we think in order to keep up, to be a successful professional, we must push play aside. But that’s a huge mistake because play is vital to living well. I even think that play actually allows you to be more productive and professional. Play reduces stress and leaves you feeling centered and increases your focus and concentration. I also believe that play can even help you be a better professional and more effective at your job. Play allows you to approach problems from a different lens – a more creative lens – which then allows you to engage with your work in a more meaningful and flexible way.
Despite the evidence and all of the connections between play and everything we desire in our lives, I’m continuously shocked by our rejection of play in adulthood.
You want to live better? Play.
You want to be more creative? Play.
You want to be better connected to people? Play.
You want to be more effective in your job? Play.
You want to reduce your stress and anxiety? Play.
You want to laugh more? Play.
You want to live longer? Play.
I could go on like this all day. But you get the point.