by Lisa Forbes
I’ve been pleased and inspired to find more and more people talking about play and interested in how to use it in higher education. But the more I hear people talk about play, the more I realize we might not be talking about the same thing. And, if we aren’t really talking about the same thing then that means our idea of the function of play may vary too.
Overwhelmingly, when I hear people talk about play in learning the words “student engagement” soon follow. There’s nothing wrong with this – it’s true that one of play’s super powers is getting students engaged in the content and the learning process. This was a key finding in my latest research study but my issue arises when we reduce play to a tool that saves us from having bored and disengaged students. Play can do more than engage people. If academia wants to fulfill its missions and aspirational promises we make to our students, it behooves us to see play as bigger than an engagement tool.
I see play as a broader means to impact organizations, institutions, societies, and problematic status quos. I see play as a medium that puts people in a position to solve the world’s most concerning social problems. And, fostering this ability for change starts in our classrooms.
If you’ve read any of my other work, you know that I train students to become mental health therapists. I feel a heavy responsibility to teach my students to think flexibly and creatively in an ever-changing diverse society with complex problems and people. My students get frustrated with me because I start almost every answer to most of their questions with: “it depends” because it does – no two people or circumstances are the same. No one counseling theory or approach fits everyone. Therefore, I must design my classes in a way that allows students to grapple with ambiguity and uncertainty, that forces them to exist outside of their comfort zones, that sharpens their flexible and creative thinking skills, and that places importance on personal growth through community and self-reflection.
Although foundational to the field, I must resist focusing on only teaching the facts, theories and histories of counseling. I must resist the status quo of lecture-based education, note-taking students, and testing assessments that run counter to what the profession and clients are going to ask of them once they graduate.
Imagine your loved one finds themself in a “rock bottom” moment in time and winds up in my former student’s therapy office. I bet you won’t care what my student’s GPA was. I bet you won’t care what they got on the midterm exam. I bet you wouldn’t even care how “engaged” they were during lectures and class time discussions. But, you would care how well they could see the complexities and uniqueness of your loved one. You’d care how well they could critically analyze the situation and think flexibly in order to provide the most individualized and effective mode of treatment. You’d care if my former student could think beyond textbooks and worksheets in order to have a part in saving your loved one’s life. Right?
But, then I think about how many students are being taught within rigid and lecture-based classes that are supposed to be teaching people to counsel complex humans in a complex world. So, yes, play can be about leisure and joy. And, it can be about student engagement but it is way more than that. Play is a vital tool that trains people to be more playful, flexible, creative and effective in their jobs with the ability to change people’s lives, their profession, and the world.
In his book, Free Play, Nachmanovich (1990) stated:
“Looking at the state of our planet, we can easily see that only major breakthroughs will pull us through. Miracles. What is needed in the coming generation is a whole series of adaptive, creative, and evolutionary jumps…creativity arises from play, but play is not necessarily linked to our values. What we call creativity involves such factors as intelligence, ability to break out of outmoded mindsets, fearlessness, stamina, playfulness, and even outrageousness” (p. 183-184).
Similarly, In his book, The Play Ethic, Pat Kane (2004) summarized words from Brian Sutton-Smith, “our brains need to maintain a perpetual state of play to keep the human organism adaptable for any circumstance or challenge” (p. 343).
So, remember that play in learning is bigger than making teaching a more joyful experience. It’s bigger than a tool to engage students. Play prepares students to be adaptive, creative, and innovative in their careers. We don’t need more mindless, straight-A students who can take exams well. We need students who have the ability to break out of outdated systems and mindsets.
Enter play…