Power of Play
Fay Belair
Money, prestige and time may cause educators and students to tighten up and act seriously, especially as pressure increases. “The Pedagogy of Play” is a book and highly researched subject that Harvard University has been carrying out in four countries to gather the diverse data needed to discover what the power in play consists of and why it works better as a learning tool than the rigid approaches of some educators and last-minute test crammers.
“For learning to occur we need to think about and with the content that is being learned and that involves emotion,” according to neuroscientist Mary Helen Imordino-Yen. “It is literally neuro-biologically impossible to think deeply about things you don’t care about.”
Along with that challenge, it is often hard to ask for help as we are trying to do things independently or get them perfect. This added pressure or lack of interest can push people to wait until it feels like “too much.” The tutoring lab, located on both the El Dorado and Andover campuses, is a free resource to reduce this pressure.
“This is a math lab, not testing center, so it’s a place you can loosen up and make mistakes which opens us up to learning,” Betty Taylor, a professional math tutor, said.
Nancy Hamm, Butler CC’s mental health therapist, noticed an increase in visits for counseling during the last month of the year just like in the tutoring/math lab. Most people accessing services don’t need long term care, they “just need reassurance and a non-judgmental space to work through things,” Hamm said.
Miranda Windholz, librarian and researcher for Butler Community College, shared in an interview that “establishing healthy rhythms early on, you can fall back on them during finals or other super stressful times.” This is the same wisdom that Harvard is finding as they study the powerful effects of play in educational environments.
“The Pedagogy of Play” reflects that play involves many factors: chosen, player directed, imaginative “what if” scenarios, socialization, enjoyability, challenge, repetitive activity and a mindset that is playful. “A mindset in which one is inclined to see situations and activities as containing possibilities for leading, exploring and enjoying. The active ingredient that turns activities and experiences into play.”
Windholz and her colleagues are implementing this wisdom by mixing playful approaches, games, Legos and other creative approaches into classes and research-based projects.
“If it benefits you as a kid; it probably benefits you throughout your life,” Windholz said.
Play makes things more memorable and less stressful. This combination makes a huge difference in writing, testing, retaining information and a person’s overall experience of participating in the learning process.
Social engagement, non-judgmental moments, discovery and connecting of mind-body awareness all assist in reaching a flow state, which trains us to focus. This flow state is akin to mindfulness, as opposed to the mindlessness that doom scrolling, stress and procrastination cause.
“The goal of play is to lose yourself for hours by getting into the flow state, where the mind is absorbed and focused,” Windholz said. Recommending books like “Stolen Focus” by Johann Hari and “The Shallows” by Nicholas Carr along with the plethora of research on educational approaches, flow state and focus that support us as individuals to take on practices that make life and learning more enjoyable, productive and effective.