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Home›Early Childhood›The importance of play: what universities can learn from preschools

The importance of play: what universities can learn from preschools

By Matthew Lynch
March 17, 2017
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Nicola Whitton, Manchester Metropolitan University

Almost as soon as they begin school, children start getting tested. With the introduction of tests for four-year-olds and the explicit link between test results and school performance, education policies of successive governments have led to an increased emphasis on results at all levels of schooling.

This focus has led to a stigmatisation of failure, even though it is fundamental to the learning process from preschool all the way to university.

This ill-prepares learners for real life, which does not provide set answers to problems with neat scores to gauge progress. The real world is messy and diverse, and young people need to be creative, resourceful and resilient to succeed in it. One of the best ways to achieve this is through play.

The best kind of learning is “intrinsically motivated”, where students want to learn because it is interesting, purposeful and personally relevant, not because it is assessed. Learning takes place through action, failure, reflection, and practice. But while making mistakes is an inevitable part of this process, our school system fails to recognise this.

Exam grades are often seen as more important than fostering a love of learning – and as a result schools are overlooking the value of learning that does not fit into a specified curriculum.

When students reach university, most have learned that grades (and their impact on job opportunities) are of prime importance. For many, the magic of learning out of interest and passion has been eclipsed. The introduction of tuition fees has only increased the expectation that the role of university is to provide qualifications rather than focus on the intrinsic value of education.

This shift in expectation is hardly surprising given that students have to consider their personal investments and the returns they are likely to receive. This makes perfect sense for an individual student, but does not take into account what is best for society, which needs people to be creative and take risks, not simply focus on scoring highly in a test.

The need to fail

While many students fail university modules and drop out of courses, this is often seen as a last resort and universities are becoming increasingly averse to failing their students. A focus on one-shot assessments does not give students opportunities to fail regularly on a less catastrophic level.

The ability to manage failure, both emotionally and practically, increases the ability to manage risk. It is only by taking risks that we can explore new possibilities and ways of thinking. We are in danger of creating a generation of risk-averse students. The possibility of failure can also actually increase a person’s intrinsic motivation: if success is certain, there is little challenge and so little motivation.

One way to develop a generation who can take risks is through playful learning. Play supports socialisation and decreases stress, develops imagination and creativity, enables learners to have new experiences, and learn from their mistakes.

While it is integral to early years education, a focus on assessment has all but driven play out of schools. The relative flexibility of higher education curricula and teaching approaches provide opportunities to give learners chances to play, experiment, experience, and fail – and, most importantly, learn from those failures.

Make it worth their while. JHershPhoto/www.shutterstock.com

Playtime at university

Several UK universities are already embracing elements of playful learning. For example, the University of Portsmouth uses “pervasive learning” activities, where courses are taught through playful, detailed simulations in which students work together to solve problems and make mistakes away from the real consequences of assessment.

The Great History Conundrum at the University of Leicester, which runs every year for first-year students, uses an online puzzle-solving card game to teach critical historical literacy. Students play as long as they like to collect enough points to pass the course: if they fail on one puzzle they can move on to the next.

Students at Manchester Metropolitan University play the Staying the Course game during induction to highlight the range of university support available. The University of Brighton has also used alternate reality games during induction, which allow students to work together to solve online and physical puzzles, and large-scale multi-player quizzes to engage new students and orientate them to university life in novel ways.

These kind of approaches do not work in every context, and will inevitably meet resistance from some students and academics. We have to make the case that far from trivialising education, playful learning makes it richer, more purposeful, and more useful for life after education.

Playful learning is not an easy option. It is more academically challenging, making students less reliant on rote learning and established ideas. To embrace playful learning, we need to create more opportunities for students to fail safely and focus on the development of intrinsic motivation, passion and curiosity. Crucially, we must radically rethink how, and why, we assess our students.

The Conversation

Nicola Whitton, Professor in Education, Manchester Metropolitan University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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4 comments

  1. Thomas Dean 18 March, 2017 at 16:59 Reply

    Great article. Gives pause for thinking. But REALLY … while some teachers may understand the value of this approach in post secondary education it is PSE administrators that really need to understand this as well and this would require a cultural shift in education towards hiring people who understand the value of such an approach. While PSE administrators ‘talk’ about how important creativity and risk-taking is … one merely needs to look at the hiring choices and see that innovative/creative types – and especially risk-takers – are NOT typically hired because … well these people take risks and risks have liability issues and … let’s just carry on like we are and hope that no one sees that we are NOT preparing our students for the world to come … we are preparing them for a world that was.

    New administrators and new teachers/professors should have the real world experience, knowledge and WILLINGNESS AND ABILITY TO CREATE AND TO TAKE RISKS. And maybe there should be an assessment of new hires based on their ability to encourage playful learning.

    And we need this NOW because I’m guessing that within ten years or so – with more AI applied to human interactions and more on-screen education (so that schools and maybe even students can save a lot of money) – the world of this future will have fewer human jobs in ALL industries. Those who create jobs and opportunities will be of the highest value to a society that will be burdened by maintaining a gargantuan social infrastructure serving those people who are unable to create and take risks: the permanent ‘leisure class’.

    Games and playful learning open up many creative and problem-solving possibilities. And maybe schools should be investing in high level games and simulations … but it needn’t be just the obvious tactical playing and simulation exercises. Envisioning, Imagineering, Remote Viewing (past, present and future) and other creative endeavors could re-invent the World!

    This article should be a beacon. It only touches the tip of an enormously huge understanding of pedagogy that is missed by most in the educational industry – except those who see vast amounts of effortless – EFFORTLESS – learning taking place in the lower levels of our educational system. When we begin to apply the gaming process to all facets of learning – all STEM and even Liberal Arts … then our doctors and lawyers and physicists and artists will have the capacities to not only take risks but to envision possible futures BEYOND the risks. And I believe we need that.

    Thank you for the article.

  2. Peter Ferrero 19 March, 2017 at 17:08 Reply

    All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.It is prudent to consider the fact that play boosts student morale, evokes excitement and a need to achieve in whatever they are involved in.I appreciate the message shared, there is more in the education system than pure assessment and tests based on the level of education and subjects studied.
    Schools need to adapt a robust system that supports inclusion, creativity, problem-solving skills and hard skills that equip them for the external world.

  3. Mark Holtz 21 March, 2017 at 06:40 Reply

    I have long admired your work as it inspires me to even learn more on education matters. Playing is crucial in ensuring there is seamless learning while reducing boredom in our classrooms.
    You are to be commended for the great work you are doing.

  4. Puksta Self-Care: Get Your Play On! | Puksta Foundation 23 September, 2019 at 23:43 Reply

    […] Here’s something that delves a little further on the importance of play, particularly for college students: https://www.theedadvocate.org/importance-play-universities-can-learn-preschools/#targetText=Play%20s… […]

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