C76: Play versus Playfulness

​Ever since the last episode, I have struggled with a gnawing feeling that I was not quite right in my ideas.  As I have unraveled the concept of play, I must admit that my friend Mondrea Mitchell was correct.  What I consider play to be in the older years, is actually a form of playfulness.  What is the difference?  Play is truly an open-ended construction of meaning and making sense of the world.  While Playfulness is using the concept of play to bring about more opportunities for learners to explore concepts deeper.  There is a foundational difference. 

​In her book, Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs, Ellen Galinsky explores how making connections requires learners to think differently. I think these connections can be used to describe the purpose of play for early learners.  

Similarities

​We learn how things are similar to each other by sorting and classifying objects by size, shape, color, texture, and function.

Differences

​In order to understand how things are different, we must classify objects to determine their similarities. For example, emus and penguins are both birds, but they do not fly.

Relationships

​Learners build connections by understanding how things are related. For example, a ball, bat, and a mit are different objects, but they are used together to play a game.

We are learning to build relationships with other people outside of our family and learn how to function in different social circumstances.  This allows us to create generalizations of how one operates in a community. 

Unusual Connections

​Learners are able to combine relationships, similarities, and differences to make unusual connections. For example, singing in a rock band and dancing in a ballet are both performances. They may have performed to a different type of audience, but both are designed to entertain.

Play versus Playfulness

​As learners interact with each other, materials, and situations, they begin to make generalizations about the world.  This process naturally comes alive through purposeful play.  

As we age, we have a consciousness of how basic things work in the world and our role in making it happen.  It is through playfulness that we continue our journey towards self-discovery and inquiry learning. 

In looking at the idea of playfulness, I found a thought provoking article titled Defining Playfulness from Psychology Today.  The link can be found here.

Playfulness is, in part, an openness to being a fool, which is a combination of not worrying about competence, not being self-important, not taking norms as sacred and finding ambiguity and double edges a source of wisdom and delight.

When I used to imagine play in the upper grades, this is what it looked like in my mind.  We are acting like fools to play and create without restrictions.   This playfulness allows for learners to take risks, solve problems with alternative solutions, and create something new. 

Regardless if you call it PLAY or PLAYFULNESS, the underlying concept is the same.  Learners are exploring loose parts to spark inquiries in different directions. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series as much as I have.  It’s taught me a lot about myself as an educator and how to be more playful.  I do suggest using the conceptual lesson cycle into your practice to invite more playfulness into your practice.