Play - verb (ENJOY)
To spend time doing something enjoyable or amusing.
Play - noun (ENJOYMENT)
Activity that is not serious but done for enjoyment.
Not long ago, I listened to a very interesting podcast by Dr. Tom Cowan in conversation with Michael Mendizza. In the episode, they explore the difference between ‘schooling’ and education and the “conditioning” of children as opposed to helping educate them.
They argue (and I agree), what we think is learning is actually conditioning, and most school systems are largely based on this conditioning. Conditioning the mind to not think critically for ourselves.
What particularly interested me in this episode, however, was the importance they point towards play, and the role which play has in the way children learn. In reference to an earlier interview with Mendizza, Joseph Chilton Pearce says the following about the relation between play and learning:
“You cannot have real learning with a child unless they are playing. Real playing is how real learning takes place. Children learn by absorbing their universe, their environment, their world. Becoming it: through play.”
He also talks about different kinds of play. Imitative play (age 1-4), imaginative play with a lot of intuitive thinking (age 4-7) and ‘making things’ as play (age 7-11) when the child really likes to create things in the physical world such as making cookies or art.
Why I am writing about this?
I find it super interesting, because playing is exactly what I aim for when teaching children and ‘structure’ the classes. I want us to explore different aspects of the Dutch language together in a playful way.
All the lessons are different, as each child is different and likes different things. From my side it involves a lot of improvisation, flexibility and creativity, which I love! New ideas and variations on (existing) games and exercises just naturally unfold when I prepare activities for each child, or during our lessons.
And the best part: to see amazing results and get wonderful feedback from the parents. How great it is to see their children having fun while also noticing progression in their language development.
Let’s be honest, don’t we all agree?
That things we really enjoy are so much easier to become good at?
In-joy learning.
See us in class!
If you are interested in listening to the full podcast by Dr. Tom Cowan and Michael Mendizza you can do that here. If you want to watch the video specifically about play, with Joseph Chilton Pearce, you can do that here.