Play – Seriously? Seriously!

As you will likely know, the success of the Finnish Education system – whether measured by inclusivity, by cost-effectiveness, by happiness of students, or by standardised tests – is the envy of the educational world.  Many governments – suffering from Finnish Envy –  are seeking to understand in order to replicate.  Neighbouring Norway, a country of similar size and culture to Finland provides a form of a control; that Norway embraces education practices similar to those in the United States, with similarly dismal results, suggests that the Finns may be on to something.

As I have written elsewhere, there is no such thing as a single good practice to be taken in isolation; education takes place in a web of cultural norms.  This fascinating video clip from Michael Moore seems a little too good to be true to me; play and no homework are not universal panaceas.  But play is a nevertheless a fascinating pedagogical tool.

The easy thing to do is to dismiss play as some trendy liberal idea only suitable for infants, or at best very young children.  It is a fine tool for these ages, as any primary teacher will know.  But it would be a mistake to see the scope of play as limited to the very young.

Play is similarly misunderstood as something frivolous, not serious.  But that all depends on the topic and extend of the playing – as the phrases playing for keeps or playing the stock market clearly show.  For those of us in education, the question has to be does it help learning?  The data from Finland re-enforces our sense that perhaps it can.  One reason might simply be because play allows some breathing space in hectic days – and we know the effect that reducing stress has on brain chemistry.  My point here, though, is less to explore the value of the space that play creates, and more to consider the intrinsic value of play as a learning tool.

That play might support learning of all types, for all ages, is not surprising for those whose metaphors for learning are not about the filling of empty vessels.  If we see learning as about making connections between ideas, about developing a deep understanding of new ideas to see how they do or do not fit with existing ones, then play seems to do the job.   That’s not to say there are not other tools, but properly understood, play can be central to a deep understanding of almost anything.  I play several games with grade 12 Theory of Knowledge students, who consistently rate using a card game to get at ideas about the scientific method as one of their best learning experiences; and cognitive bias bingo (really!) usually generates astonishingly good discussions (“that was Belief Perseverance” “No, it was Confirmation Bias” “Same thing” “No!” “So what’s the difference?” “Well….”).  The fact it’s play is really beside the point – it’s learning.  Nobel Prize winner Alexander Fleming said I play with microbes. There are, of course, many rules to this play…but when you have acquired knowledge and experience it is very pleasant to break the rules and to be able to find something nobody has thought of.  Einstein echoes the sentiment: Combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought.

Of course not all play is valuable.  There is a place for other forms of learning.  But because play has value in itself, and also because it is a tool we can draw on, the Finnish approach makes a lot of sense to me.