Playful Learning Promotes 21st Century Skills

This week's newsletter is based on a research paper of the same title, written by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Helen Hadani from The Brookings Institution. I'll skip the section on why the status quo does not work and focus on the skills students need for success in the 21st century, as recommended by Hirsh-Pasek and Hadani, both of whom are P.h.D.s and Fellows at Brookings' Center for Universal Education.

Hirsh-Pasek and Hadani pointed out that not only are these skills essential across a wide variety of fields, they also help protect students from automation and outsourcing. An education model like Finland's that emphasises collaboration, learner engagement and decision-making is much better suited to help children develop skills than one that is focused on high stakes testing.

Specifically, there needs to be a renewed focus on the role of play and whole-child education.

A playful approach to learning that focuses on 6 Cs skills helps children become critical thinkers and problem solvers. Children are also given the time and space to explore their interests and make connections between what they are learning and what is around them.

How children learn: Playful learning principles

Playful learning can take place across an entire spectrum with free play at one end and direct instruction at the other. Regardless of where along the play spectrum educators are and what pedagogical practice (theme-based learning, project-based learning etc) educators adopt, playful learning is characterised by 6 basic principles. For the purposes of this newsletter it is important to summarise each principle. My hope is that you, dear reader, will adopt these playful learning principles at home with your child. For a detailed explanation of how each principles works in practice please read the research paper.

Active ("minds on")

Active learning—where children are focused and engaged in the learning process through questioning and reflection. I see this sort of learning behaviour when my kids are playing educational board games and strategising to win.

Engagement

Engagement is critical for learning. Kids learn much more effectively when they are focused on the task at hand. Small-group activities lend themselves to greater on-task behaviour compared to large-group instructions. A good example of engagement is when my kids are trying to start a fire at Forest School. They can be surprisingly focused when there are marshmallows to be roasted.

Meaningful

When children can make connections between the learning activity and their own experiences and circumstances. In other words, helping children to contextualise learning so that they view learning as something that has personal relevance to them.

Socially interactive

Research finds that cooperative play with peers supports many aspects of children’s development, including areas of cognitive, social, emotional, and linguistic growth. Adult facilitation and scaffolding is often helpful in helping kids navigate complex peer interactions. Check out this video of a bunch of urban kids from Singapore working together to fashion a tool out of found materials at an outdoor camp site in Japan.

Iterative

Learning is an iterative process. Unfortunately, the rules and constraints adults put in place often limit the range of children's hypothesis testing, resulting in fewer iterations that lead to unsatisfactory outcomes. Toys like play-doh and lego are open-ended, which encourage children to keep iterating.

Joyful

There is a stark contrast between learning viewed as a chore and learning experienced as a joyful activity. A study suggests that student participation in activities that bring them joy (e.g., sports, dance, and music) leads to gains in executive function skills and academic outcomes. Children are also more creative and imaginative when learning is joyful. The way children think is more flexible and divergent when learning is fun.

What children learn: The 6 C’s approach to education

If play embodies how children should learn, then the 6 C's represent what they should learn. The 6 C's are rooted in the science of learning and build on each other. The important thing to note about the 6 C's is that getting children to apply and practise the 6 C's is the most effective way for them to learn these skills.

Collaboration

Considered the most fundamental of the 6 C's because it encompasses everything we do to get along with other people and control our own impulses. A child's ability to collaborate is linked to the ability to self-regulate. The workplace cliche of 'team player' is a cliche for good reason. Adults who work well with others are highly valued, especially as the world becomes more interconnected.

Communication

Communication is central to everything we do. Within communication, Golinkoff and Hirsh-Pasek (2016) call the first level of the skill “raw emotion", gradually progressing toward the fourth level, when we can “tell a joint story”. Great communicators are highly valued in the workplace because they are perceived to be better at getting along with people and organising people around a common purpose.

Critical thinking

Critical thinking starts with the ability to discern what is true and what is not. With the proliferation of information sources online, the ability to think critically, process information, and make judgement calls on veracity is more important than ever. Critical thinking also helps in the ability to acknowledge different opinions and points of view, and recognise that right versus wrong is nuanced.

Creativity

The ability to use what we know to make something new, to develop innovative solutions to the challenges we face now and in future. An IBM survey of more than 1,500 chief executive officers from 60 countries identified creativity as the most important leadership attribute. Creativity and critical thinking make for a powerful combination when complex problems need to be solved.

Hirsh-Pasek and Hadani call this Creative Innovation.

Confidence

The ability to try new things and take reasonable risks. Related to persistence, adaptability, grit, and growth mindset. Confidence is arguably more a disposition than it is a skill. The important thing here is the belief that one's ability is not fixed and the perseverance to keep at something even when it's not working.

Citizenship

I have replaced 'content' in Hirsh-Pasek and Hadani's report with citizenship. Whilst content like math, science and the arts are important, I believe what is more important is global citizenship - a wider awareness of the world. We need children to understand global issues, broaden their perspectives, as debate social, political, environmental and economic affairs.

Putting it all together

If you would like to see play learning principles and 6 C's approach to education in action, check out this two minute video of a Doyobi class. We call our approach skill-building through collaborative problem-solving. It's not perfect, but it does a much better job of preparing children for the future than the traditional sage-on-stage approach of education.

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Remember, it's hard work being a great parent to your child. You're doing your best.

Till the next issue!