The Play Tectonics Podcast: Recent Episodes
Jeffrey Peyton
Isn’t it tempting to imagine our learning culture free of the trappings of factory learning? Is it hard to imagine an education Promised Land? If you have been schooled on the Short Answer and the Short Leash, like a slave, the secret north passage is risky. But If you have an imagination and are receptive to innovation, the door is always open. Listening to our Podcast, we think, is a way to walk through that open door into a dimension of shared hope and possibility. Together, we can help move Education and ourselves forward on the power of play!
A set of ingredients and pre-conditions are needed for learning culture transformation. Foremost among these is Play.
(BTW, it's the Canadian, not the French embassy.)
What is Play made of? A whole world of learning. “Play is the nicest thing that nature ever did for us.” -- Paul D. MacLean
Yes, play is powerful enough to move our learning culture forward, but not without parents leading the way.
When we locked Mary’s Lamb out of school, we sowed the bad seeds of control, authority, and play-deprivation. Instead of enlightened school reform, we grew Reform Schools-along with the darkness of violence and retribution. Play is the only thing that can eradicate the root system, and heal and rejuvenate our learning culture.
We need to stop playing by their rules and make our own, claim both high and common ground, claim our schools, and take command of the conversation by playing our own game.