“You Can’t Learn if You Don’t Play…”
The New Republic article, “Why Children Must Play: what the US can learn from Finland about ed reform,” captures a critical difference between attitudes in the United States and Finland about using play to power up learning. Samuel Abrams defines a key difference in how we approach education – a focus on children at work as learning in the United States vs. seeing the nature of children at play as core to learning in Finland. An excerpt from the story speaks to the Finns’ philosophy of play and learning:
“While observing recess outside the Kallahti Comprehensive School on the eastern edge of Helsinki on a chilly day in April 2009, I asked Principal Timo Heikkinen if students go out when it’s very cold. Heikkinen said they do. I then asked Heikkinen if they go out when it’s very, very cold. Heikkinen smiled and said, “If minus 15 [Celsius] and windy, maybe not, but otherwise, yes. The children can’t learn if they don’t play. The children must play.”
The brain needs the body to move to focus attention (Breithecker)If we adults ourselves don’t value play, why would we see it as valuable to children as learners? I recently heard
“While observing recess outside the Kallahti Comprehensive School on the eastern edge of Helsinki on a chilly day in April 2009, I asked Principal Timo Heikkinen if students go out when it’s very cold. Heikkinen said they do. I then asked Heikkinen if they go out when it’s very, very cold. Heikkinen smiled and said, “If minus 15 [Celsius] and windy, maybe not, but otherwise, yes. The children can’t learn if they don’t play. The children must play.”
The brain needs the body to move to focus attention (Breithecker)