Most of us think of games when we hear playing. But playing is not just about games. Playing has important traits that can be used as a portal to learning. Playing helps you tap into focus and embrace frustration - two important learning components.
We played more when we were younger. We played and explored without overthinking. Everything was a huge experiment for us, and we tried, failed, and learned. But this changed while growing up. Our playful and unconventional exploration style slowly transformed itself into something serious, linear, and anxious.
Learning nowadays feels more like a drill. We are so goal-oriented that we just want a set of instructions, memorize them, and we are done. But learning is much more than that. Learning is nonlinear, recursive and excursive. Recursive meaning: you have to rethink, re-understanding and re-practice to find and answer gaps and questions in your understanding. Excursive because your learning journey is not the same as someone else’s. You have another set of preknowledge which helps or even hinders your understanding of new concepts.
We should embrace play as a learning style and mindset again. Moving from seriousness and linearity towards playfulness and unconventional exploration.
Play can increase our focus. Once we start playing, nothing in the world can distract us or pull us away from it. We lose the sense of time and we are just immersed in what we are doing.
Play lets us explore and test without any judgment. If you play, you don’t put any pressure on yourself. You have an idea and you just tinker with it. Either it works or it doesn’t. Play helps you embrace uncertainty and reduce frustration at the same time.
Play lets you repeatedly practice. Because there is no judgment on doing it poorly at first, we also tend to play and practice repeatedly; over and over until we master a skill. This repetitive practice despite frustration and confusion helps you to learn.
Tapping into play for learning won’t happen with a set of given instructions. It is more a mindset we have to develop rather than a hack which can be simply applied. We have to repeatedly remind ourselves that a playful mindset is the key to learning; not a serious mindset where frustration drives us away from learning. Play can be a powerful portal to learning.
