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Insights from Ben Mardell's Interactive Session on Playful Learning and the Pedagogy of Play

“Play is more than an activity to make time for, it is a strategy for learning.” Ben Mardell, the project director of the Pedagogy of Play team at Project Zero, led an interactive session on playful learning with the Fellows of Salzburg Global’s Education Policymakers Network.

The session happened during May 2023’s Breadth of Skills: Education Transformation and focused on the main insights from the book A Pedagogy of Play: Supporting playful learning in classrooms and schools. This was the result of a collaboration between Project Zero and the LEGO Foundation, as “the LEGO Foundation’s mission is to promote learning through play around the world in lots of different contexts. They came to Project Zero wanting to start an initiative around bringing more playfulness into schools.”

During the session, Ben Mardell engaged the Fellows in activities that foster a playful mindset, such as discussing a drawing of a “playful city” and describing individuals who embody the characteristics of playful learners. Through these activities, the Fellows explored the relationship between play and learning.

Ben posed three main questions to the Fellows: What does learning look like? Where does learning thrive? What is worth knowing both for today and tomorrow?

Playful learning intends “to cultivate a sense of playfulness that allows kids in a variety of learning situations, contexts, and age groups to lead their own learning, explore the unknown, and find joy in their learning.” Ben emphasized that learning through play is universal, but its specific manifestation should be determined by individuals in their cultural contexts.

In a playful school culture, children should be encouraged to ask “what if” questions and “engage in complex global issues like the climate crisis, inequality, and racism… to engage, there needs to be a sense of playfulness where kids have some agency to decide what is compelling to them,” said Ben. The goal is for children to “believe they have the right and responsibility to ask questions, explore, engage, and learn together.” But how can a playful school culture be created?

Teachers play an important role in shaping the school culture. “To have active, engaged, and empowered kids, we need active, engaged, and empowered teachers,” explained Ben. Policymakers are also responsible, as they should “create a condition for [educators] to feel a sense that they can try things out, take risks, and know that they can do the right thing for their local circumstances.” Building trust between teachers and policymakers is key to fostering a playful school culture.

To support playful learning in classrooms and schools, the Pedagogy of Play offers a range of tools that help educators deliver their curriculum in a playful way. This research was conducted across countries, age groups, and disciplines, making it valuable for the diverse group of education leaders present at the Salzburg Global program.

Ben highlighted two key takeaways from the session. First, “play is not an activity, it is a mindset” which should be embraced by both educators and students. Second, there is “more than one way” for playful learning to thrive and education systems should allow for flexibility and diverse ways of engaging in lessons, accessing information, and demonstrating learning.

In embracing the power of play and cultivating a playful school culture, we can empower young learners to explore, discover, and create. In turn, this will foster a generation of leaders, critical thinkers, and compassionate global citizens.