Play as transformative information literacy education
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Talk given as part of Lilac 2018 in Liverpool, UK. Abstract: Public play is a political act (Koh, 2014; De Koven, 2014, p. 160). It demonstrates to anyone watching an attitude towards life, towards education, towards society. An attitude that tends towards experimentation, challenge, social fairness, and an embracing of the power of fun. Any public demonstration and signalling of play invites others to play (Goffman, 1974; Glenn & Knapp, 1987), whether directly in the act itself, or through other activities that echo that play. It gives others implicit permission to play in their turn, and "permission", publicly given or given by the player to themselves, is a critical factor in enabling play. This talk will outline how encouraging playfulness in the Information Literacy classroom can enable socially constructed meaning (Berger & Luckmann, 1966) of the information landscape to emerge in students (Walsh, 2015). This approach particularly matches the teaching of skills to improve information literacy, as information literacy itself is a socially constructed concept (Lloyd, 2005, Elmborg, 2006). Playful Information Literacy teaching can help critical interactions with information in a way that encourages and enables action from your learners, within and without your classroom, in a “safe” and creative environment (Francis, 2009; Gauntlett, 2011). It encourages a playful approach to formal and informal learning, important for critical social engagement with political issues (Koh, 2014) as well as increased creativity (Chang, Hsu & Chen, 2011). This session will also cover how play can give permission for your learners to challenge their understanding of a topic and gain deeper understanding, helping to create a transformative learning environment as opposed to one that concentrates on the echoing of facts and basic skills. This talk will be a mixture of theory, practical examples, and paper aeroplanes. Attendees will learn some basic theories of play including the “magic circle” and key attributes of play (Huizinga, 1955; Brown & Vaughan, 2010). They will also learn some examples of playful training techniques that they could apply in their own practice.
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Play as transformative information literacy education
- 1. Play as transformative Information Literacy education Andrew Walsh Teaching Fellow, University of Huddersfield Trainer / Publisher, Innovative Libraries OŰ Training Officer, CILIP Information Literacy Group @playbrarian http://innovativelibraries.org.uk/ LILAC, 2018 https://teachkit.org.uk/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
- 2. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License 1) Everyone please tell the person next to them your favourite game 2) Everyone stand up! Stay standing if you use play or games in your work 3) A secret challenge…
- 3. IL is socially constructed… … so it helps to have pedagogical approach that enables socially constructed meaning to emerge. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
- 4. (Koh, 2014; De Koven, 2014) This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
- 5. We need permission to play (Goffman, 1974; Glenn & Knapp, 1987) This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
- 6. play is Apparently Purposeless (done for its own sake); Voluntary; has Inherent Attraction; Freedom from time; Diminished consciousness of self; Improvisational potential; and Continuation desire. Brown & Vaughan (2010) This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (Also: Huizinga, 1955)
- 7. play is Apparently Purposeless (done for its own sake); Voluntary; has Inherent Attraction; Freedom from time; Diminished consciousness of self; Improvisational potential; and Continuation desire. Brown & Vaughan (2010) This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (Also: Huizinga, 1955)
- 8. People can play alone, but play is inherently social and tends towards social interactions. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
- 9. • IL is socially constructed • Playful learning suits socially constructed learning… … if we can give permission to play This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
- 10. Thanks for listening… More stuff: • Twitter: @playbrarian • Email: andywalsh@innovativelibraries.org.uk • Or: a.p.walsh@hud.ac.uk • Slides at: ????????????????? • http://innovativelibraries.org.uk • Some games & materials to buy: http://teachkit.org.uk This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
- 11. References, etc. Note that all images my own, except where otherwise stated. • Berger, P. L. and T. Luckmann (1966). The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books. • Brown, S. L., & Vaughan, C. C. (2010). Play: how it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul. New York: Avery • Chang, C., Hsu, C., & Chen, I. (2013). The relationship between the playfulness climate in the classroom and student creativity. Quality & Quantity, 47(3), 1493-1510 • De Koven, B (2014). A playful path. Halifax, Canada: ETC Press. • Elmborg, J. (2006). Critical Information Literacy: Implications for Instructional Practice. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 32 (2), pp. 192-199. • Francis, P. (2009). Inspiring writing in art and design: taking a line for a write. Bristol, UK: Intellect. • Glenn, P. Knapp, M. (1987). The interactive framing of play in adult conversations. Communication Quarterly, 35 (1), pp. 48-66. • Gauntlett, D. (2011). Making is connecting: the social meaning of creativity, from DIY and knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0. Cambridge: Polity. • Goffman,E. (1974). Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. New York: Harper & Row. • Huizinga, J. (1955). Homo Ludens: A study of the play element in culture. Boston: Beacon Press. • Koh, A (2014). The political power of play. Hybrid Pedagogy: . Retreived from: http://www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/political-power-of-play/ • Lloyd, A. (2005). Information literacy: Different contexts, different concepts, different truths? Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. 37 (2), pp. 82-88. • Walsh, Andrew (2015). Playful Information Literacy: Play and information Literacy in Higher Education. Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education, 7 (1). pp. 80-94. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Editor's Notes
- Public play is a political act (Koh, 2014; De Koven, 2014, p. 160). It demonstrates to anyone watching an attitude towards life, towards education, towards society. An attitude that tends towards experimentation, challenge, social fairness, and an embracing of the power of fun. Any public demonstration and signalling of play invites others to play (Goffman, 1974; Glenn & Knapp, 1987), whether directly in the act itself, or through other activities that echo that play. It gives others implicit permission to play in their turn, and "permission", publicly given or given by the player to themselves, is a critical factor in enabling play. This talk will outline how encouraging playfulness in the Information Literacy classroom can enable socially constructed meaning (Berger & Luckmann, 1966) of the information landscape to emerge in students (Walsh, 2015). This approach particularly matches the teaching of skills to improve information literacy, as information literacy itself is a socially constructed concept (Lloyd, 2005, Elmborg, 2006). Playful Information Literacy teaching can help critical interactions with information in a way that encourages and enables action from your learners, within and without your classroom, in a “safe” and creative environment (Francis, 2009; Gauntlett, 2011). It encourages a playful approach to formal and informal learning, important for critical social engagement with political issues (Koh, 2014) as well as increased creativity (Chang, Hsu & Chen, 2011). This session will also cover how play can give permission for your learners to challenge their understanding of a topic and gain deeper understanding, helping to create a transformative learning environment as opposed to one that concentrates on the echoing of facts and basic skills. This talk will be a mixture of theory, practical examples, and paper aeroplanes. Attendees will learn some basic theories of play including the “magic circle” and key attributes of play (Huizinga, 1955; Brown & Vaughan, 2010). They will also learn some examples of playful training techniques that they could apply in their own practice. This session will include play and will expect a willingness to (gently) play from attendees. It may also contain bubbles.
- Do some sort of initial play exercise (short), into to me & the short talk. Pass the parcel – 3 questions, 2 public (1 for afterwards!) 20 mins (+10 mins questions & handover)
- It demonstrates to anyone watching an attitude towards life, towards education, towards society. An attitude that tends towards experimentation, challenge, social fairness, and an embracing of the power of fun.
- From ourselves, and from others. Any public demonstration and signalling of play invites others to play (Goffman, 1974; Glenn & Knapp, 1987), whether directly in the act itself, or through other activities that echo that play. It gives others implicit permission to play in their turn, and "permission", publicly given or given by the player to themselves, is a critical factor in enabling play. Build up stuff from Goffman / frames / keyings here? Probably keyings… give loads of examples? From ourselves, from others, and also to deliberately flag up to others that this is “ok” to do… So, lots of examples of keyings in this talk – pass the parcel. Bubbles. T-Shirt (maybe?). The language I used giving implicit permission, as well as any explicit permissions. May be more later… These are examples you can use in your own work. Refer to bubbles I might have left around the room?
- When we play, we step into a place where “different rules apply”. Sometimes referred to as the “magic circle” of play. Safe, able to inhabit other characters / see o Other points of view, we can be more critical than normal – the play allows us to do so without risk. Give example of how we can set this up? Example game – escape room in a box. Instantly demarked an area that was separate to the normal world – created easily a magic circle… Play has loads of benefits… … I see the main purpose of games as delivering play. Good for exploring ideas Safe Creative Inviting Low risk (for participants) Thinking with your hands Good for active learning Construct own knowledge Expose people to new ideas Reinforce facts by repetition Memorable!
- Creativity / adaptability. Can get out of it what they need to, changing rules to suit. As Bernie says” In a Game Community, the rules and officials decide if the players are good enough to play. If not, they change players. In a Play Community, the players decide if the game is fun enough to play. If not, they change rules.” www.deepfun.com To me, this flexibility is a key reason to use games and play in education. Use games! But don’t force it. Don’t force people to stick to learning outcomes, just make sure they leave equipped to get there at some point (if they need to) Give example of a game? SEEK! – simple card game, set rules. Nearly every time I play it, one group wants to do something slightly different – I don’t just allow that when facilitating it, I encourage and enable it as best as I can. It’s hard to adapt a worksheet or exercise to suit your own needs. Easy to adapt a game.
- People gravitate to play too. Social play is the “norm” more than individual play, so suits completely the idea that we can work on developing knowledge as a group (social constructivism Give example of a game? Most are social! But how about referencing game – construct parts of a reference as a game –whole group builds references, so allows people to do as much or little ref building as they are comfortable with, but then everyone looks for patterns, all equally valued, all work towards constructing their knowledge. SO not just me saying, “do this because of the reason I think its important”
- Do paper aeroplane exercise at end? Or another playful thing?