1. The issue of play in HE
LEGO in HE event, London 21 July 2015
Dr Alison James
Associate Dean Teaching and Learning
London College of Fashion
@alisonrjames
Chrissi Nerantzi
Principal Lecturer Academic CDP
Centre for Excellence in Learning & Teaching
@chrissinerantzi

2. Play in work, play in learning
photograph David Stephenson www.cockermouth.org.uk

3. Thoughts and theories about play
Stuart Brown
– play
needing
purpose
Brian Sutton-
Smith
The opposite
of play is
depression

4. What kinds of play?
Free, open
without
agenda
Fantasy,
emulation
collaborative competitive
Rule-bound
Rule-
breaking
solitary gamified
http://kuwaitiful.com/youtube/cat-playing-piano-in-orchestra/

5. Playing and being playful…
• Is exploratory
• Galvanizes imagination
• Frees thinking of constraint
• Reduces inhibitions
• Bonds people
• Creates alternatives
• Simulates reality safely
• Carves out fresh pathways
• Enters the unknown
• Throws everything into question
http://www.mnkstudio.com/blog/freedom/

6. Lego Serious Play
• …is a systematic set of techniques and applications which allow
participants to explore complex issues or topics with no immediate
obvious answer.
• …uses metaphor, symbolism and association…
• Each activity involves a four part process of posing a question, building,
sharing and reflecting
• Builders own the meaning in their model
• Models can be individual and joint, small and large: whole landscapes of
situations can be created, ‘what ifs’ can be safely explored
• Sessions last from between two hours to one day (shorter activities also
possible)

7. Spider Hand Mobile
phone cradle
Hairdryer Tiddly-wink
game
Dennis the
Menace
Lego holders Upside down
saucer
A piece of
jewellery
Weird crab Ink blot Blob
Hair clip Melted
frisbee
Plant stand
Octopus Base to
launch a
rocket
A garment
worn by
Janet Jackson

8. Where has LSP been used at LCF/UAL?
• For student PPD
• To think about student
engagement
• To reflect on roles
• To think about progress and
planning
• In industry collaborations
• To understand topics better
• For academic support
• To understand threshold
concepts
• For evaluation & course
monitoring
• to explore team identity
• To develop consensus and
share ideas
• To build connections between
people
• To explore sustainability
• To share conceptions of how
we motivate learning
• In doctoral study
• For professional development
outside the university/abroad
• In a Community of Practice
• For strategy planning
• To facilitate major change
• For writing books

9. Alison’s Lego PPD Workshop
• Entirely international
• L4 course, 1 year
• C1000 students to date
• Trained 7 tutors to co-
deliver LSP session
• Lego workshop, ‘Pod’
video diary using
Brookfield’s CIQ, written
self-analysis
• Warm up skills and use of
metaphor
• Build models of their
learning journeys – skills ,
attributes, feelings,
experiences, changes etc
• Share, discuss, review
• Develop (‘double click’)
• ‘Gifting’ for each other

10. Team
identity

11. Doctoral induction with LEGO
How do you
feel about
being here?
What do you
want your
research to
be/look like?
What do you
want most to
achieve with
your
research?
How did
you get
here?
What is most
important to
you in
embarking on
your PhD?
What most
worries/excites
you about where
you are right
now?

12. Writing books with LSP models

13. “Building the intangible into
physical models, and
articulating and visualising data
can help us see what we may
otherwise be missing, and find
the surprising patterns.”
(Kristiansen & Rasmussen,
2014, 215)

14. from empirical LEGO® use
to an evidence-based LEGO® approach
to LEGO® Serious Play®
to further experimentation with LEGO® &
other materials
activity > workshop > course > interwoven
into module > research
my explorative journey driven by curiosity

15. Academic development
• PGCAP core module professional discussion
• PgCert core modules (identity)
• PgCert/MA (Creativity optional module)
Learning through making, identity,
community
• LEGO in HE workshop series part 1 and 2
Learning and teaching
• Undergraduate provision (opening up and
community building)
Evaluation
• Undergraduate provision (evaluating
module) using an appreciative enquiry-
based approach
Research
• Focus group (Athena Swan Award) Science
and Engineering Faculty, gain insights into
the staff experience and potential
challenges, ideas generation

16. before
•guidelines
shared
•LEGO models
(30 mins)
during (30
mins)
•share learning
journey using
the LEGO model
•engage in a
conversation
•reflection
•assessment
after
•feedback
provided in
minutes
•further
reflection
through social
media
•sharing
Postgraduate Certificate in
Academic Practice (@PGCAP)
2010-2013
(University of Salford)

17. “This model shows my movement from black and white, linear teaching towards a broader
understanding of good teaching and a greater sense of adventure and experimentation in my
own practice- moving into colour !!”
Dr Sian Etherington
http://pgcapsianetherington.wordpress.com/professional-discussion/
Results
relaxed
more reflective
articulate with more ease
metaphors richness of
learning and impact of
module on practice
deeper conversations
unconscious learning
assessment: “informal”
discussion with peers

18. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/13463088623_2bfb319f8d_z.jpg
“LEGO therapy! Would
also be useful to do at
the beginning of a new
unit!” student
“The familiar, playful and simplistic
form of Lego was why many of the
group (who did not identify as being
creative or confident) felt so
comfortable with using it as a prop to
express their thoughts and feelings. The
group focused more on the feedback as
a whole reflective process, rather than
being distracted by answering set
questions.” student
Using LSP to evaluate an undergraduate
module at MMU
“Reflecting on using LSP to evaluate the
unit, I have to say that it was a refreshing
process. It somehow made me, the
lecturer, invisible and enabled me to
observe my own students and actively
listen to their experiences and stories. I
think, using LSP to evaluate a unit, made
the students understand better the role
they play in their own learning. Through
their stories they revealed that they now
have realised that learning is not a one-
way street of receiving information from
the lecturer but that they play an essential
role in their own way of learning and
appreciate each other’s uniqueness that
does enrich their own learning experience
individually and collectively. “ Lecturer

19. Hollings Faculty,
MMU
• Nutrition 21 Level 4 Unit
• Used LEGO after induction
during first session to get to
know each other and share
expectations
• 50% facilitated by external to
the unit colleague and with
lecturer participation
• 50% facilitated by lecturer
Students: opened-up, to work in groups AND on
own, want variety, to be connected with peers
outside the classroom
Using LSP for community building within an
undergraduate module at MMU

20. • Spreading the bug
• Idea for Creativity for
learning module was
born
• LEGO in HE workshop
series (see below)
LEGO in HE part 1 LEGO in HE part 2
Workshop 1 Introduction to LEGO(R)
Serious Play(R), the method and
applications: identity and community
building
workshop 2 Developing reflection using LSP
workshop Ideas generation using LSP
workshop 1 Scoping the design/review of a
unit/course using LSP
workshop 2 Appreciative evaluation using
LSP
workshop 3 Experimenting beyond LSP and
LEGO
https://youtu.be/NoWwdidOiSY
Academic development linked to LEGO for
learning and teaching at MMU
These workshops are linked to FLEX MA level modules (15 and 30 credits)
and colleagues can work towards FLEX [LEGO in HE]

21. Pedagogical Playground model
(Nerantzi, 2015)
Three main theories of teaching
(Ramsden, 2008)
Playground 1.0 supervised > feeling safe,
developing trust
Theory 1: Teaching as telling, transmission
or delivery - PASSIVE
Playground 2.0 participatory > gaining
playful confidence through guided
playful learning
Theory 2: Teaching as organising or
facilitating student activity - ACTIVE
Playground 3.0 self-determined >
autonomy, developing and sustaining
play-active practice
Theory 3: Teaching as making learning
possible – SELF-DIRECTED
Nerantzi, C. (2015) The Playground Model for Creative Professional Development, In: Nerantzi,
C. & James, A. (eds.) (2015) Exploring Play in Higher Education, Creative Academic Magazine,
Issue 2A, June 2015, pp. 40-50, available at http://www.creativeacademic.uk/
Creativity for learning module: Learning through making using LSP at MMU

22. Community Spaces
– Connecting
people
Open Spaces -
Expansive minds
Story Spaces -
Connecting
hearts
Making Spaces –
Connecting hands
Thinking Spaces –
Connecting minds
Unit Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, participants will be able to:
• Critically discuss creative teaching as a driver for student engagement
and learning in their own professional context.
• Develop and implement an innovation in their own practice.
• Critically evaluate their innovation.
2 terms
practice-based assessment – implement and evaluate an innovation
Digital portfolios owned by students

23. • Innovative projects
• Greenhouse contributions
• Academic posters
• Conference workshops
• Published articles
Nerantzi, C. & James, A. (eds.) (2015)
Exploring Play in Higher Education,
Creative Academic Magazine, Issue 2a,
Issue 2b, June 2015, available at
http://www.creativeacademic.uk/magazin
e.html

24. Summer Conference, 15 July 2015
Creative and playful conference contributions by colleagues on the Creativity module

25. References
Brown, S. (2010) Play. How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul, London: Avery, Penguin.
Gauntlett, D. (2011) Making is connecting. The social meaning of creativity, from DIY and knitting to YouTube and Web2.0, Cambridge: Polity
Press.
Geary, J. (2012) I is an other, The secret life of metaphor and how it shapes the way we see the world, New York: Harper Perennial.
Hallgrimsson, B. (2012) Prototyping and Modelmaking for Product Design, London: Laurence King Publishing.
Marton, F. (1994) Phenomenography as a Research Approach, in: Husen, T. And Postlethwaite, N, (2nd ed) The International Encyclopedia
of Education, Vol. 8, Pergamon, pp. 4424-4429, available athttp://www.ped.gu.se/biorn/phgraph/civil/main/1res.appr.html [accessed 72
December 2012].
Moon, J. (2010) Using Story In Higher Education and Professional Development, Oxon: Routledge.
Nerantzi, C. and Despard, C. (submitted) Lego models to aid reflection. Enhancing the summative assessment experience in the context of
Professional Discussions within accredited Academic Development provision, Innovations in Education and Teaching International.
Owens, T. (2012) Hitting the nail on the head: the importance of specific staff development for effective blended learning, in: Innovations in
Education and Teaching International, Vol. 49, No. 4, November 2012, 389-400.
Palmer, P. J. (2007) The Courage to teach. Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Papert, S. and Harel, I. (1991) Situating Constructionism, in: Constructionism, Norwood: Ablex Publishing, Available from:
http://www.papert.org/articles/SituatingConstructionism.html [accessed 1 January 2013]
Schön, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.