Archive | February, 2011

Thinking and Learning

This month, the Royal Society has published its latest report on neuroscience and education, Brainwaves 2.  It is a gloriously positive assessment of learning and the contribution science can make to fulfilling its potential. The report’s summary suggests that the fertile common ground between the disciplines offers a “future where educational practice can be transformed […]

Families that play together

There’s a lot of research that seems to state the blindingly obvious but sometimes it is reassuring to discover that our innate beliefs are sound.  Like having a local park improves your health or this piece from Concordia University published in the journal Family Relations that reminds us that families that play together are more […]

New connections; common ideas

One of the joys of being able to publish ideas online is the ability to make entirely new connections with people one would never otherwise meet. This weekend I’ve had the pleasure of being introduced (virtually) to two really interesting thinkers and practitioners in fields of play and learning – Lois Holzman and Jim Martinez.  […]

Rewarding learning

My little girl was ‘Star of the Week’ at her school last week for ‘great number work.’  She was ecstatic to receive the recognition.  And it’s a big encouragement to her to keep on trying.  I’m very proud of her. Coincidentally but far more trivially, I went up a level in Modern Warfare 2.   […]

Reflecting on gameplay

I lose a lot of games. In fact, on balance I almost certainly lose more times than I win.  But I’m not going to let it get me down.  Repeated failure in games demonstrates a number of important aspects of in-game learning.  The fact that getting it wrong, often terminally, is an intrinsic part of […]

Risk-taking reality

I am working with the University of Bradford to think about creativity and it’s got me thinking about risk-taking.  If creativity is about doing something new, something fresh, something novel, then inevitably it includes a degree of risk: the risk that the idea won’t solve the problem, the risk that it’s different to expectations, that […]

What is school for?

I was party to a fascinating discussion with colleagues from the RSA yesterday about the nature of education: asking the basic question – what’s the point of school? Catalysed by the change in UK government, there seems to be a battle between the idea of school being a place for ‘transferring a body of knowledge’ […]