1. PYP Connect 2016: Derek Pinchbeck www.thirstforthinking.org
Why do we stop children being playful learners then worry about how to make them creative?
PYP Connect 2016: Derek Pinchbeck

2. Learning Outcomes
Understand the importance of a playful mindset in the learning process
Reflecting upon how a culture of playful learning and creativity can be developed.
Empowering teachers to make their classrooms more creative

3. Ice Breaker
How do your students know what you value in your class?

4. What is play?
Play is self chosen and self directed
Play is an activity in which means are more valued than ends
Play has a structure or rules that are not dictated by physical necessity but emanate from the minds of players
Play is imaginative
Play involves an active, alert, but non- stressed frame of mind

5. What is the school experience of many children
Teacher directed
Valued only as a means to achieve a grade or other external reward
Has a structure and rules emanating from the minds of the teachers rather than the students
Lacks active imaginative engagement
Involves passive students in a stressed frame of mind

6. Provocation
Play isn’t the enemy of learning, it’s learning’s partner. Play is like fertilizer for brain growth. It’s crazy not to use it.
Brown S (2010) p101

7. Twitter Challenge
Justify in 140 characters or less why you try to develop a playful mindset to learning?

8. Envision a culture of creativity
David Gauntlett & Bo Stjerne Thomsen 2013

9. 4 Key Elements to a Culture of Creativity
Playing
Thinking
Making
Sharing

10. Provocation
If you could do just one thing to make the culture of your class room more creative what would it be?

11. Three domains that result in creativity : Teresa Ambile

12. Obstacles to making your classroom more creative
Time
Resources
Perceptions of student ability
Assessment

13. Time Creativity takes time. Be purposeful and strategic
What knowledge and skills do students need to be able to create?

14. Deep immersion into ideas
Discovery
Deep immersion into ideas
Synthesis/Empathy
Problem posing

15. Creating
Ideation
Prototyping
Testing

16. Resources
Resource for versatility.
If something tells you what you can do with it, it probably won’t aid creativity!
Let students self select.

17. Provocation
Great resources don’t have to cost the earth. It’s not the cost its what you do with it!
Make a pitch to the group for a particular resource to empower creativity in your class. The resource must cost less than $100 and ideally is free.

19. Perceptions of Student Abilities: Rosenthal/Pygmalion Effect

20. Sharing our expertise
Think of something you currently teach in a ‘drier’ way than you would like.
Share the challenge
Help each other with ideas to use play as ‘learning’s partner’ to help students engage with the same concept and content.

21. Assessment : Allowing for creativity
Are you clear what you are assessing?
This is the part everyone has to include.
What bits of the assessment allow for student choice and creativity in showing the assessed understanding?

22. Show the group your main take away from this webinar so far. You can:
Practical Example
Show the group your main take away from this webinar so far. You can:
Create an analogy: Creativity is like…. because…
Compose a newspaper headline.
Design an advertising slogan
Present in a way of your own choosing.

23. How has the environment I’ve created inspired learning?
Mental check sheet
How has the environment I’ve created inspired learning?
Have learners been able to exercise a degrees of autonomy over their own learning?
Have my learners been able to take on a range of different group roles whilst creating meaning?
Have my learners had a chance to play with ideas and objects prior to creating?
Have my learners created something of meaning to them?
Have learners been able to share what they have created with people important to them?

24. Final Thought
Instead of making kindergarten more like the rest of school, we need to make the rest of school-indeed the rest of life- more like kindergarten.
Mitch Resnick: Life Long Kindergarten

25. References and recommended resources
Brown, S (2010) Play
Brown, S TED Talk
Gauntlett, D & Stjerne Thomsen, B (2013): Cultures of Creativity (
Gray, P ( 2013) Free to Play
Grob- Zakhary (2013) Neuroscience of Play (Video)
Robinson K (2015) Creative Schools
Rochat, P (2013) Why play? The meaning of play in relation to creativity
Pinchbeck, D

26. Recommended resources
Ambile T (1988) : A model of creativity and innovations in organizations
Great resource for creativity and play research and source for the video in slide 4 and image in slide 13
Free download of Design Thinking Tool Kit
Martenez S & Stager G (2013) Invent to Learn also page of the website linked to the book gives list of all resources
Excellent source of free Design Thinking Resources
Robinson K (2015) Creative Schools
Wagner T (2012) Creating Innovators: The making of young people who will change the world.