Global Playshop
PLAYTELLIGENCE
Play & learning beyond borders
Can learning be more playful for both students and teachers?
Renowned educator and author Sir Ken Robinson, famously stated, "Creativity is as important as literacy." This sentiment underscores the fundamental role of play in education. Research supports the notion that play enhances cognitive abilities, creativity, and emotional intelligence. Dr. Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play, affirms, "Play shapes our brain, fosters empathy, and promotes adaptability."
Even neuroscientists have studied the neurological mechanisms underlying play and learning. Dr. Sergio Pellis, a researcher at the University of Lethbridge, notes, "Play is not frivolous; it's a powerful mode of learning that shapes the architecture of the developing brain." Through play, children engage in exploration, experimentation, and social interaction, laying the foundation for lifelong learning.
"PLAYTELLIGENCE: Play and Learning Beyond Borders" presents an opportunity to delve into the transformative power of play in education. This series of workshops will explore ways we learn and grow: young and old developing cognitively, creatively, emotionally through collective play. In a world where education is increasingly seen as a pathway to success, it's important to explore unconventional avenues that foster holistic development across generational lines.
Is it possible for learning and education to be more playful for both students and teachers? How can we play practically and philosophically in learning, teaching, problem solving, and communicating?
Join us on a journey of discovery at Global Play Brigade’s
June 2024 Global Playsop. Engage with teachers, students, researchers, lovers of knowledge, readers, educators, and learning enthusiasts from around the globe as we explore the transformative potential of play in education. Together, we'll unlock the boundless possibilities of PLAYTELLIGENCE and pave the way for a brighter, more playful future.
June 2024 Playtelligence Workshop Schedule
Friday, June 28 (June 29 in Asia-Pacific)
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Put On Your Dandelion Glasses: Regeneration through Nature & PlayList Item 1
Experience the world and life through a new perspective! Is the dandelion a weed or a flower? Are things up or down? It’s up to you! Put on your dandelion glasses and bring your playful spirit to explore the cycles of nature to reveal how you and other adults see (and want to see!) the journey of life. Make a wish and blow seeds of change and hope into the world!
Facilitators: Nancy Li (USA), Meiko Kojima (Japan) & Rev. Barbara Ann Michaels (USA)
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Improv for TeachersList Item 2
This session is all about PLAY for teachers. As a teacher, you may think that you're not allowed to make mistakes or that you don't want to make a fool of yourself. This session will give you the opportunity to step outside of the box and find a different version of yourself. We'll play games that make you laugh and feel like a kid again!
Facilitators: HikaLou Hie (Japan), Nicola Pauling (New Zealand), Luke Perone (USA) & Yvette Alcott (Australia)
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Let's Dance with Mistakes!List Item 3
Join our playful language workshop! Embrace the mindset "It’s OKAY to make mistakes!" Here, life and language aren't about right or wrong, and test scores don't define us. Mistakes lead to valuable feedback and joy. In this workshop, you will experience error correction as fun and inspiring, creating something new from each error. Enjoy making mistakes through improv games, playful settings, and overcome fears together. Let's make learning joyful, heartful, and meaningful!
Facilitators: Mamiko Miyamoto (Japan) & Ruby He (China)
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Improv & Fundraising
Fundraising is scary for many people. Exciting for others. And a vital necessity for the nonprofit world. Join us for a playful and improvisational session on fundraising. We will play with asking, listening, and other aspects of fundraising. Bring your enthusiasm, fears, joy, and playfulness.
Facilitators: Sue Davies (USA) & Jacob Fertig (USA)
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Embrace Uncertainty
While our world has always been uncertain, education continues to be dominated by the rigidity of a knowing paradigm. This disconnect often produces emotional pain and alienation from school. Creative educators, students and communities all around the world are discovering that if we shift away from a knowing paradigm and tap into improvisational learning, we can relate to history’s most uncertain moments by embracing, rather than receding from them. Join us for an exploration of the power of play, performance and improvisation for developmental learning in schools, communities and social movements.
Facilitators: HikaLou Hie (Japan) & Gwen Lowenheim (USA)
Saturday, June 29
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Rev Up Your Play-o-metre with Us!List Item 1
We will explore and co-create together, through play, how we can transform our real everyday classrooms, with real students, into playful spaces. Keep the text….play with the learning! Looking at our classrooms from outside the box, we’ll tweak traditional teaching methods to create joyful, collaborative, communicative, exciting and inspirational learning situations. We’ll have lots of serious fun, moving ourselves not only on the outside but also on the inside. We’ll FEEL the sensation of discovering why and how it’s important to make these changes NOW! It’s a playdate for teachers! Perfect for letting your inner child come out to play.
Facilitators: Susan Hillyard (Argentina), Leslie King (USA) & Eugenia Dell’Osa (Argentina)
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Play with Science & ArtsList Item 2
Explore experiences in and out of the classroom with tricks and tips for facilitating engagement! Bring your curiosity, presence, and authentic selves and co-create with us, through play and collaborative learning. Join the organizers of improvscience and Cultivating Ensembles and experience the interactive playful activities and methodology that have built virtual ensembles and produced an interdisciplinary, inclusive, and playful community.
Facilitators: Sofya Borinskaya (USA), Raquell Holmes (USA), Marisa Holzapfel (Germany), Barbara Natalizio (USA) & Carolyn Sealfon (Canada)
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Let's Dance with Mistakes!List Item 3
Join our playful language workshop! Embrace the mindset, "It’s OKAY to make mistakes!" Here, life and language aren't about right or wrong, and test scores don't define us. Mistakes lead to valuable feedback and joy. In this workshop, you will experience error correction as fun and inspiring, creating something new from each error. Enjoy making mistakes through improv games, playful settings, and overcome fears together. Let's make learning joyful, heartful, and meaningful!
Facilitators: Cristina Gioveni (Argentina), Mamiko Miyamoto (Japan) & Elizabeth Adams (Nigeria)
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Rediscovering EducationList Item 4
How do we learn and teach effectively? We need to break from many of the traditional methods which can be punitive, apply undue pressure on students, and make school drudgery for students and teachers alike. Let’s create new possibilities for learning and development using dance, games, and storytelling and bring joy into the classroom!
Facilitators: Ishita Sanyal, Medhavi Parmar, Father Rodney Borneo & Manisita Khastagir (India)
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Embrace Uncertainty
While our world has always been uncertain, education continues to be dominated by the rigidity of a knowing paradigm. This disconnect often produces emotional pain and alienation from school. Creative educators, students and communities all around the world are discovering that if we shift away from a knowing paradigm and tap into improvisational learning, we can relate to history’s most uncertain moments by embracing, rather than receding from them. Join us for an exploration of the power of play, performance and improvisation for developmental learning in schools, communities and social movements.
Facilitators: Gwen Lowenheim (USA), HikaLou Hie (Japan), Soufia Bensaïd (Tunisia) & The Gift (Nigeria)
WHAT IS A GLOBAL PLAYSHOP?
Play with strangers across the world
We host these massive virtual workshops four times per year for hundreds around the world.
Every attendee has the option of joining workshops that range from movement and music to emotional support. It’s like a multi-lingual conference of play. Our last Global Playshop was attended by people from over 29 countries including China, Nigeria, Ukraine, Serbia, Israel, Peru, and the UK. Will you join to build the movement?
How will it work? Think "conference" meets "party."
30-minutes - Welcome & Warmup Exercise
50-minutes - Choose one playshop to attend
10-minutes - Reflections & Goodbyes
NEXT GLOBAL PLAYSHOP
JUNE 2024
THEME: PLAYTELLIGENCE
I’m super excited to join the workshop! But…What exactly will happen during this workshop?
Thank you for your curiosity! Here’s what’s gonna happen;
1. You will change your Name on Zoom with your first name and country
2. We will tell you about ‘Playtelligence’
3. We will explain what Global Play Brigade really is
4. We will introduce a lineup of the workshops ready for you
5. You will choose which workshop to join
6. You will join the breakout room for the workshop you’ve chosen
7. You will participate in the workshop for 50 minutes
8. You will come back to the mainroom after the workshop is over
9. We will have a reflection session as a whole
10. We will inform you about next GPB workshop and more events
How to Use Zoom
1. Oh wow…so much to happen!!!!! By the way, How can I change my name on Zoom?
You can hover above your picture until you see the three dots. Click the three dots and you should see the option to rename yourself. If you’re still having trouble, just drop your name and country in the chat.
2. Okay, I think I can do that, thanks. Hmm…How can I join a Breakout Room?
Don’t worry, it’s quite simple. First, please check the descriptions of each workshop above. Once you decide which workshop you’d like to take, you can rename yourself with the number of the breakout room you’d like to join.
Or, if you’re fairly comfortable with Zoom, you can just join the breakout like you usually do.
Here is a video that tells you how to join a breakout room
on zoom. Check it out!
Wonderful! Now I think I am ready. Oh, one more thing! Do you have any language support during the workshop?
Currently we do not have any translation system that supports non-English speaking friends unfortunately…But our facilitators are all globally talented and they can support you in languages like Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish! We hope to purchase an AI translation tool in the future but we need your help to do that. Let us explain more in the workshop!
Help! Where is my join link?
These workshops are virtual and you will need a Zoom link to join.
You will receive the join link in your email after registering on Eventbrite or Zoom.
