In a paper entitled ‘The Future of Learning’, Gauntlett et al (2011) examine learning as the major process of human adaptation and explore four aspects: the individual learner; the learning experience; the learning relationship; and the learning context. [onion diagram] The paper is published for the Lego Learning Institute and offers many valuable insights into learning. The authors conclude that the learning of the future is “… a process in which the creative reflective learner identifies a question or problem linked to their own interests (connecting), experiments with solutions (exploring), and implements these in new situations (transforming)…. [this learning model] positions creativity as the most central aspect of learning: having the confidence to try new things, experiment with the world, and share the results to bring out value for others” (Gauntlett et al, 2011, p.7).

 

   I connect strongly with these views. Some years ago I co-wrote a series of workshops around the topic of Leadership and for one activity, students worked in small groups with Lego bricks to achieve a common goal. It was always a favourite and demonstrated the learning goal well, particularly as it encouraged their creativity.

 

   As a somewhat creative person myself, I appreciate the freedom to do things my own way and to have a degree of autonomy over what I do. I suspect that many people are like this. Perhaps not all though - whether through personality or expectation of what learning should look like, some people may find the idea of ‘play’ and creative activities too strange and ‘childish’ (which are two of the reasons why it is so effective). However my experience has been that, if such sceptics do give it a go, and if they can see clear learnings, many of them grow to appreciate such activities. The facilitator needs to monitor the mood of the group however and take action to reframe or formalise the activity if the group dynamic is not productive.