Emer Ring & Lisha O'Sullivan - Revolutionising Education Through Play

LEGO Literacy Alert!

Around the 38-minute mark, Emer and Lisha use LEGO to answer some questions.

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Hello there!

We’re Dr. Jane Hession and Ronan Healy. We’re a husband and wife team and co-founders of the service design studio How Might We - www.howmightwe.design

We're passionate about Play and provide online and in-house training in the LEGO Serious Play method to:

1) Third-level Educators - https://bit.ly/LSP_Ed_Innovators

2) Organisational Innovators - https://bit.ly/LSP_Org_Innovators

Episode Six

A global conference about ‘Revolutionising Education Through Play’ Nonsense! We need more STEM! Play has done nothing for society!

‘Revolutionising Education Through Play’ may seem like a grandiose statement, but having spoken with our wonderful guests, we think it's entirely appropriate. Professor Emer Ring and Dr Lisha O’Sullivan should give us hope that the education system many of us struggled in is now being ‘revolutionised’ for young learners globally.

While we’re at it, let's get grandiose and ancestral and consider ‘Revolutionising Society Through Play’. Look back through human history. Play has always been a fundamental aspect of society. From ancient civilisations using games to teach important skills and values to Indigenous cultures integrating play into rituals and ceremonies, the role of play in shaping societal norms, values, and behaviours cannot be overstated.

Therefore, ‘Revolutionising Education Through Play’ inevitably leads to revolutionising society through play, as it influences how children and adults interact and contribute meaningfully to their communities and local ecology.

Conference

https://www.mic.ul.ie/faculty-of-education/conference/play2024

Emer who?

Professor Emer Ring is the Dean of Education at Mary Immaculate College (MIC). Emer has been the principal investigator on various national research projects covering early childhood, primary and post-primary education, inclusion, child/student voice, pedagogy and autism. She has published widely in the area of education.

Contact Details

https://www.mic.ul.ie/staff/669-emer-ring 

Emer's Research

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Emer-Ring 

Dr Lisha O’Sullivan is the Head of the Department of Reflective Pedagogy and Early Childhood Studies at Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Limerick. Lisha lectures across early childhood and teacher education programmes at MIC and supervises research in early childhood education at undergraduate, Master's and PhD levels. 

Contact Details

https://www.mic.ul.ie/staff/171-lisha-osullivan

Lisha's Research

https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Lisha-OSullivan-2139633477 

Topics Covered

Paul Ramchandani

https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/people/staff/ramchandani/ 

Tim Gill

https://rethinkingchildhood.com/about/ 

Minding Bodies: How Physical Space, Sensation, and Movement Affect Learning

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Minding-Bodies-Physical-Sensation-Education/dp/1949199991 

Jean Piaget - Four Development Stages

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaget%27s_theory_of_cognitive_development 

Lev Vygotsky - Theory Of Cognitive Development

https://www.structural-learning.com/post/vygotskys-theory 

Reggio Emilia Approach

https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/reggio-emilia-approach/

 

Loris Malaguzzi

https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/reggio-emilia-approach/loris-malaguzzi/ 

Robert Root-Bernstein

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Root-Bernstein

Timestamps

(0:00) - Introduction and welcome

(3:09) - Guests sharing their childhood play experiences

(18:45) - Benefits of play for young children in the early years

(24:01) - Creating play spaces for children

(27:45) - Integrating play-based pedagogy in the classroom

(29:01) - Child and teacher agency in education

(30:29) - Adult playfulness and creativity in the workplace and personal lives

(34:55) - Role of play in leadership and organizational effectiveness

(38:29) - LEGO build 1: What inspires you about your work?