Play and Inquiry

Play and Inquiry

Imagine a car driven by curiosity and wonder to journey beyond, AND/OR by pleasure to be immersed in a state and flow of ‘the now’ to wallow and savour that moment in time. Two fuel gauges - one for inquiry, the other for play.  Most of the time, both curiosity and pleasure bring fuel to the fire,  but it is possible that it is mostly one, or even one alone! I do not see them in competition with each other. They are sources of energy to light a fire in each and every learner, for them to be excited about the infinite opportunities to play and inquire way beyond the space and time of ‘school’. 

The car’s registration plate is P71 NQU1 RYAY. The car navigates a space of intrigue with secret caves, rare birds, a graffiti wall, an archaeological site, a time machine and a laboratory among its many features. The space invites play in many ways including bubbles, a forest, a beach, a rainbow and a visit to LPC - Loose Parts City! 

Illustrated by S - Grade 5 Student at ISP

Something I have been wondering about recently - the connections between play and inquiry. For me, there are more similarities than differences between play and inquiry, but there are some specific elements that might become lost if we say inquiry is always play and play is always inquiry. To be clear, more often than not, children in my Kindergarten class inquire through their play and play to pursue their inquiries, but I wanted to clarify my own thinking about some possible distinctions between play and inquiry. 

Commonalities

Play and inquiry are child-centred and are at the heart of ‘personalizing learning’. They are both built around and respectful of children’s experiences, interests and choices. In both, the image of children is one of being capable, competent thinkers and agents of their own learning. Inquiry and play are natural processes for children (indeed, humans!) to make meaning - often in social contexts where they learn with and from one another. They both position the child as an active meaning-maker and provide opportunities to investigate concepts and follow personal interests using multiple senses. Intrinsic motivation is paramount. There is great importance given to the environment to encourage children to engage actively as thinkers and take ownership of their learning - in nature, the local area, and different parts of the school beyond solely the homeroom. Both play and inquiry can be viewed as spectrums with varying levels of structures. Personal inquiries and free play involve more voice and ownership than inquiries into teacher-created central ideas and more guided play. Value is given to the process of learning - problem solving, negotiating, trial and error, exploration, figuring things out, testing and refining working theories.  

Play and inquiry advocate a teacher as a facilitator and a researcher into children’s thinking. Documentation and active listening are valued and used to respond to what is noticed. Time is key. Children need time to play and inquire; it is difficult to do this if their day is only packed full of adult-led learning. Play and inquiry transcend beyond any one discipline. 

Play (that isn’t necessarily always part of inquiry)

PLEASURE!  Playing with ideas, possibilities, materials and objects for sheer delight and joy. A child splashing in puddles, playing Snakes and Ladders, using a branch as a magic wand to cast spells, playing with the potential of Play-Doh, bouncing balls, role playing with puppets and imagining stories using small world play. Of course, many of these moments are opportunities to inquire into concepts, but sometimes this is not the child’s purpose - and of more interest to the child is to be playful, relish the ‘magic’ of being in the moment, the ‘flow’ and be ‘taken away’ in pure PLEASURE!

Inquiry (that isn’t necessarily always part of play)

WONDER! The urge to find out more, driven by curiosity to go further and deeper, to resolve cognitive tension, to wrestle with uncertainty, to confront doubt and to engage with puzzlement! 

What connections do you see between play and inquiry?