Students like to play. They want opportunities to mess around and experiment in their learning and work. We are not talking about having fun, at least not exclusively, although a bit of that is great as well. We are talking about having the time to explore, experiment, and discover. Learning how to do that productively is difficult because the organizational structures and cultures of most schools are antithetical to messing around.
Do I have opportunities to explore—and to make mistakes and learn from them—without being branded as a failure?
Do I have opportunities to tinker, experiment, and speculate?
Do you provide opportunities to explore—and to make mistakes and learn from them—without being branded as failures?
Do you provide students with opportunities to tinker, experiment, and speculate?
Do my students have opportunities to explore—and to make mistakes and learn from them—without being branded as failures?
Do my students have opportunities to tinker, experiment, and speculate?