You, I and every parent must rediscover
a genius drilled out of most of
us years ago. In a phrase, we
must rediscover the Intelligence
of Play.
Understanding and applying
the Intelligence of Play begins by
opening our hearts and minds to
new perceptions and possibilities. We think smart people know
a lot of stuff. Computers contain lots of data and they are fast;
however, computer-like behavior is not intelligent. It is reflexive,
mechanical. To our personal and global distress, much of what
we call education promotes computer-like behavior rather than
developing true adaptive intelligence.
True genius is taking the stuff we already know and discovering what else we might do with it. Lego blocks can be combined
in novel ways and become just about anything. The acts of imagining, wondering, trying, testing, crashing, persisting, dreaming,
laughing, sharing, telling stories and connecting with others—
these are the hallmarks of true genius, rather than mechanically
regurgitating piles of content we already know.
questions and act in new yet appropriate ways, there is no challenge that we cannot overcome.
The best possible school, at
any age, will seek to develop the
Intelligence of Play, and the inner
skills and capacities needed to
meet any challenge, fully and completely. Every action produces
feedback used to enhance development. Spilling the milk or
paint isn’t “wrong.” Going “too far” or discovering “too much”
provides feedback used to refine attention and motor skills.
the genius of our own childhoods—
a genius drilled out of most of us years ago.
Realizing Our Potential
Play is the only state where the full spectrum of our vast human
potential is present and available. True genius is remembering
just how to imagine. True genius is remaining present, open,
flexible, attentive, curious, excited and passionate. True genius
is not mistaking mechanical stuff—reflexive conditioning—for
heartfelt intelligence with its care, affection and appropriateness.
Is this the state we embody as we meet each day’s challenges? Is this what we are modeling for the next critical generation,
our innate genius lost long ago?
Many mistake the inner state of Play with the outer activity—the toy. Play is a state, not an activity. Intelligence is a state,
not data storage. The next frontier in education, I suggest, is not
about content. Instead it represents a shift of focus, priorities
and values away from content and toward relationships, processes and capacity. The inner state of Play is the optimal way for this
continual inner (and therefore outer) development to unfold.
After having interviewed hundreds of gifted individuals, many
of whom are top performance specialists in high-pressure fields,
I have come to realize that homework and tests matter very little.
What matters most is the state in which we meet challenges. Play
is the optimal state for learning and performance at any age, as
we meet any challenge.
Authentic Play is transcendent—that is, it reaches beyond
limitation and constraint. To become a 4-year-old, one must overcome the limitations and constraints of being 3. Life is a transcendent movement, and Play is unfolding human development
in action.
The greater the challenge, the more we need to play. Develop
the Intelligence of Play throughout your life, and you will naturally optimize the full spectrum of capacity to meet every future
challenge in the best possible way.
If we create a heart and mind based on fixed content and beliefs, our future will narrow dramatically. But if we create a heart
and mind that can imagine and dream, and that is willing to ask
Capacity vs. Content
Developmentally we are always paying forward, always building
capacity to meet the next moment more fully. In the state of Play,
with its enhanced energy and attention, failure isn’t possible.
This is very different from cultural competition. Play is the act of
learning, and learning is expanding capacity, not content.
Understanding the difference between content and capacity
instantly transforms any classroom into a play-based learning
environment. Every stroke of the paint brush produces an effect.
Every effect is feedback that enhances the next stroke. In such an
environment, learning and expanding capacity take place all the
time. Tests lose their high-stakes sting. In these environments,
every action is an exploration, an inquiry that produces feedback,
which in turn enhances performance. Growth never ends, and
capacity continues to expand.
The best thing about the Intelligence of Play, however, is joy.
Retain the Intelligence of Play throughout your life and you will
retain the energy, attention, passion and affection you had that
spring morning catching pollywogs in the stream behind the old
wooden fence. You retain and enhance being present, open and
full of wonder as the cat tugs at your shoe strings. Retain the
Intelligence of Play and you begin each day full of the childlike
genius nature intended.
The alternative is that we can think we know everything and
grow increasingly grumpy as life’s ever-changing richness and
diversity fail to meet our fixed ideas and beliefs.
Most simply and profoundly, understanding and applying the
Intelligence of Play means never getting stuck in yourself!
Michael Mendizza is an author, educator, documentary filmmaker and founder of Touch the Future, a nonprofit learning design center. His book, Magical Parent, Magical Child: The Art of Joyful Parenting, co-authored
with Joseph Chilton Pearce, applies research on optimum states to
parenting and to education. Michael is developing two additional
books: Kids Are Not the Problem, a series of essays on parenting the
next critical generation; and Flowering, a collection of dramatic floral
images and quotes by Krishnamurti (see zfolio.com). View article
resources and author information here: pathwaystofamilywellness
.org/ references.html
