The Future of Learning Needs Play
Scroll
As our cities face an epidemic of loneliness, learning the future means understanding the importance of play.
It’s seven on a weeknight and you’re watching an old work colleague’s intimate dinner-party unfold on your screen. A close-up of a bubbling curry cuts to a distorted puppy avatar of their guest drinking red wine from under an Instagram face filter. Half out of boredom, you reply to their story to ask for the curry recipe. On awaiting their reply, you suddenly notice a stranger has joined you in the back of your Uber Pool. They’re wearing the same noise-cancelling headphones you have waiting for you in your Amazon cart. You realise they must live just a street away from you. Later the same night, when you can’t sleep, you switch up your emails for Facebook’s infinite scroll, stopping only to tag your friend in a meme, and slowing down only to see if you actually know your ‘people who may know’.
Modern life is haunted by the constant promise of connectivity: both in digital culture’s ambient intimacy, and —for city dwellers— in the physical closeness of the modern commute. We’ve never had as much access to others or opportunity for constant communication, yet statistically (and paradoxically), we’ve never been lonelier. A recent report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that half of Australia is lonely at least once a week, and young people are lonelier than all other age groups (according to recent findings from the BBC Loneliness Experiment).
In her book Alone Together, MIT psychologist Sherry Turkle argues that our online communication lacks intimacy, and people are beginning to favour communicating with others online rather than face-to-face, which can leave us feeling alone. It’s easy to blame social media for, well, everything, but physical closeness isn’t necessarily the solution. Loneliness experts John and Stephanie Cacippo address this — defining loneliness as “a unique condition in which an individual perceives himself or herself to be socially isolated even when among other people.”
Whether it’s social isolation driven by digital culture, the product of our own perception, or a probable mix of the two, loneliness is an epidemic — and addressing the social, mental and physical health problem is a high priority for cities and governments. In 2019, Tracey Crouch was anointed as the UK’s first-ever Minister for Loneliness, and there’s a resounding opinion that Australia should follow suit.
As the new decade emerges under uncertain economic, employment and environmental futures, there’s an urgent need to design our cities and education to foster resilience. In his research, psychologist and loneliness expert John Cacioppo found that lonely people “perceive stressful circumstances as threatening rather than challenging” and “passively cope with stress by failing to solicit instrumental and emotional support and by withdrawing from stress rather than by actively coping and attempting to problem solve.” If designing for resilient, healthy cities and communities is largely dependent on making inhabitants feel less lonely, then — to address the problem like the strategic designers we are— we’ve found the what and the why, but what about the how?
We need to design for play.
It’s a common argument that children are currently facing a play deficit — one that hinders their creativity and psychological growth — but an emerging field of research suggests that adults are facing the same problem. Play expert and psychiatrist Stuart Brown defines play as a “state of being” “purposeless, fun and pleasurable.” In a modern world largely shaped by algorithms and automation in an endless crusade to improve productivity, a focus on play can provide a powerful new perspective on life and living.
The benefits of play for adults include everything from improving connectivity, improving brain function, relieving stress and boosting creativity and curiosity (which are needed to foster innovative thinking). The proof of play’s popularity is evolving around us: with the rise of nuanced card games like ‘The Art of Conversation’, which bring play into the private space, and in city-centric events like New York and San Francisco’s ‘Come Out and Play’ festival.
As higher education is challenged by emerging and uncertain employment landscapes, UK institutions are embracing playful learning. Nicola Whitton (Professor in Education, Manchester Metropolitan) lists The University of Leicesters’ problem-solving card game, which teaches critical historical literacy, as an exemplar. Closer to home, playful learning can be explored though ‘100 Jobs of the future’ — a project by Deakin University, Griffith University and Ford Australia that sees participants explore their interests and skills in the context of a future job landscape.
In designing for healthy cities, we must treat play as a necessity, not as a privilege. Loneliness expert Cacioppo explained to The Atlantic: “Hunger takes care of your physical body. Loneliness takes care of your social body, which you also need to survive and prosper. We’re a social species.” It’s no coincidence that Stuart Brown compares play to oxygen; “It’s all around us, yet goes mostly unnoticed or unappreciated until it is missing.”
To collectively explore — and demonstrate— the importance of designing for play, Local Peoples created a learner’s ‘playground’ for patrons of Melbourne Design Week 2020. Aptly named The College Of The Curious, the event is the first iteration of Local Peoples independent research project: ‘The Future Of Learning’. In this experiential challenge, attendees navigated an obstacle course to explore their skills, attitudes and alternative thinking.
