Tag: Improvisation

“To be one who plays is to be one who bravely adventures through life.”
— McKenna Hall (2009)

Introduction

Play has been seen by developmental psychologists as the work of childhood: the way children best learn, test reality, practice skills, and express themselves (Bodrova & Leong, 2007; Brown, 2009; Pelligrini & Smith, 2005; Piaget as cited in Flavel, 1963; Russ, 1993; Vygotsky, 1978; Weininger, 1979, 1988). However, once they enter formal schooling, with each passing year students are given less and less support for playing due to the accepted mainstream belief that play is not a valuable academic tool and will not be needed in their futures. The responsibilities of adulthood are not thought to require play much beyond the physical benefits that participation in sports provide. However, research shows how crucial play is as a developmental, educational, recreational, and therapeutic tool for people throughout the lifespan (Bodrova & Leong, 2007; Brown, 2009; Sawyer, 1997; Smilansky, 1968; Vygotsky, 1978; Weinninger, 1979, 1988).

As a theatre artist whose work includes playing in the rehearsal hall and on the stage, as a drama therapist who has used play to heal traumatized lives, and as a teacher of young adults who are developing social-emotional skills, I have found that dramatic play is essential for people of all ages. Play is at the root of imagination, creativity, and the ability to think and create metaphor, social connection, and healing (Brown, 2009). It is a stress-relieving activity par excellence, which regenerates and revives the weary body, mind, and spirit (Bailey, 2004, 2008; Brown, 2009). Moreover, dramatic play provides a safe haven in which players can rehearse skills and behaviors that transfer directly to performance on all of life’s stages (Bailey, 1993; Emunah & Johnson, 2009; Moreno in Fox, 1987; Sternberg & Garcia, 2000).

The Developmental Nature of Play from Infancy through Adulthood

We begin playing almost as soon as we are born, exploring our world through sensorimotor play (Piaget as cited in Flavel, 1963). Within hours of birth, babies initiate mirroring and imitating others. Between the ages of 1 ½ and 3 years all children begin to engage in dramatic play (Piaget as cited in Flavel, 1963; Weininger, 1979). This form of play becomes a major avenue through which we observe how society functions, reflect on the world around us, and practice doing what we see. Play is found in all human cultures (Pelligrini & Smith, 2005; Brown, 2009). It appears that humans are “biologically wired” to play, just as we are “biologically wired” to learn language. Dramatic play is one of our innate learning modalities (Brown, 2009; Vygotsky, 1978; Weininger 1988).

If we are lucky, we have parents and siblings who encourage our play by playing with us, scaffolding and encouraging our basic “hardwired skills.” Children who have missed opportunities to play – whether because of neglect, poverty, isolation, disabilities, or sickness – lack certain cognitive skills, socio-emotional understanding, and physical abilities (Bailey, 1993; Brown, 2009; Vygotsky, 1978). The richer a child’s play, the more connections are generated among the neurons in her brain, the more pathways are developed to connect brain regions, and the more problem-solving resources are available to her in school and in life (Brown, 2009).

In the 1930’s Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky identified dramatic play as the leading educational tool for pre-school children (Bodrova & Leong, 2006). Vygotsky (1978) felt that dramatic play allowed children to develop crucial beginning cognitive structures that later mature into abstract reasoning. One of the outcomes of dramatic play is the creation of imagination – a symbolic state in which children can explore reality through a system of signs to learn about thinking, problem-solving, and functioning with others under the rules of society. In dramatic play these symbols are the imaginary characters and situations that are enacted. He sees dramatic play as the first move from external (sensorimotor) to internal (abstract reasoning) learning. Without dramatic play experiences, he believed, children would have difficulty coming to understand and develop social roles, the rules of behavior, cultural competence, impulse control, and the symbolic manipulation of ideas (Bodrova & Leong, 2006; Vygotsky, 1978).

Vygotsky was not the only psychologist who saw play as a central component of healthy learning and growth. Otto Weininger (1988) conceptualized imagination as the ability to pose questions and think about “what if?” (“What if I were one of King Arthur’s knights?”). He identified the ability to pretend as acting out a particular role in dramatic play: behaving “as if” one were someone else or using an object “as if” it were something else. In his model, imagination and pretend, while different processes, are intimately connected to and build on each other reciprocally.

The ability to use the “as if” does not go away with age; it continues to be a skill we can access at any time. Constantin Stanislavski taught actors using his method to develop their “as if” abilities to a fine degree (Stanislavski, 1961). Stanislavski’s acting method continues to be used by contemporary actors. “As if” can also be applied to the classroom and the workplace to assist the invention of new skills, ideas, solutions to problems, or ways of interacting with others. The “as if”(dramatic play) provides a staging ground on which “what ifs” (imagination, ideas, images, or hypotheses) can be explored.

The “as if” and “what if” involved in play do not exist in reality – they are imaginary constructs that are generated and shared between human minds in real space and time. This dynamic creates an interesting juxtaposition of real and non-real interacting simultaneously. D.W. Winnicott (1971) described play as happening in a liminal, symbolic space which he called potential space, a realm that is physical and real, but also imaginary and full of possibilities. Today Winnicott’s term potential space is referred to as transitional space (Johnson, 1999), the metaphorical place where reality transitions into imagination and both co-exist. In dramatic play, transitional space is where children can become medieval knights and slay fire-breathing dragons. In theatre it is where the actor makes the transition from himself to his character and the audience allows a “willing suspension of disbelief” to come over them in order to accept fiction as truth and enjoy the play as a temporary reflection of reality. In therapy it is where the client can heal and change by revisiting and transforming past experiences, trying on new roles, and practicing new ways of being.

The transitional space is co-created by all the participants and creates a safe space in which anything can happen. That safety is guaranteed by the good-enough mother, the good-enough teacher/director, or the good-enough therapist who facilitates the creation of the play space and ensures that whatever happens, even if it might be scary part of the time, is not ultimately traumatic and damaging. The ability to have one foot in reality and the other in an imaginary world is one of the unique abilities homo sapiens have that, so far as we know, no other living creatures with the capacity to engage in play also have (Brown, 2009).

While some forms of play are done alone, most forms of dramatic play are done in groups and, therefore, provide the opportunity to learn social skills and how to interact with others. Through the give and take of play – particularly through the complex symbolic replications of life made possible through dramatic play – we learn how to share, compromise, listen to, and respect each other. We can open up and honestly be ourselves, because we feel we will be accepted. As a result, we get to know ourselves better, we get to know our playmates deeply, and our playmates get to know us.

Dramatic Play in the College Classroom

Despite positive results identified by psychologists and educators who have researched the benefits of play in the classroom (Bodrova & Leong, 2006; Sawyer, 1997; Smilansky, 1968; Vygotsky, 1978; Weininger, 1988), dramatic play by and large has been neglected as a teaching resource in the vast majority of our elementary, secondary, and collegiate educational environments. I have always felt more comfortable presenting information in an interactive, dramatic manner, rather than in a lecture mode, and during the last ten years as I have focused on teaching college students, I have come to believe that it is not only more enjoyable for me to deliver and for students to receive instruction through dramatic play, it is also more effective. Students who learn through action and then reflect on that action are making their own discoveries, which they retain longer than facts which are presented to them already “packaged” by their professor. I have observed that students tend to learn in more depth and breadth as well: incorporating social and emotional information in addition to facts, theories, and other objective course content. This seems to me to be appropriate as the university educational mission at Kansas State University, where I teach, identifies knowledge, critical thinking, communication, diversity, academic and professional integrity, developing human potential, and enriching cultural expression as priorities for student learning outcomes (Kansas State University, 2009). One course that clearly demonstrates my observations on the value of play for preparing young adults for life is Creative Drama.

Creative Drama at Kansas State University

Each semester for the past ten years I have taught Creative Drama, a course which is open to undergraduate and graduate students across the university. The class meets twice a week for an hour and fifteen minutes. A typical class has 24 students enrolled: a combination of undergraduates in social work, biology, speech pathology, political science, psychology, business, agriculture, English, and theatre, along with graduate students in accounting, family studies, counseling, and drama therapy. Because this assortment of students is not the usual cohort of theatre and education students who take Creative Drama in order to learn how to teach it to young children, I focus the class on exploring play and creativity personally through actually engaging in play dramatically.

The course is organized into four units beginning with theatre games and improvisation, moving to storytelling, then to story drama, and ending with puppetry. The stated goals of the course include developing “students’ creative imaginations, self-expression, self-knowledge, and social relatedness” through working with others in a creative group enterprise focused on dramatic activities (Bailey, 2009a). This class has provided me with an environment in which to observe, assess, and reflect on what dramatic play has to offer young adults and to allow my students to do the same. I ask my students to focus on re-discovering how to use their imaginations, connecting with others, and collaborating to create effective improvisational dramatic experiences. While the class does not specifically focus on the potential of play to promote healing, the students report that it consistently generates personal as well as educational and aesthetic growth for them.

As the first assignment of each semester I ask students to write their definition of play. Most definitions are short and simple, ranging from “having fun” to “acting on a stage in a performance” to “playing games with friends.” They keep a daily journal about what we did in class and reflect on the activities and their experience of them critically. After spending fifteen weeks immersed in a variety of forms of dramatic play, I ask them to write a 6 to 8 page paper on what they have discovered about play through the semester. When they first receive the assignment, their reaction is usually, “How can anyone write 6 pages about play? There’s nothing to say!” But when they turn in their papers, I am always amazed at what they have discovered and articulated.

A pattern of responses has appeared over the years that mirror my own experiences in play as a child and as an adult. Students speak of common obstacles, constructed by cultural stereotypes, they had to face and overcome before they could join the play. They are able to point out which aspects of the class allowed them to do so. These structural components are safety, permission to take risks, and acceptance by the group. When these are in place, a transitional space can be created and students willingly and fully enter into the play process.

Students talk about experiencing growth in a number of areas of their lives once they have become deeply involved in play. They talk about learning more about themselves and developing relationships with others. They identify practical skills in problem solving and communication that they have learned and how they have integrated those skills into their performance in other classes, jobs, and personal relationships. They regularly report that they experience the natural healing power of play and leave class rejuvenated, refreshed, and renewed. Their insights validate for me that what I have observed is a common experience of play. Their responses, often eloquent and deep, resemble various observations made by psychologists and philosophers of play, even though my students have only been exposed to those ideas briefly. However, for these insights to be achieved, students need to be prepared in the beginning weeks of the semester to step out of their inhibited comfort zones, let go of their prejudices about play as being “childish” or “silly,” and allow their “creative juices” to flow as freely as when they were younger. Without time spent investing in the creation of an environment for play, no play will happen, or if it does, it will be half-hearted at best. In this chapter I will identify key elements that encourage the development of a play community and the impact of the class on the students. Because I have students do reflective writing via journals and papers, many students’ experiences are shared in their own words, quoted here through their permission.

Creating the Environment for Play

In order to play whole-heartedly students need to feel they are in a safe space where they can succeed, where they will be welcomed, accepted, and respected by the leader and the other participants, and where they will have the freedom to express themselves within clear boundaries so they can share their ideas without offending or being offended by others. When these criteria are achieved, a play community forms and co-creates a transitional space in which they are able to play.

The Transitional Space Must Be a Safe Space

Being college students – few of them drama majors – the types of play my students still engage in rarely incorporate dramatic play or make-believe. Recreational time tends to be devoted to partying, drinking, video games, watching entertainment, and participating in or watching sports. Motivating students to let go of their inhibitions enough so that they can play dramatically means creating a space in which they feel safe enough to trust me, and each other.

As the group leader I work hard at creating a fair and respectful framework in which students can interact with each other. I set clear parameters, laying out expectations so players know what the boundaries are for their own and for others’ behavior. For each activity I identify, not just the rules, but also the goals. For instance, if I introduce a game that relies on cooperation, I mention that as a goal that ideally should be an outcome of following the rules. This, I think, helps frame the experience for people from a culture where winning at any cost is often the unspoken value assumed for any team-based interaction.

My players acknowledge that this clear framework that supports their play creates the safety of the transitional space. Anna Beck expresses it this way:

We were given a framework, much like a picture frame, and asked to fill it in.  Sometimes, the picture frame was smaller than others (we were given more specific instructions), and other times the frame was quite large…But the fact that we were given a frame allowed the painting of a masterpiece inside. Without a frame, we would all have had different ideas of what to create and the very play itself would have become chaotic. (Bailey, 2008)

I want students to experience freedom for self-expression, but one of my basic class ground rules is to respect the others in the group and think through how your actions could affect them. Many contemporary professional improvisation groups push the boundaries of good taste and go for shock value, but these players have extensive training and have often worked as an ensemble for a long time. In my creative drama class, students are beginners learning to work together. Before we jump into improvisation, I like to say, “We can do wild and crazy things in class, but before you take a flying leap into the unknown, take a second to evaluate if you would feel comfortable doing this activity or telling this story in front of your mother or your younger sister. If they wouldn’t be offended, then you are probably not going to be embarrassed and you won’t embarrass another member of the group.”

While this request might appear to be censorship, I see it more as encouragement to take the tastes and sensitivities of others in the group into respectful consideration. On more than one occasion I have discovered from reading student journals that when really insensitive skits have been performed in class, the development process involved groupthink (Janis, 1982). One person suggested something really outrageous – like the time all the guys in a group dressed in drag and mocked homosexuals – and everyone else in the group agreed, because they did not want to appear “uncool.” Secretly they felt very uncomfortable about it, but each feared that if he or she spoke up about the discomfort, the other group members would laugh. The irony (which only I realize after the fact, because I am the only one who sees all the journals) is that only one of them – or sometimes none of them – really wanted to do it! In response, I have started explaining what groupthink is, sharing the story of the “drag episode,” and encouraging them to “say you don’t want to do this, if you really don’t want to do it.” On rare occasions when insensitivity occurs during a drama game and a student is put into an embarrassing position, I step in and gently, but firmly say, “That was inappropriate. Try something else,” or “Whoops, let’s rewind that and make a different choice.”

Without a framework held together by a trusted and trustworthy leader, players cannot feel safe and will tend to avoid crossing into the transitional space. As Anna Beck, one of my graduate students, said, “I believe there is a moment, right before we consciously decide to enter the world of play, and that moment is much like jumping off a cliff. However, a safe environment and basic structure provide a safety net, and that will allow you to jump without fear, and enjoy the feeling of flying” (Bailey, 2008).

Another student has pointed out the importance of the leader being aware of the emotional and imaginative states of the players. Derek Schneweis says, “The leader has to enter the minds of the actors and take them on a journey,” (Bailey, 2009b). If the players are not prepared to go with the leader, they will not follow; however, if the leader has prepared the players and has a good sense of the current state of their abilities, openness, and imagination, they will follow willingly. An effective leader plays along with the group of players, as opposed to controlling the group from a position as an outside manipulator.

Risking Becomes Possible in a Nonjudgmental Atmosphere

In order to feel free enough to take risks, students need to let go of their fears of others judging them negatively as well as fears of the voices of their own “inner critics.” Whenever feedback from one player to another or one group to another is necessary, I request comments to be framed constructively and supportively. I encourage the sharing first of “what works,” not only so that those on the receiving end can feel good about their performance, but also because when we are not aware of what succeeded, we often throw away what is most exciting, fresh, and valuable along with what was ineffective. Additionally, hearing positive comments first opens up the listener, so she can later take in the aspects of the scene or story that need to be worked on.

When someone is framing comments on what did not work, the use of objective observation skills and critical thinking go hand-in-hand. When a recipient of feedback is able to stand back and look at the work from a distance as a “transitional experience” that was “just pretend,” suggestions for improvement become easier to accept without defensiveness. Feedback can be offered in terms of what the character did in the scene as opposed to what the player did. Evaluations can be couched in terms of what could make the scene more effective, more expressive, or more exciting when replayed. Students can be reminded that, unlike many real life situations, in play there are many chances for “do-overs,” and because of that, players often become more open and relaxed about taking risks.

Participants need to develop an internal locus of evaluation, so they are not inhibited by external judgment from either the leader/adult/therapist/teacher or the other players. Darin Brunson says, “Ridicule is an enemy of creativity and play” (Bailey, 2008), whether it is real, imagined, or just anticipated from others. Trash-talking is not acceptable during game playing nor are put-downs or “laughter at” instead of “laughter with” the actors in response to improvisations.

Achieving an internal locus of evaluation for all the individuals in a group can be difficult in a class for which a grade must eventually be assigned. As the leader I try to put the emphasis and value on full and joyous participation, rather than on holding players to a specific level of aesthetic achievement. I find that when the pressure for “performance value” is taken off, the level of achievement often improves on its own because students feel free to take the necessary risks to excel. In short, they allow themselves to stop judging themselves and start playing. In my grading system more points go toward participation and reflection activities than on performance benchmarks.

I also ask them to list at least three personal goals to achieve during the semester, whether that be to make new friends, learn new games to use at summer camp, or simply get an A. Darin Brunson identified that maintaining a sense of individual control seems to make it possible for everyone to “hover outside their comfort zone” through their own choice (Bailey, 2008). Ironically, once players are focused on playing in the moment and not on judging themselves or others, they often effortlessly achieve artistic heights they never expected they could reach.

The Transitional Space Must Be a Place of Welcome

Players need to feel unconditional positive regard from others in the group and experience give-and-take in terms of empathic understanding (Rogers, 1954 cited in Russ, 1993). Each player must come to believe that when she joins the others, she will be accepted. “Come and play” is one of the most joyous invitations that can be extended. Unfortunately, all of us, at one time or another in our lives have experienced the isolation of being excluded from the play space or not being picked for the team. That is a lonely and sometimes traumatic experience – for anyone of any age. As Ryan Robinson (Bailey, 2008) puts it, “Those five words, ‘Do you want to play?’ can change your life….Those words represent a gift to an outsider…acceptance of their presence, a welcome gesture to be part of a group. Our life is all about making connections with others.”

The appreciation for each other quickly becomes an important aspect of the class. Comments like McKenna Hall’s “I wish I could convey to everyone how deeply I am affected by our time together this semester. I looked forward to class each and every day to hang out with our group and to learn together what it means to be an adult who truly embraces play,” are common (Bailey, 2009b).

We play different name games for at least three or four periods in the beginning of the semester until everyone has a good grasp of everyone else’s name. This is not a small thing for a class that ranges in size from 20 to 26, but it is crucial in order for individuals to feel as if they belong within the group. To be seen and accepted as a valuable, named contributor starts connections that grow. Many students have told me that Creative Drama is the only course they have had in four years of college where they knew the name of every person in the room and where, in turn, the professor knew their names.

In addition I make sure that everyone has worked with everyone else at least once during the first unit by randomly dividing into smaller working groups for each activity. This facilitates the learning of names and allows each person an opportunity to personally interact with as many of the others as possible. The more social connections that are made, the more known and the safer each person tends to feel. By the time we start the storytelling unit, students feel as if they are part of a community.

Avoiding competition with a group of players beginning to develop a playing relationship also creates a safer, more accepting play space. I start with co-operative team building games and improvisations whether I am working with a theatre class, therapy group, or theatrical troupe. If I introduce competition at all, it is in small doses and long after the group has become a cohesive whole. This, along with the emphasis on learning names early and the small group mixing method, ensures that by the time several weeks have passed, no one is a stranger; everyone has become each others’ playmates.

Student Learning Outcomes that Result from Play in the Classroom

Students’ participation in a semester of play teaches objective content, such as Aristotle’s six elements of drama, the theories of play as a sociological and psychological construct, how to prepare and tell a story, the theatrical skills required for improvisation, and a variety of methods for constructing puppets. These outcomes result in specific dramatic skills, which can be utilized in their professional and personal lives. Students also develop larger, more general outcomes targeted by the university, such as enhanced critical thinking, improved communication, wider awareness of diversity, expanded human potential, enriched cultural expression, and academic and professional integrity. These outcomes have been targeted as desirable for all university courses to address. In terms of the Creative Drama course, I believe the achievement of these wider outcomes ultimately focuses on the development of a deeper understanding and appreciation of self and a wider range of social and emotional skills for use when interacting within a community.

Learning about the self

Play helps the player learn about herself and develop her own identity. As one succeeds in a group and has contributions accepted and valued, confidence and self-esteem rise; fears abate. New ideas, roles, and abilities can be experimented with and extended. Darin Brunson says it is “ok to take chances and sometimes even completely flop” (Bailey, 2008). The group and the leader are there for support and encouragement.

Within the structure of a game, “winning” and “losing” is temporary. One game ends and the next begins. Rachel Massoth reported, “I never remembered who the winners and losers were, I just remembered different parts of the game, and the creativeness of the people involved” (Bailey, 2004). Your position can change from leader to follower or from loser to winner, even within successive rounds of the same game, providing the opportunity to experience a variety of roles and expand the repertoire of roles available for you to play in life. While making improvisational scenes, situations can be replayed in different ways or roles can be reversed in order to experience the other character’s point of view, extending and expanding point of view and empathy. When this is done, new insights result.

Developing problem-solving skills

Problem-solving skills are enhanced in play, in part because of the symbolic capacities of the form. Divergent thinking skills, which are typically not practiced frequently in traditional schooling, can be re-learned and with them intrinsic motivation for problem-solving can be re-ignited. Any object one plays with can be used metaphorically “as if” another and any situation can be explored through “what if.” Within the realm of the imagination, a variety of choices can be played with safely, and therefore, the potential consequences of those choices can be experienced and evaluated in the “laboratory setting” of the classroom before being tried out in the “real world” where those consequences might be harmful and irreversible. Ashley Gibbs expressed her insights into this process in this way:

Not only does play enable people to use their real life experiences to organize concepts of how the world really operates; through play one can see how new experiences are related to previous learning. Much of what we learn cannot be taught directly (as in many of the lectured college classes), but must be put together in our own way through our experiences. We all understand that feeling of “ah-ha!” when we finally understand something. By using play to learn new things, we are more likely to have that feeling…(Bailey, 2009b)

Play provides emotional and intellectual distance so that difficult issues can be experienced and experimented with. Much of play is done within a distancing structure of some kind. Rules of behavior that are followed within a game apply to everyone and create a level playing field in which skills can be tested without risking actual loss of status, money, or life. Fictional characters that are played out within dramatized scenes under the guise of “just pretend,” allow players to put themselves into the shoes of people very similar or very unlike themselves. Even improvising a situation one might actually experience is within a protected, distanced structure, because the improviser knows she is in a scene. When the scene is over, each improviser leaves the “transitional reality” of the scene and goes back to being herself within the larger group.

Developing self confidence

The confidence that develops through playing is a key element in the ability of players to become performers whether on the transitional space of the theatrical stage or in the real world. Playing with others in a group allows one to be seen as an active agent and valid contributor. At first some shy or unconfident students may feel shame or embarrassment at being “seen” in the group. In the beginning they experience stage fright and worry that they will not be “good enough,” but as they experience success through the play process, their ability to enjoy standing out in the group grows. Gretchen Hammes, a graduate accounting student, reported, “When we first started the class, I was afraid to even speak out in front of the class and by the time my group performed “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” [in the story drama unit], I was wearing faux horns and grazing on the stage” (Bailey, 2003).

Laura Taylor reported:

This class has let me discover ways to feel safe havens by completely opening up…not only being honest to myself, but with my classmates as well! My “secret space” in which I can be safely alone and give myself over to needed fantasies and adapt to the challenging world is right here in this very classroom where judgment, vulnerability, and self consciousness is left at the door when you walk in! It has allowed me to discover…a sense of trust and well being that would allow play to emerge….The ability to play is in all of us and transformative when it’s rediscovered! Free yourself of fear! (Bailey, 2009b)

Feeling free enough to be oneself with others because one feels accepted is an example of what Humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers called “unconditional positive regard” (Rogers as cited in Russ, 1993). Rogers felt it was necessary for each human to experience unconditional positive regard in order to feel loved and to be able to grow and thrive in relationships (Rogers, 1970). This leads us naturally to a discussion about the self in relationship with others, which requires the development of social and emotional skills.

Social and Emotional Skills

Developing relationships through play

Dramatic play is done in groups and, therefore, provides the opportunity to teach social skills and how to interact with others. In order to care about learning social skills, one has to care about developing a positive relationship with the others with whom one interacts. In a cohesive, trusting group we can open up and honestly be ourselves. As a result, we get to know our playmates deeply and they get to know us. Amanda Hoffman expressed her understanding of how play and relationships are connected through the following analysis:

Play is a process acted out through relationships. This process builds new ones and strengthens the ones already in place….I believe, if people took more time to play and build relationships, many of the problems and miscommunications we have within our world would not be so strained and serious. Playing would allow people to break down their fears and struggles and relax more. Playing would allow people to express their true personalities and not be so afraid of speaking out or taking a stand. Play would unite people together because we would not be so afraid of what people would think about us. This would improve society in so many ways – one of the most important, I believe, would be in respecting diversity. (Bailey, 2004)

Stuart Brown (2009), a psychiatrist and clinical researcher, sees this connection between play and relationships as well. He says, “Play modulates deep psychological fears and insecurities that threaten emotional closeness” (p. 163). He believes that long term friendships and romantic relationships develop from and are sustained through play. The flexibility, joy, and spontaneity that play creates keep interactions interesting and smoothes out conflicts that inevitably occur when two or more people are together.

Stress relief

Play helps release tension and promotes relaxation. Putting aside the everyday grind and pressures to focus on an intense, enjoyable, short-term goal with others gives players a break from the vicissitudes of daily life and allows them to think more clearly when they go back to work. Student players remark quite often that dramatic play is a welcome break from their academic burdens and learn that when they are stressed, taking a “play break” can actually help.

I used to not deal with stress very well.…Now when I have a huge project come up, I have learned that stressing and worrying about it will not get the project or paper written any sooner….I have also found out that the less time you stress about a situation, the more clear your mind, which in turn makes it easier to come up with ideas. Since I have learned how to de-stress myself [through play], it has cut the amount of time it takes me to do my school work. I no longer have to stay up until the wee hours of the morning. I am getting better nights of sleep, and I’m becoming more productive in my other classes…people ask me how I’m able to accomplish so much when I have a lot going on. I tell them that when I find I am starting to stress, I take a break or go play. (Bailey, 2004)

Adam Hamor concurs, “…play can help focus a person or group. When I stress over an assignment, taking a break to play or be creative helps a lot to re-focus my attention on what needs to be done”(Bailey, 2004). Functioning effectively or fully when stressed is difficult; play breaks or playful approaches to work and interactions allows ideas, communication, and energy to flow freely within an individual’s system as well as within a social system.

Social support

Even in the worst of times, approaching life with an attitude of playfulness can make a major difference in a person’s ability to handle the stresses and struggles of life. One fall, early in the semester, while driving home for the weekend, Amy Bosomworth was pushed off the road by another vehicle. Her car rolled four times and she broke the second vertebrae in her neck. As she says, “It was a miracle that let me walk away from that accident. Looking at pictures of the car now, I can’t believe how lucky I am to have survived” (Bailey, 2004). She was in a lot of pain and spent several weeks in bed. She says that even when she could not sit up longer than a half an hour, “I wanted to be in Creative Drama, I wanted to listen to the stories and remember how fun it was to be active.” She practiced her story for her dog and “played with him as a recovery tool.”

Returning to school was far more challenging than she had imagined due to pain, physical limitations, missed lessons, and fear of failure. “Some people were mean and others were exaggeratedly nice. I was the same person – why was I suddenly feeling like I would never fit in again? But I hadn’t been to Creative Drama yet….my classmates showed me that it is okay to make fun of myself. Laughing is really one of the best medicines, and laughing happens when you are playing” (Bailey, 2004).

Her story drama group always found something she could do in each story that would not hurt too much and frequently incorporated humor that played with her situation. For their scary Halloween story drama she decided that she would go Trick or Treating as a crash test dummy.  “Without the ability to make fun of myself and play, I would have been a wreck – a sad, lonely, cranky mess of a human being. The ability of playing gave me the opportunity to feel as if I could live again, even with a collar around my neck, cast around my hand, weeks of home-work to make up, and people who stare and ask too many personal questions. My opinion of play changed from “adults don’t have time for it,” to “adults better find time for it – everyday!” (Bailey, 2004)

Human beings are social animals. We crave the support and encouragement of our kind. There is no doubt in my mind, after reading about Amy’s experience, that the social support the other members of the class offered made all the difference in the world to her ability to heal emotionally and physically from her accident. Without it, she might not have made it out of her bed by the end of the semester and quite possibly may have fallen into a deep depression.

Play: The Perfect Rehearsal

As one student articulately put it, “Play is cross-training for adult life,” in terms of physical, mental, and emotional education (Bailey, 2004). What is learned in play at any age can be put into practice at school, at work, at home, and in the community. The skills learned through the process of play are then transformed into the product of performance outside of the transitional play space in the real world in real time.

Creative drama is an approved professional elective for Communication Science Disorders majors at Kansas State University because dramatic play skills can be directly applied to future speech therapy clients. Nothing is more motivating for a child – or for any of us – than play. Clients will practice a skill that is fun many more times than they will one that is boring. They will pay attention to information that is novel and presented in a way that appeals to their imagination. Quite a few Communication Science Disorders majors have echoed this CSD student when she reported, “Many children with speech impairments are not very confident or outgoing in their attempts to make friends or just in being themselves. This reminds me of myself at the beginning of the semester quite a bit and I think a little bit of play in their lives prior to the speech therapy could increase their confidence and give their personality a boost as well”(Bailey, 2008).

Creative drama is also an approved elective for graduate accounting students in the College of Business and for students in the Leadership Studies minor. Skills developed in playing are immediately applicable to brainstorming in a corporate environment and to developing teams that can work effectively, respectfully, and creatively together in the workplace. Students who have interviewed for summer internships in a number of accounting firms in Kansas City have told me that when they report to certain potential employers that they have taken Creative Drama at K-State, they are seen as having an advantage, because they have already developed into team players who can creatively think outside of the box and bring a positive attitude into the office.

Even the ability to get a job can be enhanced through the confidence and skills taught through play. Ryan Young, a graduate accounting student, was, by his own admission, shy and introverted. His first experience of interviewing for summer internships in the recruiting done on campus by CPA firms each October was not successful. He felt awkward meeting new people and portraying his personality in a favorable light. He believed that because he held back, he was not offered a position (Bailey, 2004). However, after taking Creative Drama, he reported that he had learned how to confidently and genuinely encounter other people. So when he went to the recruiting day the next year, he says, “After attending several social events that the CPA firms hosted, I knew that Creative Drama had made a difference. I actually enjoyed meeting the different people from the firms and felt that they were mutually interested in me. I was much more relaxed, less shy, and more out-going around all of these strangers. I was invited to four different CPA firms to have an office interview. By the end of the process, I had two offers to choose from….By being able to better understand play, I believe that I was able to obtain a full time position” (Bailey, 2004).  Ryan’s employment saga may or may not have related to his personal growth in the Creative Drama class, we have no way to know for certain; however, what is significant is that he was able to identify what was different about his approach to his job interviews pre- and post-class and where he learned those skills.

Conclusion

Just as preschoolers find dramatic play to be an emotionally supportive, natural vehicle for learning, college students also thrive when they are presented curricular material through play. Any educator, administrator, or non-playing individual of any age who suggests that play belongs only to childhood because it has been replaced by “higher, abstract thinking abilities” of the formal operations period is ignoring basic learning theory from developmental psychology. Gardner (1991) makes a strong case in The Unschooled Mind that learning modes from sensorimotor, pre-operational, and operational stages of cognitive growth are not extinguished as we age, but are merely overlaid and enhanced by newly developed cognitive abilities. Students never stop using earlier learning modes, even if teachers neglect to employ them.

Growing older does not negate the need to explore the world through dramatic play’s “as if” and “what if.” If anything, the creativity demanded by the workplace of the 21^st century requires these abilities even more. Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind (2006), identifies play, story, empathy, design, symphony (i.e., the ability to work harmoniously with others), and meaning as the six senses that all workers will need in order to succeed in business in the Conceptual Age we have entered. The brave new world of enterprise requires workers to incorporate high tech, high touch, and high concept in order to stand above the crowd.

Play encourages participants to connect pro-actively with others, engage in the team concept, and perform at a high level. In a play community all play their parts as effectively as they can for the enjoyment and betterment of themselves and the group. Shy, awkward individuals are challenged in a nurturing, supportive way to step beyond their self-limiting boundaries into new, freer, more powerful identities. Everyone wins.

Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play, says, “I sometimes compare play to oxygen – it’s all around us, yet goes mostly unnoticed or unappreciated until it is missing” (Brown, 2009, p. 6). People of all ages must be made aware of the need to incorporate play into their jobs and relationships daily. This will ensure their ability to continue to learn and grow, to make healthy connections with others, to release their stresses and worries, and to continue to be mentally and physically healthy adults.

Perhaps my favorite student quote about play and the doors it can open for everyone who participates in it comes from Ryan Robinson. He says, “Play is the freedom to live your dreams in consciousness…in play we can make our dreams come true” (Bailey, 2008). Play into performance; imagination into reality; all we have to do is trust in the process, believe in our innate creative abilities, and we can manifest the imaginative process into aesthetic and practical products.

References

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