Learning to play and playing to learn

(I wrote this about our experiences on Monday, June 16th but this is the first time that I was able to upload it.)

Today we started our time with the organization CPCD. I don’t remember what the acronym means right now but I promise to add it in a future blog so that you can all know and visit the website.

The story of CPCD definitely bears repeating, so I will share it - A university professor named Sebastian was frustrated with the way that young people were being taught. He felt frustrated with the fact that the education system was teaching them to take in information but not really to learn. He felt that there must be a better way. So he put up an ad that more or less said – “If you believe there is a better way for our children to learn – Meet me under the mango tree.” When the day arrived he went to the mango tree to find a few other people and they started talking. As they began to dream about a better way for their children to learn they started finding that they too were learning from each other. In the process of trying to find a better way they were exchanging ideas and hunches that were helping each person and the group to come to a better idea of what they wanted and how they might move forward this dream of a better education for their children.

All of this started during the military dictatorship and was somewhat underground for years. Most of their work happened under mango trees, in different houses, in whatever space they could find. They were much more focused on how they could really educate children than they were on getting a building or building an institution. Over time they created an education methodology very much based on the ideas of Paulo Friere, but put into action in a concrete way that I have never seen before. Twenty-five years later was started as a proposition and an experiment has now become a full blown organization recognized around the world for its amazing work.

To understand the project we visited with their project Ser Crianca (which literally translates – To Be a Child) which was the project that started it all. This project is for school-aged children and there are two groups that come for 4 hours each day. Since Brazil’s school day is only 4 hours and children either go to school in the morning or the afternoon. The children who go to school in the afternoon come to Ser Crianza in the morning and then walk to school and the morning school children come to Ser Crianca in the afternoon.

Every day begins with a large circle where everyone is able to do a quick check-in, find out what the schedule is for the day and both adults and children can raise questions or concerns that the group needs to deal with. After circle time the children break into their different groups. Each group has one adult educator and between 10-16 children depending on the needs of the children. In their groups they may do something that we would consider more “educational” or more likely they will spend time doing what we often consider “alternative learning” like gardening, cooking, making basic medicinal remedies from herbs, or what we loved the most – they build their own toys.

The group meets in a space that would seem pretty lackluster except that they have decorated it in such a way that it has been transformed into a magical space full of toys mostly made from materials that you could easily find in your trash or recycle bin. When we were talking with the directors of the program, some of the children brought us a gift basket of toys they had made using he most simple items and I have to tell you some of their toys would put Toys R Us to shame. I have never seen plastic bottles look more appealing. The fact that the children are able to create these toys themselves and bring them home is so incredible. In one activity they learn to re-use the items that we usually throw away, they have a great kinesthetic learning experience, they produce something that they can be proud of, and they are able to bring toys to homes where many parents don’t have the means to spend money on expensive toys.

As I watched children explain to me what they were growing in their gardens and while standing alongside a young man as we both cut lettuce, I saw how by doing things that they found enjoyable these children were doing high level thinking. I had such a great time there that I started getting into the spirit of play and was out there doing stretching with some of the kids. I even was able to participate by teaching a short hip hop dance class (I will have to post some photos of that at another time.)

As I think of my own community where parents are often afraid to let their children go outside and where so much of the education system is focused on standardized testing, I realized how much of a gift it was to see children playing in a safe environment with adults who are invested in helping them to become an amazing group of citizens. I know that I will be digesting this experience for a long time but I was thankful that in such a crazy world I was able to see children being happy, engaged, and loved. Even as I write this I am a little sad that this experience felt so rare – maybe of all the problems in the world perhaps the greatest tragedy is that quality play time is in short supply.