It is our first time giving a sharing about Forest School Singapore in Europe. It was a long 30 hour trip from Singapore to Billund via plane, train and bus.
The Playful School Conference by @thelegofoundation , @projectzerohgse & @stupid_studio was very well run, with amazing thought leaders in play, education and community development. They came from all over the world, Kenya, South Africa, Netherland, USA, China, UK, Australia, Taiwan, Germany, Columbia, India.
It was an eye opener learning from all the passionate folks who are doing great work in enhancing the experience of play for children around the world, while also working on ways to make play accessible to more vulnerable communities.
There are plenty of Reggio practitioners amongst the speakers. It is like being in a space where everyone speaks the 100 languages of play.
I was able to share my workshop through stories that happen in Forest School Singapore. It really gave me and everyone a perspective of the context and culture of play and outdoor education in different spaces.
It was also amusing to realize that almost everyone also shares similar issues of over-emphasis-in-test-scores, teacher-struggles, accessibility etc.
In a way, we are all connected in our common challenges and our core principles of children-focus.
My biggest take-away for today will be what Rob Houben, program manager of Wings Agora Roermond (Netherland), shared with the panelist… “Teacher should preach less, and observe more”
By observing more, we will truly understand how to support our children to fulfil their potential and interest. And when they are on the path of their choice, our children’s eyes light up with passion, play and the true spirit of oneness.
I look forward to tmr”
– Darren’s Day 1 Reflection
(Playful School Conference 2023)
(Excerpt from DAY 1 Reflection on IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/CqTrxnDqO32/)
“The Playful Schools Conference by @thelegofoundation foundation came to an end a few days back. It took me a while to digest the huge amount of information, knowledge and wisdom of the experience. I will probably be producing more than 3 articles from this Denmark Education Expedition & Play Conference. I must say, this 3 day conference really reiterates to me, the importance of play in life. Play is the foundation of experience. All of us are able to easily remember the childhood play memories, but we definitely find it hard to remember the Math score we got when we were 8 years old. Our memories and knowledge are formed through the deep experience of play. In short, PLAY is a deep human experience, much like meditation and mindfulness, without it, a human will not be deeply involved in his/her life. When was the last time we played?
The collection of amazing individuals from the conference offered me a wider perspective into the work of fellow play & education advocates. The one that tugs on my heart the most, was the sharing by Maria of aeioTu (of Columbia, South America). Their work on giving play & learning development accessibility to Venezuelan refugee children (of the civil war), absolutely blows my mind. Because there are still so many children out there who need us. It makes me feel that we, as adults, are many times not doing enough for our little ones all over the world. If children are the expression of Nature & God, and we constantly allow them to go through the idiocracy of our politics, are we able to stand bravely in our moment of death to say that we did our best? Can we?
I would say, the full Playful Schools Conference experience really raises my awareness of the possibilities out there. But it also sinks my heart to realise the challenges that so many folks face. Do we really need Non-Profit organisations to uplift our children’s well being and play spaces forever? Are we able to have all businesses and communities step up our game for OUR CHILDREN…?
I leave the conference, with the gains of the flowers of spring and more questions to explore. Thank you everyone for hearing my reflection for this journey.”
– Darren Reflection for Day 2 & Day 3
(Playful School Conference 2023)
(Excerpt from DAY 2 & 3 Reflection on IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/CqeITL7q-L3/)
Library 