Speaker: Susanne Leslie, Professional Learning Specialist
What do you hope teachers will take away from this course?
Susanne Leslie: Hi I'm Susanne. I'm the course writer for course 5315: The Brilliance of Play for All Ages. The question is, what do we hope teachers will take away from this course? What we want you to take away is that the course is fun and engaging regardless of the age group with whom you work. If you're an early childhood educator, elementary, middle high school, the course is filled with learning strategies to get those playful ideas incorporated into your pedagogy and to create a pedagogy of play. The other thing that we want you to take away is that it's based on research. So when there are naysayers who may think that play is frivolous, you'll be able to push back and explain exactly what the research says about play and the success of our students.
What do you love about this course?
Susanne Leslie: Hi. What do we love about this course? Well, the first thing that we love is the course textbook. It's called 'A Pedagogy of Play.' It is from Project Zero at Harvard University. It's filled with practical strategies, colorful diagrams, things that you can put into practice right away, whether you are an early childhood educator, an elementary, a middle, or high school educator. Easy, practical ways to infuse playful learning into your classroom lessons. The second thing that we love is that we invite the person who is taking the course to play and to tell us how play informs their professional practice and how it helps them learn. So as you're taking the course, we ask you to think about the things that you do for fun that makes your life enjoyable and playful and helps you be a better educator.
