Structure and Play in the Classroom

In a traditional classroom, the curriculum is structured around content and the assignments that test the ability of students to comprehend that content. Teachers plan for times throughout the year where there is a “fun” project, but it is isolated from the rest of the curriculum and overall process of the lesson plans. If we define fun as allowing for creativity and play, then why isn’t that a goal of every lesson plan? Why isn’t learning about the ability to think creatively and play inside of curiosity?

In the LTS classroom, the curriculum is structured so that students are given a specific task but use their own interests to accomplish it. They are learning based on their interests, and are not working to find the right answer, but rather to solve problems in creative ways. Innovation comes from play; it comes from creative thinking, so why aren’t all our classes structured to allow for this?

Structure and freedom do not need to be seen as opposites in the classroom. You don’t want a classroom that is all structure, because students are not learning to think and act for themselves – it’s a boring and uninspiring way to learn. But, you don’t want a classroom that is all freedom, because it paralyzes students who need guidance to learn their own processes for thinking and decision-making. So, the most effective classroom is one where teachers provide an overall structure and students work within that structure based on their own interests so the learning is always relevant to the individual.