The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY application is a natural fit for most classrooms, but many high school teachers have yet to discover this amazing tool.
We have successfully used the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method with high school students in a variety of ways. Here are just a couple of examples. We have worked with high-risk students to help them clarify, focus, and find inspiration so they would not leave school early. We have also used LSP with high performers who needed to focus on preparing for post-secondary school. Examples outside the classroom include workshops within the SHAD program, which is part of the STEAM Innovation Cup for grade 10 and 11 students; junior hockey teams; and the Vancouver Anti-Bully Program.
Put quite simply: Any situation where you might use LSP with adults works equally well with teens. Adulting is hard work. And if there is a stressed-out population that has mastered the art of looking like they are ‘fine’, it is high-school-aged students. As teachers, instructors, trainers etc., we must first develop empathy for our learners so we can form sincere connections. Otherwise, they will perceive our attempts to assist them as just another trick or technique of manipulation or control.
A powerful element of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is its ability to facilitate the process of learning transfer. Learning transfer is the transmission of knowledge, not just from the teacher to the learner, but also from the learner’s short-term memory into their long-term memory. This is where one can pull knowledge from memory to apply as needed. This is really the art of teaching. Students are not empty vessels waiting to be filled with the knowledge of others, just so they can hold it long enough to pass a test or exam. They are humans with their own opinions, stories, ideas, biases, and theories. Once teachers tap into this, they have a way to tap into passion and drive. It is in this hidden world where new knowledge can be captured and stored and, if relevant, will remain useful and available.
This process can happen though practice or repetition, which everyone dislikes. It can also happen by applying a rich and powerful application like LEGO SERIOUS PLAY, where students take new information and build their own ideas on how they can use that data in a way that is relevant to them. When we use a process where the inside world comes out, we can share and examine it. It is not until this transfer process happens that we can see, hear, and understand the thinking and frameworks learners hold and the lens through which they see their outside world. LEGO SERIOUS PLAY does not just capture all learning styles. It answers the question everyone wants to know: What’s in this for me?
Teachers are under equally tremendous stress. They are asked to do more with less under conditions that are becoming increasingly difficult to manage. We will be covering this topic in the future, so be sure to stay current with our blog!
If you are a teacher using LSP in your classroom, we would love to hear from you. Let us know how you incorporate LSP into your program and how you feel the students are benefitting.
If you are a teacher looking for a new tool for your classroom, contact us and we can work to get you into one of our many certification programs.