On Monday, the first day back after the Christmas break, my Y2/3 class came in to find a packed suitcase and my passport. We were going to go on an expedition, but I needed them to help me work out where we were going.
Item by item, the contents of my suitcase was revealed and discussed. They knew we were going abroad because of the passport: we just needed to work out where. They examined some currency, a flag, items of clothing, sun block, sunglasses… eventually they worked it out: we were going to Australia!
We spent the rest of the morning busily making passports and tickets, researching some of the places we could visit, and packing suitcases full of appropriate clothes and supplies. We found Australia on globes; looked at it in atlases; and worked out how we could get there, and how long it might take. There was a determined, excited buzz about the room.
After lunch, the children came back into the classroom to find that the tables had been moved and the chairs had been set up in rows, as if on an aeroplane. They handed me their tickets and passports, found their seats and off we set. We watched a video of a plane taking off from Heathrow on a grey, wet day and then an in-flight safety video. We worked out what time it would be in Sydney when we landed and what time it would be back in the UK when we landed. Then we watched a video of a plane landing on a sunny day in Sydney. Now we had arrived we needed to find out what we could do in this foreign country: we set-to with travel brochures, large outline maps of Australia, scissors and glue, and made large collages of the things we hoped to see and do.
At no point did I say, “We’re only pretending to fly to Australia”. There was a tacit understanding that what we were doing was ‘make-believe’ and the children bought into it fully, immersing themselves in the excitement of going on holiday to a foreign country. At 3.15 many of the children came and told me that this had been one of the best days ever; that they had loved flying to Australia and that they wanted to learn more about the country. The next day they came in with photos, books, souvenirs and a thirst for knowledge about all things Australian. They were hooked and wanted to learn more.
So why, I wonder, do some teachers regard such activities as dishonest and duplicitous? Last night @oldandrewuk tweeted (about another blogpost):
“This is the 2nd time I’ve seen a blog about primary teaching based on lying to the kids. Are people okay with this?”
I couldn’t help but reply, and an interesting “debate” ensued, where @oldandrewuk tied my words in knots and tripped me up over semantics.
However hard he tried to make me look foolish and question my ideology, @oldandrewuk cannot convince me that we are “lying” to children in any sort of sinister way and that immersing children in their learning through drama or simply through setting up scenarios that encourage them to suspend their disbelief is a practice that needs “justifying”.
Whether teachers engage in Dorothy Heathcote-esque Mantle of the Expert scenarios or enterprises that last for days and weeks, or whether they arrange to “lose” the class soft toy so that the children write authentic wanted posters and character descriptions, immersing young children in experiences in this way creates an enthusiasm for learning and contextualised situations for children to apply knowledge and skills. It’s also great fun, builds on how children themselves role-play to learn, and enables children of all abilities to access learning on an equal footing.
In the past few years I have found WWII kit bags in the school grounds; built meerkat burrows in the school hall; buried (and dug up!) Roman artefacts; written letters to the school from the government; discovered secret fairy doors; opened a cursed Egyptian chest and engaged in all sorts of “make-believe” with my pupils. Why? Because setting up these situations and scenarios works. They engage and enthuse children. They give them situations in which they either need to apply knowledge and skills or work out what skills and knowledge they need, before learning them and subsequently applying them.
If you want your pupils to write a newspaper report, you can either show them what an exemplar newspaper report looks like and ask them to write about the school fair that happened three weeks ago and no-one really remembers, or you can find a WWII kit bag in the school grounds (just up from the genuine WWII Prisoner of War camp on the edge of the school grounds). Then, in order to write a newspaper report, they will need to work out what skills they need to write about this exciting discovery; what a newspaper report consists of by examining contemporary and historical real-life examples; take photos; interview witnesses and school staff and plan and prepare their final reports for publication.
I know which I’d rather do. I know which my pupils would rather do. And, more importantly, I know which situation will enable the children to write the best newspaper reports.
However much @oldandrewuk and others of his ilk try to convince primary teachers that setting up learning situations is “lying” to children I will remain convinced, through my own experience, that taking children on these exciting learning journeys is an effective way to learn. And if it’s more fun for everyone too, that’s an added bonus.
During the course of my discussion with @oldandrewuk, the notion of deep learning also surfaced. I think I’ll ponder on this for a few days before a new blog post begins to stir…
Primary Ramblings 
Wonderful post! Children know what is a lie & what is pretend. They enjoy the role as it helps with their understanding. I doubt any went home & complained to their families that you lied to them about going on a trip!
No, you’re right. They went home buzzing with enthusiasm for all things Australian, and came in on Tuesday eager to learn and show me what they had done at home the night before. 🙂
Reblogged this on Primary Blogging.
Thank you. I can’t believe this has generated such interest!
What an absolutely fantastic way to excite, enthuse and engage children in their new topic!! The children will definitely take this learning away with them rather than simply looking at maps and reading facts.
Going to magpie this idea with my y1/2 class.
We had an alien invasion where all staff and children were involved and we saw some of the best writing outcomes ever across school.
Thank you!
Thank you for your kind comments. I think an alien spaceship may crash land on our field in the summer…. 🙂
Absolutely fantastic. This is exactly how children learn and develop a thirst for knowledge. Your class is so lucky to have you. As for Andrew……blocked him months ago. He seems to get off on criticising others so just take him with a pinch of salt. I know who I’d prefer to teach my 5 year old grandson (who is also ‘doing’ Australia at the moment!)
Thank you. These wonderful comments are really making my day! I’m so pleased to learn that so many other primary colleagues are teaching in this way too. I can’t take any credit: it’s what most of us do because we love children, know how they learn, and want them to have engaging, worthwhile and powerful learning experiences.
Wonderful post . The semantics people never seem to post lessons of their own that show any inspiration. Have faith in what you do. As a parent that’s how I wanted my kids teaching. A sense of awe and wonder . In terms of lies you might find this interesting http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2013/dec/13/children-santa-claus-demystification-faith or my last blog on http://www.neilatkin.com (no research here) humanity before pedagogy !
Wonderful post and exactly how I wanted my own kids to be taught. To come home with a sense of wonder and joy. Have faith in what you do – the aggressive semantics brigade have yet to post a lesson that looks as inspiring as yours. In terms of lies this is an interesting take on it http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2013/dec/13/children-santa-claus-demystification-faith you may also find my last blog post http://neilatkin.com/2014/01/05/what-they-probably-wont-tell-you-at-teacher-training-opinions-of-a-successful-teacher/. No research here just humanity before pedagogy !
Thank you. We need to harness that natural awe and wonder children have and use it to enhance learning.
A wonderful post.
I have no particular blogger in mind when I make this comment. I certainly do not imply that I am thinking about or referring to anyone in your blog.
On the basis that it seems likely, that human beings develop their understanding of concepts in an iterative way largely via the processing of percepts perhaps, it would seem to me that much of what any child or even adult knows it not necessarily true. Interpreting the world in a meaningful way that allows us to survive and thrive is what we do (human beings that is).
Just as we go to great lengths to identify learning difficulties in students so we can adapt what we say and what we do in order that we can help them.
I had a conversation with a member of school staff this week who has been diagnosed with Asberger Syndrome for instance. He/she made statements that on the face of it and from a “formal logic” perspective were sensible, but due to the fact that we are human beings with reactions, motivations, thoughts and feelings that are influenced minimally by formal logic. The resulting discussion was luckily not witnessed by any students.
As a parent I used to have others very occasionally question me for telling my kids that Santa Claus existed. “One minute you tell them not to take gifts from strangers, the next you are telling them that you will let Santa come down your chimney in the night and leave gifts in the child’s bedroom with no other adult present”. Usually these are people who have never been parents themselves or are just a little bit strange. They apply the rules universally as it helps them get through the day, but they do not see the difficulties caused to others and they don’t seem to care much anyhow.
When I read posts such as this one I wonder whether bloggers can always agree. Clearly there is often no correct answer, but one side often seems to think that there is.
I read a blogpost somewhere and I think, “how can this person possibly believe this?”. If one takes the argument to the nth degree and follows formal logic to it’s ultimate conclusion then one would arrive at this conclusion no matter how daft in the real world of the vast majority of the population.
I think we should apply the same thoughts to teachers who post blogs as we would when we teach students. We are all individual and have different experiences in the world. Some do not see the world as we do and often this is a very good thing.
If you take the fact that we are human beings into account then actually neither is a more logical position when viewed from the different perspectives.
The member of staff I was talking to would never have walked away as their logic was faultless and therefore it was their duty to defend it. I wandered off and left them in their own world, and did what needed to be done.
Just my thoughts.
PS…in case anyone is not aware. I tried to buy a ticket from Nottigham to Hogwarts yeaterday and the guy at the counter said there was no such station. That J K Rowling has a lot to answer for.
Thank you. We all have such different perceptions and constructs to bring to any situation. That’s one more reason why this works so well.
I’m with you on this one! The immersion into roleplay can be built seamlessly into lessons across so many subjects as a means to get children to think more clearly about situations which are outside of their personal experience. Love your Meerkat corner too by the way!
Thank you. We can only try to provide children with experiences they might not otherwise have. The result is great learning. 🙂
Wonderful post. I work in secondary/6th form and I use similar scenarios to make the learning interesting, relevant and engaging. Yesterday my Y7 students learned that my Aunt Mabel gave me a zoo for Christmas, leading to a spreadsheet model to work out the financing (ultimately we decided that we can break even only if we feed the elephants to the lions).
When setting project briefs I find the students engage much more with creating album covers for a new music artist than for a grumpy, bespectacled teacher.
There is a difference between using imagination and actively deceiving.
You are so right. Setting up “real” situations is so engaging. Glad this is happening in secondary too. 🙂
Sounds like a hugely enjoyable, fun, learning experience: I have a far bigger problem with the annual lying about the existence of Father Christmas, than the supposed “lying” that your class experience. My Year 5 class take home a soft cuddly lion named Aslan every weekend and write a journal entry, as Aslan himself. Aslan details what he has done with the child that takes him home, including ‘staged’ photographs, and the following week they read Aslan’s journal entry to the rest of the class. EVERY child wants to take him home EVERY week. Of course they are just suspending their disbelief, in the same way they understand that the miniature Indian elephant that is currently marching across the top of my whiteboard, is of course, powered by me moving him – the value for me is their willingness to enter into the “lie” and the journey that it can then take their imaginations on. Please, please continue lying to your children in this way. I hope you don’t mind if I magpie your ideas Miss, and many thanks for sharing your wonderful practice.
Magpie away! I love that so many teachers are sharing good practice as a result of my post. My class has an elephant called Eric who goes home with children at the weekend and writes in a journal. Like your children, all of mine want to take him every weekend. Eric’s had some marvellous adventures and he manages to write pages and pages even when he goes home with the most reluctant of writers. 🙂
This is gorgeous. As a bajillion (possibly a lie) psycholosists have asserted, children learn through play, and this is full of playfulness. Is play a lie?
Play is essential, we know that. Using it to enhance and enrich learning is obvious to me!
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Thank you. It’s so good to hear that so many teachers are working in this way. It’s powerful stuff.
Fantastic! I regularly ‘lie’ to my class to get fantastic writing from them…we have been on magic carpet rides to fairytale settings, on a hunt around the school grounds for ‘Greedy Gordon’ who had stolen all of Charlie’s Chocolate from the Chocolate Factory, and we currently have an alien egg sitting in the corner of our classroom that crashed their over Christmas! It immerses the Children in their learning, a particular advantage to Children in my school from a lower social background; children that have less opportunities to pretend and expand their imaginations and who may never have experienced something such as going on a plane. These tools allows for language to come from a child that may not have been there before…is that not the whole point of teaching?
Yes! Thank you for your comments. There’s some really engaging, powerful teaching going on out there!
Children know it’s pretend so can’t see the problem. It motivates them to find out more – an engaged, motivated child will learn so much more in my experience. Great post.
Thank you for your comment, Of course they know it’s “pretend”. They want to believe, and so they do. And I completely agree that engagement and motivation are key. Some people are confusing this with over-excitement and “gimmicks”, which saddens me.
Superb! Children are not afraid to suspend their disbelief, such a shame that we tend to lose this magical ability as we grow older. And lucky that primary teachers manage to hang onto it.
Thank you, Sue. I must admit I’m overwhelmed by the response to this. I’d assumed all primary teachers worked in this way! It’s really exciting to find out that so many do, and how powerful we all know it is.
@oldandrewuk mustn’t have learnt what imagination is! By the way, thanks for visiting us here in Australia. We loved having your class in our country! They were very brave to fly all that way around the world without their families.
Thank you. We’re still there, but moving around lots! We’ll be home in time for half term :). We are also following a uk teacher currently working and touring Aus via twitter, which is a great way to learn about your amazing country.
Surely our children all benefit from using their imagination? We “flew” to India last term – although of course we were able to get back in time to be collected by parents!
Some children will not be taking a flight anywhere anytime soon, and I think it is a part of my job to try and fill those holes in their experiences. When school budgets allow, I will be happy to take a plane full of children to India, but in the meantime a classroom or hall set up as a plane will do!
Absolutely. In an ideal world we’d fly to India or Australia. The best we can do is bring those experiences to the children.
Great post & dare I say it shows an understanding of the psychology of how young children can be motivated to learn! #youngchildrenarenotstupid
Thank you. I have always been interested in how children learn. Setting up these situations is a great way of using their natural curiosity and playfulness to enhance learning.
I actually think it’s perhaps more important for pupils to engage in ‘make-believe’ activities than just for the reasons you give!
This year I’m working with some SEBD KS4 classes in a range of BTEC and Functional Skills courses. Most of the pupils are working at lower levels and most of them have had highly disrupted school careers (missing chunks of primary education is common). Our pupils tend to find it difficult to work in a role-play situation which could of course be for a number of reasons, but I do think the ones who have experienced more ‘play’ have an advantage in their courses.
The exams for BTECs and FS quite often ask students to put themselves in a role. This could be one of a recruitment agent writing a job advert, a society treasurer working out budgets or a charity worker designing a fund raising campaign. It takes a lot of work to get the pupils to understand that they are required to approach these tasks as if they are actually in these roles and they can miss out on what would seem like easy marks simply because they can’t do this. Many pupils find straight forward, traditional exam questions a lot more logical and yet the BTEC and FS courses are used with pupils as an (easier?) alternative to these.
Whether or not BTEC and FS qualifications are considered worthwhile is a separate issue of course, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that students currently need to be able to assume the role of another person to be able to complete exams that they are currently taking. If they’ve spent time flying to Australia or digging up artefacts without being explicitly told it’s make-believe, maybe it will help them in the future when most would consider it to be no longer significant.
This is true. The “scenarios” used for BTEC courses are often like this. I’ve had students running restaurants, travel agents, and yes, publicising imaginary bands to build & demonstrate skills with spreadsheets, databases etc. And it is more difficult for some than for others. They do need this skill.
Completely agree. These positive comments are really fantastic, thank you.
Amazing work! Your battling against the ultimate lie — the TV.
If a wardrobe sized cardboard box can be turned into a space ship in our preschool, because the children can imagine it as that, then all is good with the world and we can go anywhere. Lovely to see all the great comments you have had on this blog post. 🙂
It is heartening. Agree completely about the cardboard box space ship!
Large packing case that was mysteriously left in the middle of our playground, roped off and covered in far away country stickers. Explorer’s tent on top of one of our mobiles along with boots and cooking stove. Trashed Year 2 classroom filled with whodunit Big Bad Wolf clues…
Yes, imagination can be a powerful teaching and learning tool, such a pity certain self proclaimed edu ‘gurus’ seem to have had it replaced with cynicism!
Great stuff!
Love this. It is why I love my job in Primary. We have written instructions for someone entering Narnia for the first time (Thanks Neil Gaiman for his inspiring poetry) We have imagined we were in a castle and withstood a siege,This week we have been applying for a job; my personal favourites being the post of robotic dinosaur night keeper, assistant to a mad scientist and chief dragon keeper. I would rather like to see OldAndrew arguing with the staff of the Nottingham Galleries of Justice that they are lying each working day once they are in costume. How else does he think we engage kids in history, that first archaeological dig is a bit of a disappointment otherwise.
I love my job, too. It’s such a privilege to go into work each day and engage children in learning. I get to have great fun, too! I wouldn’t want to do anything else.
Such exciting stuff – both what you’re doing, and the fact that it’s getting some pushback. I always think about push-back as a chance to really figure out why I’m doing what I’m doing, and whether I believe in it.
I love the way you set your Australia intro up – I wish more of us did it. My friend @avivaloca had her students come in for a study of a First Nations/European first contact by setting up police tape at the classroom door, having a chalk outline on the floor and artifacts, and having her kids try to solve the mystery (they’re Grade 5’s – 10 and 11 year olds). They loved it – but they certainly didn’t think anyone actually died in their classroom.
We’re learning a lot about inquiry learning here in Ontario, and we would call your artifacts provocations – and they’re what we’re supposed to be doing!
Great, I’m so glad so many teachers are working like this around the world.
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The views you attribute to me here are not accurate. I did not call role-playing “lying”. I indicated that I thought some blogposts (one of which I haven’t managed to find) actually endorsed genuinely misleading kids and asked (not said, simply asked) if people thought that was okay. I am somewhat baffled as to why you have distorted matters like this.
Oh, and I didn’t catch you out with “semantics”, I just tried to encourage you to say something coherent, as what you had answered seemed muddled, possibly because you hadn’t really considered whether the jargon you were using was actually meaningful.
I quoted your tweet accurately. I think the huge number of positive comments and tweets shows that, yes, people are ‘okay’ with this. There was no distortion intended: I quoted your tweet and put forward my own point of view. It seems to be a point of view shared by many in primary, secondary and beyond.
And I did feel that you were trying to catch me out at the end of a very long day by twisting my words.
Anyway, no harm done, and lots of fantastic practice shared by a lot of excellent teachers committed to making learning fun and effective.
Wish I’d been on that plane with the rest of you. What wonderful learning. There are few things sadder than a child with no imagination. Witnessed it the other day during a read a loud (What Snowmen Do At Night) when one of the students said that snowmen don’t really do that and they needed to be ‘reminded’ by the teacher to use their imagination. It’s not too late to re grow this in kids so let’s do it!
Yes, there are children who do not live in play-rich or imagination-rich situations. I think we need to give children as many experiences as we can at school, and encouraging imagination is one of them.
How sad that we have someone like Andrew old teaching our children who obviously fundamentally fails to understand the learning and thought processes of human beings. I find it incredible that someone of his supposed erudition can have such ignorance.
I think the huge number of positive comments and the response on twitter shows that the majority of teachers, luckily, do not think the same.
Do people “have” ignorance?
I’m not sure I understand?
You can learn so much from pretending. Academics investigate ‘pretend’ scenarios in order to learn. It’s called modelling. Authors write fiction in order to explore reality, and readers read fiction for the same reason. Human beings are very good at suspending disbelief, and of course children do that in their perfectly normal and developmental pretend play.
Love the lessons you describe here. Makes me wish I was still teaching! (I’m retired).