Play money
Friday, August 17, 2007 at 06:05PM 
Your humble blogster navigating the Big Kahuna Rapids on the Snake River. Look for brown hat.
I've always wondered a little about Daniel Pink's 5th "Conceptual Age Skill" from his book A Whole New Mind (about which I've written before a couple times):
5. Not just seriousness, but also PLAY.
How can serious educators consider "play" to be an important 21st century skill?
That was until when visiting Jackson, Wyoming, it dawned on me that there is serious money to be made in "play."
Jackson is the gateway to Teton and Yellowstone National Parks and the white-water section of the Snake River, and has two major ski resorts. As a result, this little town of about 8000 souls finds 4 million people visiting it each year. At any one time, about 80% are sitting in the 50' RVs that are towing an SUV right in the middle of a two lane park road pointing and staring at a (sometimes imaginary) moose. Those 4 million people bring wallets stuffed with cash and credit cards.
Jackson's retail establishment seems to be divided equally among sporting good stores, art galleries, restaurants, and white water rafting companies. Many of the tourists here seem to have taken the bear's survival strategy to heart and continuously gorge for the coming long winter. I suspect many could hibernate for a couple years and still come away with a few extra pounds. Whatever your brand of play - shopping, skiing, bicycling, rafting, hiking, eating - a Jackson merchant is near.
Can a person who does not understand the nature of play provide it to others? I'm doubtful.
PS. A big thanks to Janice Segerstrom, tech director for Teton District #1 Schools, who organized the librarian workshops and the tech/ELL conference at which I spoke and gave me an excuse to come to this beautiful part of the world. And proved to be an excellent host!
Gotta go. Time to eat!
Play - a 21st century skill
Reader Comments (7)
As I launch into a new school district in a new library position, I ponder some of those same thoughts. My new job is in a very touristy area of SC (Myrtle Beach) and so the tourism industry, which well supports public education in the area, is also a pain to deal with. I had many of my new colleagues offer tips on how to go to and from school each day during beach season, and warnings about then the late fall and early spring golf season traffic. I was even told the back roads around to avoid the trekkers to the beach! But too bad--I still feel like I'm on vacation at the beach! And I keep thinking about all the ways this can be "pulled" in learning at school. Most of the veterans here seem to be oblivious to it--imagine that.
Hey those are FABULOUS pictures you have there. I'm glad you were able to have some fun while working. It is exactly how I feel. Someone pinch me so i'll know it's really work and not an extended vacation.
This was great, but your outstanding and exciting pictures of you having fun nearly overshadow what you have written. I would like to know who took the pictures and how he or she took them or maybe just where they were standing!
In Scotland we've got the beginnings of some really exciting work aligning the play ethic and our curriculum. The Active Learning pages might fill in some of the detail better than I can:
http://www.curriculumforexcellencescotland.gov.uk/buildingthecurriculum/Buildingthecurriculum2/index.asp
but you can also see some of the stuff that our schools have done with this on some posts from June, earlier this year:
http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2007/06/active_learning.html
Hi Janet,
A photography outfit has a platform right by the river at these rapids and shoots a fast series of 8 as each raft goes by. You find them by going to their website and selecting your raft company and guide name.
I'm fast, but not THAT fast!
Doug
Hi Ewan,
Enjoyed both the post on Jenny's classroom and the "active learning" curriculum. Both seem to be heading directly opposite what NCLB is driving in the US. Would my grandsons be entering YOUR schools!
Thanks for sharing this,
Doug
It looks like we both got out to Jackson this summer! It was my first time out there - the scenery is amazing. I gotta get my wife to Yellowstone!
Thanks for the summer reading recommendation, I just finished Pink's book last night. On top of a course I took on Memory and Learning, (with lots of Right and Left brain thrown in), I have tons to think about. I have to agree with, "People rarely succeed at anything unless they have fun doing it"--my students learn better when the lesson is fun.
Janet