【陳慧珊】有一種教育,叫學習做決定 (8) 通過遊戲學習

2016-08-21


正當開始寫這篇文章的時候,女兒突然從睡房衝出來,經過我身處的電腦房,並大聲呼喊:「你準備要輸了!你準備要輸了!」原來,零晨時分女兒將在客廳與爸爸進行一場刺激的足球機友誼比賽,她正為此興奮不已。女兒對跟爸爸一起玩的那份興奮和期待,提醒了我玩樂和遊戲工具的好處,啟發我改變主意,決定寫這個主題。

我和丈夫在女兒年幼時,已開始向她灌輸玩具是「學習工具」的概念。不論是她的足球機、閃電麥坤玩具,還是合體小精靈的樂高系列,我們一家都會把它們視作「學習工具」。從她揣摩如何利用它們學習,領略將會學習甚麼的過程中,這些「學習工具」都在教她做決定。

通過「學習工具」,孩子可以參與不同類型的遊戲和學習。例如,當我的女兒與毛絨企鵝玩「扮演遊戲」時(利用它們在課室設定實境或想像的情景,例如一個火星航程),她都被放置在一個迫使她做許多決定的情況,例如如何解難以達到目標,甚麼才是當下最適切的行動,以及何時利用虛幻和現實。反過來,這些技能亦能應用在日常生活的決策當中,例如如何應付生活的約束和壓力,如何面對家人、老師和朋友的關係,以及認識和接受各種情況的出現,同時作出最佳的決定。

把毛絨企鵝視為「學習工具」,使她明白,除非我們創造、實驗、實現和應用所學去改善自己的生活,否則,玩具僅僅是玩具。

使用不同的規則「玩遊戲」同樣有所益處。舉個例子,足球是女兒最喜歡的運動之一。遊戲中,每個時刻的決策,都是為了同一個終極目標——在90分鐘的時限內盡全力把球踢進龍門(一場職業足球的時限為90分鐘,女兒的聯賽大概是45分鐘)。在學校的足球場上,我的女兒會按照足球(「學習工具」)的功能和性能/限制,及運動的規則做多個決定。

從「學習工具」(足球)和運動本身,她學會為甚麼比賽會這樣設計(「存在」),理解如何透過在獲取分數時經歷的高低起伏獲取最多(「理解」),最後,欣賞運動(或其它事物)背後的設計原理,從而在人生其他情況下應用相同的概念,去了解、實現、接受、推理、物化、改進和實踐(「應用」)。

能夠從一場小小的足球比賽,甚至從與絨毛動物公仔進行扮演遊戲中獲取所有生活技能的說法,似乎有些牽強。若果我們只把玩具僅僅視作玩具,把遊戲僅僅視作遊戲,這是理所當然的。

我的朋友來我家時,總會驚訝於女兒書架上一式三款的「學習工具」。例如,女兒擁有三個相同版本的閃電麥坤:一款能遇水變色,一款能變成雞蛋形狀,一款能做出多個特技動作,如打前後空翻和側身滑行。我們一家決定給女兒購買一式三款的玩具車,是希望向她清楚說明,與日常生活一樣,基於不同的原因(「理解」),事物總有不同的形式(「存在」),以達致不同的目的(「應用」)。

假如我能從玩具中學會生活中的事物,玩具製造商能賺那麼多錢就非毫無理據!他們為孩子(和成人)提供工具,讓他們從遊戲(或「學習工具」)的限制取得學習的經驗,獲得發掘新事物的動力,將不可能變成可能,荒謬變成真實,未知變成理解中和知道。在做所有決定的過程中,人必須應用知識(轉化事實/將經驗轉化為個人智慧)。通過「學習工具」學習的好處是,它們不僅有益(獲得智慧),同時十分有趣。

作者:陳慧珊

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Decision Making is Educational

 “Learning Through Play”

Just as I was about to write this article, I suddenly heard my daughter belt out, as she darted out of her bedroom and past the computer room where I was writing, “Are you ready to lose! Are you ready to lose!”  It turns out that she was psyching herself up for a competitive yet friendly early morning game of foosball with her dad in the living room.  Her reaction to the joyful anticipation of playing with her dad reminded me of the benefits of play and the tools children use in play, which inspired me to change my initial decision and to write on this particular topic instead.

My husband and I had introduced to our daughter, from an early age, the concept of toys being “learning tools”.  Whether they be my daughter’s foosball set, her collection of Lightning McQueen race cars and pit crew, or her tribes of Lego Mixels, our family refers to them as “learning tools”. These “learning tools” teach her to make decisions as to what to learn, as she figures out how to learn from them.

Children can engage in different types of play and different types of learning through using their “learning tools”.  For example, when my daughter does “pretend play” with her stuffed penguins, (using them to enact real-life situations in the classroom, or imagined situations like a voyage to Mars, etc.) she is placed in an experience which forces her to make numerous decisions, such as how to solve problems to achieve goals, what is the most appropriate code of conduct, and when to use fantasy vs. reality.  In turn, these skills can be transferred to making daily life decisions such as how to cope with life constraints and stress, how to negotiate relationships with family, teachers and friends, and to realize, accept, and make the best out of various situations.

Treating her stuffed penguins as “learning tools” educates her in the realization that toys are merely toys unless we create, experiment, achieve, and apply the learnings attained from them to improve our own lives.

“Games play” is equally beneficial while using a different set of rules.  Take for example, one of my daughter’s favorite sports, football (or for Americans, soccer).  Moment-to-moment decisions are crucial for the one ultimate goal of the game, namely, to kick the ball into the goal and to land on this specific destination as many times as possible within the confines of 90 minutes (for professional football, and approximately 45 minutes for my daughter’s league).  On the school football pitch, my daughter makes numerous decisions according to the functions and capabilities/limitations of the football (“learning tool”) as well as according to the rules of the sport.  

From the “learning tool” (football) and the sport itself, she gains knowledge as to why the game is designed the way it is (“being”), understands what it takes to get the most out of the experience of living through the ups, downs, and motivations of the game in order to score (“knowing”), and ultimately, appreciating the reasons behind why the sport (or anything) is the way it is and applying the same concepts of understanding, realizing, accepting, reasoning, materializing, improving, and achieving for all life situations (“applying”).

It may seem a little far-fetched to gain all of those life skills from one little game of football, or one little pretend play with stuffed animals, but that’s only true if we treat a toy as a toy and a game as a game.  

My friends are always surprised when they come over my house and discover on my daughter’s shelf three versions of the same “learning tool”.  For example, my daughter owns three versions of the same car, i.e. a Lightning McQueen that changes color in water, one that can transform into the shape of an egg and back, and one that can perform multiple stunts such as front and back flips and glides sideways.  The reason why we made a joint family decision to purchase three versions of the same car is to explicitly show her that, parallel to life, things come in different forms (“being”) for different reasons (“knowing”) to achieve different goals (“applying”).  

If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s that there’s a reason why toy manufacturers make so much money!  They provide the tools for our children (and adults) to experience a learning process according to the constraints of the game (or “learning tool”) and to attain the power to discover our motivations, to turn the improbable into probable, the absurd into reality, and the unknown into the knowing and known.  In the process to all the decisions one must reach to achieve knowledge (transforming facts/experiences into wisdom that works for the individual), the best part about being educated through “learning tools” is that it’s not only profitable (in gaining wisdom), it’s also fun.

Text by Flora Chan

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