Emer Ring & Lisha O'Sullivan - Revolutionising Education Through Play

Feb 20 2024 • 1 hr 5 mins

LEGO Literacy Alert!

Around the 38-minute mark, Emer and Lisha use LEGO to answer some questions.

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Hello there!

We’re Dr. Jane Hession and Ronan Healy. We’re a husband and wife team and co-founders of the service design studio How Might We - www.howmightwe.design

We're passionate about Play and provide online and in-house training in the LEGO Serious Play method to:

1) Third-level Educators - https://bit.ly/LSP_Ed_Innovators

2) Organisational Innovators - https://bit.ly/LSP_Org_Innovators

Episode Six

A global conference about ‘Revolutionising Education Through Play’ Nonsense! We need more STEM! Play has done nothing for society!

‘Revolutionising Education Through Play’ may seem like a grandiose statement, but having spoken with our wonderful guests, we think it's entirely appropriate. Professor Emer Ring and Dr Lisha O’Sullivan should give us hope that the education system many of us struggled in is now being ‘revolutionised’ for young learners globally.

And while we’re at it, let's get grandiose and ancestral and consider ‘Revolutionising Society Through Play’. Look back through human history. Play has always been a fundamental aspect of society. From ancient civilisations using games to teach important skills and values to indigenous cultures integrating play into rituals and ceremonies, the role of play in shaping societal norms, values, and behaviours cannot be overstated.

Therefore, ‘Revolutionising Education Through Play’ inevitably leads to revolutionising society through play, as it influences how children and adults interact and contribute meaningfully to their communities and local ecology.

Emer, Lisha and their colleagues have worked tirelessly to host the Revolutionising Education through Play Conference 2024, held on 02 March 2024 at the Mary Immaculate College. Limerick, Ireland

https://www.mic.ul.ie/faculty-of-education/conference/play2024

Emer who?

Professor Emer Ring is the Dean of Education at Mary Immaculate College (MIC). Emer worked as a senior inspector with the Department of Education and Skills, a primary mainstream class teacher and a learning/support resource teacher before joining MIC. Emer has been the principal investigator on various national research projects covering early childhood, primary and post-primary education, inclusion, child/student voice, pedagogy and autism. She has published widely in the area of education.

Contact Details

https://www.mic.ul.ie/staff/669-emer-ring

Emer's Research

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Emer-Ring

Dr Lisha O’Sullivan is the Head of the Department of Reflective Pedagogy and Early Childhood Studies at Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Limerick. Lisha lectures across early childhood and teacher education programmes at MIC and supervises research in early childhood education at undergraduate, Master's and PhD levels. Before joining the Faculty of Education, Lisha worked in special education, community childcare, family support and play therapy.

Contact Details

https://www.mic.ul.ie/staff/171-lisha-osullivan

Lisha's Research

https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Lisha-OSullivan-2139633477

Topics Covered

Paul Ramchandani

https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/people/staff/ramchandani/

Tim Gill

https://rethinkingchildhood.com/about/

Minding Bodies: How Physical Space, Sensation, and Movement Affect Learning

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Minding-Bodies-Physical-Sensation-Education/dp/1949199991

Jean Piaget - Four Development Stages