Why Fun Should Be the Main Component in the Classroom

Written by Thomas McGregor
Published: August 17, 2014 at 2:48 AM [UTC]

The title of this article may seem to give a lot away as many teachers and musicians understand the importance of fun in the classroom already. Nevertheless, I am will go into vast detail as to how fun activities can positively influence the Classroom energy in such a way that your students will never be the same. I also want this to serve as a reminder that children are still children, goofy and energetic. As teachers awe can you fun as a way to allow them to be children in a way that also allows them to learn.

As I stated previously, children are goofy and energetic in a way that seems to elude most adults. After we grow up and become "mature" we lose that playful spirit that children so readily embrace. Internally, we can view this behaviour as unorganized and chaotic. Externally, we put on this front that portrays to our students lack of recognition of their natural silly state. Children innately find joy in every moment, this enables them to think unconditionally, outside the box and creatively. Isn't this the state we wish all our students to be ? We do, only if we can control it, right? As an instructor we have a plan for our pupils. Therefore, we must garnish some focus on control in order to execute the plan we envision. The problem with this line of thinking is that it's to rigid. There are to many confines, barriers, and rules. Children are born into this world not knowing of these ideas, thus, unattached to any set of doctrine or methodology. Therefore, as soon as we attempt to implement our "plan" for them with a focus on reigning them in, we lose that enthusiastic childish spark.

As we venture into lessons this week, the importance and focus needs to be on that which makes us human. The silliness and the unorganized. The goofy and energetic. These characteristics know nothing of limits or rules. At the end of the day, what exactly is wrong with that? Nature itself is known for being a "organized chaos". This means that we can be organized and yet still allow the chaos to have its place. This allows for freedom, flow and a sense of concurrency between teacher and student. Meaning, allow outpatients to be silly and guide the energy that silliness provides in an education direction. This requiring no reigning in or control struggle. This requires you to allow what naturally occurs constructively and educationally. In conclusion, my challenge to you is this; throw out some rules and preconceived notions of how you think they should learn. In doing this you will vastly increase the opportunities available for the student to surprise you in their innate genius.

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