Godly Play
Richard Seel New Paradigm Consulting
I am not an academic and I can’t give an example of a simple pedagogical immersive experience. I used to be a film editor with the BBC and I still make movies. Editing is often an immersive experience for me. I remember an occasion at the BBC when I was editing a particularly complex system. I had about a dozen individual shots all unrolled on the sync bench. I kept looking at one and then another by putting them in the ‘PicSync’, the simple machine we used for viewing shots and sequences.
The director came into the cutting room and stood and watched me for a while. I was dimly aware of his presence but continued to work. Finally he spoke; “I don’t know how you keep track of all the different shots”, he said. I looked up at him and then back at the sync bench. Suddenly all I could see was a mess of film on the bench. I didn’t have a clue which shot was which. I had to roll them all up and start again!
I’ve written more about my experiences of film editing elsewhere (http://www.new-paradigm.co.uk/creativity-emergent.htm). But because these immersive experiences tend to be individualistic, as above, and because the learning principles are not so easy to draw out, I’m not going to develop this further here. Instead I’ll draw on something which is part of my present experience. As well as being an organisation consultant with an interest in complex and cultural change, I am also a priest in the Church of England. My example of immersive experience comes from this latter domain.
Godly Play
There is an approach to encountering the Bible, known as Godly Play, which was developed by Jerome Berryman, an Episcopal priest in the US with experience as a Montessori teacher. Originally designed for children, it has also captivated many adults. Although I am not experienced in Godly Play I have encountered it a couple of times, most recently on 8th December 2007. This was at a teaching workshop for some of those at my church.
The tutor arrived early to prepare the room in Chedgrave Church Centre. She laid out a huge range of art materials on different tables: paints, pastels, different papers, modelling stuff, glue, and so on. In the centre of the room she put a tray which she filled with sand. As people entered the room she greeted them quietly and calmly, inviting them to sit in a semicircle around the sand tray—on the floor if they could, on a chair if that was too difficult. Most sat on the floor.
The tutor then sat down, took out a couple of small figures from a box and proceeded to tell the story of Abram & Sarai’s journey (Genesis 12). During the story-telling she never looked up but always focused on the figures and the action. The exception was that at various points during the story she would say, “I wonder…”, as in “I wonder what Sarai was feeling about that?” or “I wonder what Abram was thinking when he got that promise from God?” (In this example, no-one responded but rather reflected silently. In other cases, especially when children are involved, the listeners will offer their own thoughts.) When the story finished there was silence for a little while. Then the tutor invited everyone to respond to the story in whatever way they wanted, using the craft materials provided. After about thirty minutes everyone re-convened and there was an opportunity, though not an obligation, to share what had been done. A number of people did share, though there wasn’t time for everyone to do so.
Reflection
The context
The event described took place in a ‘teach the teachers’ context. This is not usual but Godly Play is a teaching tool, aiming to engage children and adults in the richness of the Bible stories and to help them relate this to their own lives.
The characteristics of the situation
The layout and process were carefully designed to be immersive. The range of materials around the central area was inviting, if also a little daunting for those of us who profess no skill in the plastic arts. It is common for schools and churches to set aside a Godly Play area which is looked after very carefully by the children.
The fact that the storyteller looked only at the figures in the sand try helped everyone to become immersed in the story rather than her. The carefully crafted script engaged us. The “I wonder…” question/statements helped us to become engaged with more than the facts of the account and started a process of drawing the story into our own life stories.
The forms of learning
There was some straightforward factual learning. The story of Abram’s journeying is not that well-known among Christians and seeing it enacted undoubtedly helped to teach and/or remind us of what had happened.
But for me the gain in experiential and reflective learning was much greater. In particular, I was struck by the final wonder: “I wonder what God was doing while Abram & Sarai were wandering back and forth in the desert?” this triggered a personal exploration of a situation in which I currently find myself. Through it I was able to explore a range of possibilities. The situation is still uncomfortable but I am now more at peace with the way things are working out.
Integration of academic/experiential learning
Though the academic learning was slight in this case, especially for me since I was familiar with the story, the integration of this with experiential and reflective learning was high. Without the immersive experience of the storytelling I doubt if this level of integration could have been achieved.
Principles
Perhaps the following principles might have some relevance:
·Pay attention to environment.
·Tell stories to engage the students.
·Focus on the story, not the storyteller.
·Encourage personal response
·Offer a multiplicity of way to respond.
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