Combinatory Play: Dabbling in the Classroom

Curiosity Cliff

We have this image of what a genius is- a person who has these amazing ideas, all the time. The individuals brilliant and insightful, day and night. A person for whom things come easily - that have minds more advanced somehow. But, this is not necessarily the case. Yes, they have ingenuity, wisdom and confidence- but they also get distracted, discouraged and overwhelmed like the rest of us. What they have mastered is the ability to take their curiosity, imagination and creativity and hone in on solutions, innovations and unfold a new strategy never even considered. In other words, not necessarily inventing something new, but looking at things in a unique way.

We all have curiosity, imagination, creativity and problem-solving skills. Curiosity is the cliffs edge, imagination the turbulent waters below, creativity the leap- do you dive, jump or slowly climb down the precipice? You have a choice, do you make a splash quickly, or take the long way around, dipping into the current slowly? We are constantly longing for this view, both anticipatory and exciting, but on occasion we doubt ourselves and begin to dwell inside a cave: dark, dank and isolated- where we feel defeated and overwhelmed. So many people surround the cave, however. They too are gazing upon the blue waters, waiting to take the plunge. All we need to do is turn around.

Combinatory Play

Where do we get the determination and motivation to pivot? There are times when we simply get bogged down with new ideas. The ‘ether’ I call it, is bombarding us with visions and speculations, we are simply trying to make sense of. We must find a way to separate ourselves from them, distance ourselves from the noise. Albert Einstein used a technique he called, combinatory play. Combinatory play is the “act of opening up one mental channel by dabbling in another.” In other words, it is taking two unrelated things and putting them together to generate new ideas. Einstein would play violin to overcome a challenging equation. The simple act of walking away from the blackboard and doing something else, playing music, helped the numbers fall into place. This strategy does not set apart geniuses from the masses, but rather, it is a technique any creative person will tell you is invaluable. So how can we use this strategy in our classrooms, to help our students find their cliff?

First, we need to see our learning environment not as a testing ground, where demographics and data scramble the focus. We must see our classrooms as launching points, the cliff above the sprawling ocean, of ingenuity and self-advocacy. We must see the strategies we implement as benefitting all, not just the majority. If a new drug, tested by pharmaceutical companies gets a 57% success rate, they call this ready for market. What about the other 43%? If the techniques are not elevating everyone, preparing them for the dive of knowledge, then we need to find alternatives that will. Looking at the vastness of the sea may intimidate many students, but if we model the jump, leap ourselves, they will follow.

Classroom Dabble

This dabble in something that may not be content related, might put some teachers on the defensive. “That is just playing around,” many will say. However, if we implement these, quick bursts, students will get more creative and innovative. Purposeful distractions are not a bad thing. If we redirect after a set time and monitor the process, we can create these moments of regeneration of imagination, that are meaningful, purposeful and fruitful. They will be beneficial, rejuvenating and they will provide a moment to spark new ideas.

Combinatory play can be integrated in many ways: Create a makerspace, to design and tinker but also to just play for a bit with Lego or Play-doh. Use a whiteboard, chalkboard or even table tops to design a class graffiti wall, a place where students can write poetry, draw cartoons, or even just graffiti. Even a mingle menagerie, interactive group activity, works great for combinatory play. An example, let students participate in a scavenger hunt for clues about an on-going puzzle or class problem. The distraction of the hunt, gets them out of their heads temporarily, letting the solution, to the current class challenge present itself.

I like to make sure combinatory play is not simply a time to talk, but an active, tactile experience- this is when my students focus is redirected, when they let go of what is stunting their thinking. Then, after a brief discussion, they go back to the daily activity, with a clear perspective. This seems like a brain break, but often brain breaks are content related, they are think-pair-share or just a shift of perspective, while combinatory play, is stepping away from content, for the connections, to be able to form in a more organic, natural way. This lifts the fog and allows the sunlight to reach the glimmer of blue, the shimmer of the waves that beckons us up the hillside, lures us out of the cave, and brings us to the edge. The next step, that choice is up to them.