Humans are universally recognized as yearning to be free. Most people are taught that schooling is a serious business in which children are required to develop rigorous discipline. Adults are often expected to impose disciplinary rigor independent of how children feel about those impositions. This can create the expectation that the educational professionalism of adults must be diametrically opposed to children’s playfulness. Is a child’s freedom to play really incompatible with an adult teacher’s professional responsibilities?
With a proper psychological perspective the opposition of playfulness and professionalism turns out to be false. A proper understanding of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) implies that playfulness and professionalism have the same root causes; therefore they are culturally distinct manifestations of the same underlying psychological phenomena.
A proper understanding of SDT provides us with a scientifically grounded concept of “freedom.” The universality of the yearning for freedom must mean that it is somehow aligned with what humans require in order to have well-being. SDT provides us with a rigorous model of the human needs that cause mental well-being. Therefore, SDT can help us more precisely define our “freedoms.” This session will consist of a 15-minute presentation followed by 75 minutes of discussion.
