The Role of PLAY in Learning
2010 Progressive Education Network
Regional Conference
Friday, October 29, 2010
Hosted by Wingra School, Madison, WI

View program (PDF)

Experimental Play Activity (PDF)

Resources on play and learning.

Morning Panelists

Andy Howard

Throughout his 12-year career with Hitchcock Design Group, Andy Howard’s creative vision and construction knowledge have played an instrumental role in a variety of projects ranging from community parks to large-scale master plans. An active member of the Chicago Wilderness Leave No Child Inside planning committee, he led the logo design team for the Leave No Child Inside initiative.

This passion for connecting children with the natural environment has resulted in some of the Chicago region’s most innovative, nature-based play environments. Andy’s work on outdoor learning environments, such as The Morton Arboretum Children’s Garden and Bowen Park has been recognized by numerous professional organizations, including the Illinois Chapter American Society of Landscape Architects and Illinois Park and Recreation Association.

He earned a B.S. in landscape architecture from Purdue University.

View presentation (PDF)

Rebecca Jallings

Rebecca Jallings has taught theater, speech, media literacy, and film at Madison West High School for 18 years. In 1996, she created  MULTICO, West’s multicultural touring company. She taught theater and directed several productions at Wingra School before she started at West.

She’s also directed for Stagecoach, Wisconsin Children’s Theater, Madison Repertory Theater, Strollers, Millennium Theater, and the Madison Theater Guild. She was honored to receive a teaching award from the Parents of African American Students Association in 1994–5. In 1997, she earned a Best Director Award from the Wisconsin High School Theater Association.

She earned a B.A. in theater, a B.S. in communication arts, and an M.S. in education, all from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

MULTICO Documentary

Jill Steinberg

Jill Steinberg has been teaching in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin for the past 15 years. Her highly popular experiential course, “Development and Role of Play Across the Lifespan" has been invigorating undergraduates for the past seven years. Melding her life experience as elementary teacher, parent, school-age child care consultant, and academician, she believes that we, as a culture misunderstand and under-value play.

She earned a Ph.D. in human development and family studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

View presentation (PDF)

Constance Steinkuehler

Constance Steinkuehler is an assistant professor in the educational communications and technology program in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is a founding fellow of the Games, Learning, and Society Initiative at UW-Madison and chairs their annual conference held each summer in Madison.

Her research on cognition, learning, and literacy in massively multiplayer online games has been funded by the MacArthur Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the Academic ADL Co-Lab.

Her current work focuses on the potential of virtual worlds to function as sandboxes for the reconstruction (perhaps, reinvigoration) of a new form of twenty-first century citizenship—a “pop cosmopolitanism” marked by the willingness to engage in an increasingly globalized and therefore diverse socio-technical world and the development of intellectual practices crucial to successful navigation within it.

She earned a Ph.D. in literacy studies, M.S. in educational psychology, and three B.A. degrees in mathematics, English, and religious studies.

Presentation coming soon.
Constance's Website

Afternoon Work(Play)shops

Download workshop descriptions and locations. (PDF)

Building Buddy Relationships Through Play
Melisa Messenger and Terry Wickman, Aldo Leopold Community School, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Catharsis as a Social-Emotional Goal in the Classroom
Paul Grajnert, The Children’s School, Woodstock, Illinois

Construction: Constructing Relationships
Kim Cotant and Sarah Ramirez, Wingra School, Madison, Wisconsin

The Dynamics of Humor in the Progressive Classroom
Robert W. Stone and Michael Mahany, Francis W. Parker School, Chicago, Illinois

From the Inside Out: Allowing for Playfulness in Academic Study
Molly Donahue, Barbara Hunt, and Miriam Pickus, Francis W. Parker School, Chicago, Illinois

Gender and Play
11-14 year-old Wingra School students and the middle school teaching team, Madison, Wisconsin

No Child Left to Play: Promoting Play in the Era of NCLB
Allison Greer, Hubbard Woods School, Evanston, Illinois

The Play Must Go On
Hilarie Rath and Joan Swigert, Aldo Leopold Community School, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Playing with the Narrative Structure in the Storybox
Jane Stenson, Baker Demonstration School, Wilmette, Illinois

Playing with Programming: A Hands-on Introduction to Scratch
Angie Sparks, Wingra School, Madison, Wisconsin
Presentation Handout (PDF)

Storyline—Learning Through Role Play
Marieka Greene, Wingra School, Madison, Wisconsin

Thoughtful Physical Education: Safe, Playful, Reflective
Karen Steward Nolan, The Children’s School, Berwyn, Illinois

Turn Off the T.V. and Clear Your Calendar
Nadine Brockman and Cathy Ward, The Children’s School, Berwyn and Chicago, Illinois

About the Progressive Education Network (PEN)

The Progressive Education Network (PEN) is a nationwide network of educators committed to sharing teaching practices that foster in students a strong motivation for learning, and the agency for social activism. PEN is dedicated to influencing the course of the national dialogue about early childhood, elementary, and secondary education in America, via national and regional conferences. The involvement, leadership and participation of teachers is at the heart of the organization. For more inforamtion, visit www.progressiveed.org.

About Wingra School

Wingra School is a small, independent day school providing a progressive education for children ages 5-14, located on Monroe Street across from the U.W. Madison Arboretum. We have an enrollment of about 150 students. For more inforamtion, visit www.wingraschool.org.