LET THE CHILDREN PLAY
with Pasi Sahlberg

Around the world children spend less time playing and physical outdoor activities than before. Yet, research and advice from paediatricians suggest that play is a critical part of children’s growing up and healthy emotional and social development. Simple as it sounds, letting children play more seems to be hard to put in practice in schools and at home.

This three-episode webinar series provides principals, teachers and parents with closer look at what is the state of play today in our societies, why play makes a difference in children’s wellbeing and learning, and how can we make most of playtime in school and at home.

In these webinars you will:

• Learn about common trends in children’s play in Australia and abroad
• Explore factors that enable more and better learning and those that cause declining time to play
• Hear about case studies of play from other countries
• Get an introduction to education in Finland and the role of play there
• Identify essential elements of higher quality play
• Take away practical examples how to increase time and impact of play in and out of school.

WELLBEING IN EDUCATION
with Robert Biswas-Diener

Wellbeing was as important to education before the current global pandemic as it is during this time. The spread of the coronavirus, and the ensuing distress it has caused, has elevated wellbeing to a place of prominence in discussions of workplace performance, continuity of service, engaged learning, and positive relationships. This webinar series brings the topic of wellbeing to home for educators. Using a variety of professional surveys, educator interviews, and published research, Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener will discuss trends in and obstacles to wellbeing. He will provide an overview of the topic in the first session. In the second session, he will explore the nature of distress and its effects on our thinking and work. Here, he will also provide specific strategies for managing distress effectively. In the third and final session, Robert will argue that attending to positives—although not exclusively—is also a vital aspect of effective coping. He will provide case studies and specific advice that might be tailored to a wide range of educational settings. This webinar will be helpful to many education stakeholders including staff, instructors, and parents.