Work and Play

Today I taught K-1st graders- and it was so much fun. First of all, it was nice to have confirmation that going back in to the schools is indeed where I need to go. It's always nice to have experiences that confirm decisions you've already made. :) Second of all, it really got me thinking about play v. work. Technically what I was doing would be considered "work." However, I ostensibly lost track of time. I think as a former teacher you lose the ability to COMPLETELY lose track of time (or maybe that's just my personality), but I definitely didn't realize just how long I had been teaching the kiddos. So, even though it was work, it would perhaps seem as though I was experiencing flow.

I've been thinking a lot lately about flow after reading about the construct in Ambiguities of Play and now having read Beyond Boredom and Anxiety. According to Csikeszentmihalyi, "The state of flow is felt when opportunities for action are in balance with the actor's skills; the experience is then autotelic." (p. 49) The following model is given:

Model from www.bioss.name

The question then that has been going around in my head is this- are work and play at their peak the same? Csikszentmihalyi would say yes, Sutton-Smith would say no. I think I'm finding myself agreeing with Csikszentmihalyi. (I do, however, reserve the right to change my mind). When I think about my experience today it is very similar when it comes to flow as play experiences. Now, there are still of course differences between play and work, as there is even within those categories. But when I think back to work today, as well as other days of work teaching pre-service teachers where I just felt great afterwards, I think I experienced flow, just as I would in a play experience.

So, the next question is how to experience work at its best all the time, or at least most of the time.