Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/how-mildred-parten-albert-bandura-and-dr.-seuss-brought-me-to-my-knees/5024727/
Several years ago I serendipitously engaged in a life-changing experience. I enrolled in a master’s program in organizational leadership at the Graduate Institute in Bethany, Connecticut. While there, I landed on something that I had sensed for many years. There exists a profound distinction between the science of management and the artistry of leadership. Leadership artistry lies in each one of us. It comes alive when we are moved to put it into action.
As I pondered topics for my thesis, I kept coming back to my profound commitment to teacher training and the imperative I see in questioning whether there might exist unchartered approaches. I dove deep into thinking about how adults learn and wondered if, as a field, we had missed something really foundational. In this dive, I collided with four theoretical constructs. They were: adult learning, Albert Bandura’s theory of social learning, the function of human play, and Mildred Parten’s theoretical stages of children’s play. Each one, unto itself, presented powerful arguments for relevance in learning. My exploration, however, led me to a different place of possibility. I have always been interested in the seemingly magical ways young children come to understand the world around them. As ...