This is not a post that is anti-edutainer (the combination of educator and entertainer) but more an exploration of what does this mean, and what affect does it have on the children we work with.
Over the years I have seen edutainment - both in classrooms and also as part of educator training/workshops, and while I use the strategy myself sometimes I also wonder where does the line go for edutainment? Where is that line from it being a part of a democratic classroom to it shifting to a tool of control and management?
As I mentioned I am sometimes an edutainer - I deliver my teaching in entertaining ways - but it is only ever for a short period of time, not every time, and I am also striving to remain aware to remove myself from centre-stage as soon as I see the children really don’t need me… they are able to learn and discover themselves. So edutainer is a role I take that is a bit like ephemeral wonder - something temporary to inspire, trigger or gather the children together - a sort of uniting force. I am notice i use edutainment mostly in the early days of a group as the “we” feeling is still being created and my role is to set the scene of joy, equity and belonging. Once that is established the group no longer needs me to set the scene except for now and again to introduce something new or like a reset button when the “we” feeling is experiencing a lull.
The tone of voice of the edutainer I think is louder than usual - because it is trying to ensure everyone can hear - the participants and the audience. The learners connected to a edutainer will have more replies that questions - unless the edutainer opens up the floor for questions, and I think it is more about the cheers and together responses than individual musing where the children listen to each other… because the edutainer is centre stage, and that is where the focus is.
Sometimes I think the edutainer might be afraid of what will happen if they are not the ringmaster of the circus - after all the term “circus” is often used to imply a classroom/situation is chaos or somehow dangerous or too risky. Sticking with this idea… the circus is fun, it is about laughter and amazement and also risk taking - but it has to be tightly controlled, well practiced and plenty of safety measures put in place so that those performing have the space they need, the skills they need, and the props they need. This implies to me that from a circus point of view, the learners are the performers, and the ringmaster has responsibility to ensure they can perform/learn whilst also being a part of the performance.
The problem, I think, is when edutainers treat the learners as the audience - a more passive role with a bit of interaction and if you are lucky and maybe one or two are allowed on stage to participate in certain activities. The space is no longer about the learning, but about the teaching and the teacher being central.
And while I much prefer that adults provided a fun and entertaining education that the children can enjoy over monotonous lessons that do not inspire or motivate learning - I still think our main focus should be more democratic and focused on the learning/performance of the children rather than the teaching. And that when using edutainment as one of our tools, that we should use it wisely - more of an amuse bouche than a main course.
For those of you who can, I am doing a daily update of my travels - I am currently in Athens, the plan for the weekend is a photo post… but most days there is a film where i share my thoughts inspired by my day. This is for paid followers here on substack. My usual posts will be free as always… behind the paywall is something a little different - from my travel memories to notes from presentations, to tips on philosophy with children…
Hey Suzanne, Once again, I appreciate your nuanced worldview. I agree that looking at educational moves as either good or bad is a gross oversimplification. I minimize my role as sage-on-the-stage or edutainer and mostly function as a. guide-on-the-side. I just started doing my spring after-school and home-school nature-science enrichment meetups. I stared, always, going around the circle for check-in. Right after check-in, I enacted my observation of a bobcat catching a squirrel. That was my 60 seconds of edutainment for our two-hour meeting. I think that my crawling like a bobcat helped establish playfulness as a cultural norm in our little group.