Edutainment is B***s***

Edutainment is the word most often used to describe the excessive use of games, faddy activities and other entertainment style lesson content in modern teaching practice. The idea goes that if you are having fun then you will remember more of the lesson and thereby learn better, or, you will enjoy lessons and so have a glowing mental view of that particular subject.

Aside from the argument that not all learning is about remembering things, in my opinion this practice removes the need for students to enjoy learning for the sake of learning. This way, they are enjoying themselves because the activity is funny, or novel, and the learning is just a side effect.

It has been adopted so much because it increases engagement. More students are on task and are doing the work when you use this method, and as mentioned, they retain more.

I firstly don’t understand how this method can be used until the students have some basic knowledge. For example, word games like crosswords to help with vocabulary can only be used if the vocabulary is already known. So how do you teach the vocabulary in the first place?

I also think this adds too much pressure and workload onto teachers, because they are having to constantly think up and plan for new and exciting content. There is an expectation that teachers are not just educators, they are professional entertainers too. This should really be the preserve of people such as musicians, writers and TV personalities, who are payed much much more to stay entertaining.

It panders too much to modern short attention spans, to style over substance and that there is an easy quick way to do everything.

Do you feel like you are expected to entertain instead of educate?
Read the full series: Top Ten Things That Are Bullshit In Teaching
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