Leisure education as a term is new. It is to learn while having fun or while being entertained. Leisure implies a state of relaxation, which makes our mind and body most susceptible to absorb and retain the topic being taught. The way in which each one of us learns most effectively is as unique as our finger prints, and the vast majority of us prefer to be entertained while in a relaxed state of mind when learning a new skill. Quite simply, people learn best and easiest when they’re having fun.

Children educators have known this for a long time. In fact, Sesame Street, a pioneer of the modern educational television standard, combined both education and entertainment. As author Malcolm Gladwell has stated, “Sesame Street was built around a single, breakthrough insight: that if you can hold the attention of children, you can educate them”. Sesame Street was the first children’s show that structured each episode and made “small but critical adjustments to each segment to capture children’s attention long enough to teach them something.”

What followed was a myriad of children’s television shows in the 70’s built on what was termed as “edutainment”: a form of entertainment designed to educate as well as to amuse. Much later, the Discovery Channel also became known for its programs that follow the same methodology, such as Mythbusters and others developed primarily for an adult audience.

It can be argued, in fact, that “edutainment” has existed for millennia in the form of fables that promoted social change while entertaining us.

What we know of the pedagogy at play in “entertainment education” is the following:

1. Relevance: people are more likely to learn if they can see the usefulness of the knowledge or skill they are acquiring.
2. Incremental learning: people learn better when they can learn at their own pace.
3. Distributed Learning (“Fossard”): We all learn differently over different periods of time.

Is there a difference between learning casually and learning professionally? Of course there is, and the major difference is in the way the knowledge is applied or expected to be applied.

Leisure Education for Casual Learning

First, leisure education for casual learning resides mainly in games and board games and in the way we use them to learn while having fun. The most popular games for adults have been those that educate us about a hobby or a new desirable life skill. Witness the surging popularity of such board games as Music Notes Empire, a unique teaching aid, designed by a piano teacher with an international musical background, it helps people learn musical notation in a fun and interactive method. The ever-popular game of Life, introduced in 1960 and updated in 1992, is one of the most loved games and is played all over the world in twenty different languages. The game of Life is also used in schools to reinforce life lessons, and to practice math, economics and investing.

Another example is the popular board game that Time magazine called “the biggest phenomenon in game history”: Trivial Pursuit. First conceived in December 1979 by Canadian journalists and editors Scott Abbott and Chris Haney, the game’s popularity peaked in 1984 and the rights to the game were licensed shortly thereafter to Parker Brothers, now part of Hasbro. As of 2004, more than 88 million games had been sold in 26 countries and 17 languages, making it one of the most popular games ever invented.

A more current example of a proven education method turned “game board” is wine aroma kits. An increasingly popular version recently launched was reinvented to appeal to wine hobbyists and aspiring wine connoisseurs who wish to enhance their wine appreciation skills by learning to recognize and identify the most common aromas found in wine. The elegant kit is designed to be shared with friends and provides a fun learning premise to enhance not only our knowledge of wine but also of our most neglected sense: the sense of smell. Wine Awakenings, the Canadian company behind these exclusive products, also teamed up with a renowned North American business consultancy company to offer a truly unique product: a series of executive seminar-type events which cleverly and strategically combine business lessons with wine tasting lessons (and other fun and leisure activities) to educate, refresh and inspire its clients. This is a true example of leisure education for professional learning.

Leisure Education for Professional Learning

Leisure education for professional learning, in the way that it is intended here, means combining a leisure activity with a professional lesson, either business related or of a more technical nature. This is a very tricky task. It is not simply delivering a business lesson while being at a leisure (or fun) venue. Leisure must be the vehicle and the means for teaching, not just to provide the physical premise. A dry lesson in “principles of finance” is just as dry if the lecturer were standing in the middle of Disney World instead of the school auditorium.  For leisure and education to mingle and truly create the dynamic forces referred to here as “leisure education” the learning task (the education) must be incorporated and conveyed within the very same context and medium as the leisure activity it is being combined with.

Our inherent craving for such activity could be traced back deep within our psyche. According to Bill Bradley and other scholars on the topic of learning while playing, “… everyone loves to play, and since toys are typically the first thing a child comes in contact with, they are the tools we use to manifest our pleasure and stimulate our learning receptors.”

Think of your favourite hobby or past time. How difficult was it to learn? More importantly, how long did it take you to learn it?

And, how much fun was that … ?

Now hold that thought (and that smile)

In the business world, leisure education is quite simply learning a new skill while having that much fun.  If learning that new skill is done in parallel with a fun leisure activity, then our level of absorption and retention is exponentially increased (and we keep that smile throughout). The most complex topics are best absorbed and assimilated when they are communicated in relevant parallel with the most pleasant and sensory based learnings and personal discoveries.

Can we compare learning to adjust your golf putting technique to learning to adjust your business communication style, so as to yield better and more predictable results? In both cases, a question of discipline, self awareness and “cause and effect”.

Dare we compare learning how to perfectly sear and garnish that roast to give it a nice deep brown flavorful color to learning how to prepare and plan for that all important sales call? Both are a lesson on setting the premise for a planned and controlled outcome.

And finally, can the careful artful analysis of tasting a fine wine … detecting the subtle aromas and savouring the rich velvety texture of a deep ruby Amarone be experienced and learned in parallel with resolving a specific business challenge … let’s say to sharpen your skills at interviewing and choosing the right candidate for that key position. Both are an art and a science containing a very similar approach and methodology based on sensory awareness.

Leisure education and our desire for it are driving a different consumerism. In later editions, we will discuss how leisure education is being leveraged to drive a different consumer attitude that has retailer giants like Wal-Mart, PetSmart, Macy’s and Procter & Gamble taking note. Also, we will trace back what happened to the promised, yet still illusive Leisure society of a few decades ago, the increasingly dominant role of women in leisure education-driven buying, and the role and importance of education first in the emerging wine market in China.

– Amato De Civita

About the Author

Amato De Civita is a senior partner with Journey To Excellence, an industry-leading business consultancy firm based in Toronto, Canada.  After an illustrious career as a senior marketing executive of a multinational corporation, he has now developed the much sought-after expertise in the emerging field of leisure education and new consumerism.
Contact: adecivita@journeytoexcellence.ca