From Pre-School

The application of this method to education began in nine elementary schools in Mirano, Venezia, Italy in 2004. The programme begins with renewing the hearts and minds of teachers, and then gives them the tools for TeamPlayGround, a classroom management project.

The comments below are a few teachers have shared over the years:

“My students, taking on their role and doing their tasks without asking permission, melted my illusion of needing to be in control.”

“I have found the end of burnout.”

“.. . to describe this course in two words ... life-changing and sublime.”

“My students took to the project like ducks to water and I will share this experience with others and will start living it sharing it with my learners and my husband because this experience has changed me for the better!”

“I want this course to be a regular, “on-going” experience. I need to feed my inner self”

“Acceptance has taken a qualitative leap, extending beyond the old notions of “tolerance.”

“Hostility has decreased dramatically and introversion has dissolved as my learners discover why their presence really matters every day!”

“I have been able to mentally “connect the dots,” to link the concepts with my thoughts and behaviours both past and present. It gives me new hope for my life, the future of the planet and for our existence.”

“In this course I discovered how to make positive changes that will promote new and positive actions, freeing me to give my students responsibilities and rights.”

And from the kids!

“I love the aspect of beauty that comes with being a Possibility Kid. I try to do it perfectly, but have learned that I can only do my best. Not everyone agrees with what I think is beautiful. I have become less vain because I know that beauty is more than what one person sees as beautiful. But I still like what is beautiful for me.” Anna, age 10

“TeamPlayGround is a most stimulating game of assignments. I like it very much. It inspires the organisation of our education and you might say gives us a new language as we become the poets of school. You cannot imagine how our actions and attitudes extend far beyond our classrooms. Even my mother agrees!” Francesco, age 10

“TeamPlayGround makes a great difference for all the boys in my class. Since 2005, we have been involved in a new and positive way of being, at school and in life. In fact, we are learning to understand that we influence other boys who are not even in our class.” Ricardo, age 10

BELONGING. Everyone matters. Everyone counts.

To University

The Bachelor of Innovation’s 2021 Capstone course at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, was the epitome of a biomimicry experiment. Using Mother Nature’s dynamic template, teams were organised and students discovered how an organisation is a lifelike system that’s as healthy as the people agree to make it. The semester brought many opportunities to learn how to cooperate, fulfilling the objective, to help them make their final senior team experience fun, effective, and productive. Focusing first on the 60 students as individuals, we introduced their six natural intelligences, helping them learn to evaluate a possibility and make a best assessment of its potential. Realising what was beneficial to them as an individual could also help others, was then challenged as they discovered how to include every me in building a team. Suffice it to say that transforming “ME” to “WE” turned a few on their head, have been raised with the mantra, “Lead, follow, or get %^&*%^&* out of my way.”

After exploring the nine archetypal roles critical to a dynamic system, teams were established, populated with a full complement of competencies. Synchronicity was on full display when most of the students were able to take on the role they felt matched their natural and cultivated abilities. However, what sometimes felt magical was when those who didn’t get to do what they thought would showcase their talent, grew by leaps and bounds, most loving their unexpected role.

Student Feedback

“Being a part of a team helped us support each other through the class. At the end when we got an assignment we knew what we were supposed to work on so that helped us get in gear and work on what we had to get done.”

“Working in self-organized teams helped me to see how each individual can contribute varying qualities and talents to a team. Working as an individual within a team with designated roles gave everyone the opportunity to put forth their best work and feel included at all times.”

“Having Lynnclaire teach the class and use specific roles in group projects was super insightful and fun. The roles helped distribute the work within a group.”

“What I think was more effective was having the dichotomy of working on personal as well as team elements proved interesting.”

“I thought that this course was very insightful and one of my most favorite courses I have ever taken. I liked how the course focused on honing the strengths of each individual on a team and created space to make an impact in unforeseen ways. I feel like this class helped me to gain real world experience that differed from the traditional methods taught by other courses.”

“One thing about the course that contributed to my learning, was the lecture and practice about the different roles in a team.”

“Leadership roles and working with many different people was one of the things that contributed to my learning in this course.”