Building community in the classroom through jigsaw learning
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71957/mft2p662Abstract
Play is a key aspect of learning (Vygotsky, 2016; Skene et al. 2022), supporting both cognitive and skills development, and emotional and social wellbeing. However, it is often absent from tertiary education. The restructuring of childhood and reduction of play has been identified as a key driver of poor mental health among young adults (Haidt, 2025), with universities often left bearing the brunt of this youth mental health crisis (Cogan et al. 2025). Drawing on the pedagogical field of playwork, I am interested in how teachers can systematically attempt to integrate key aspects of play (joy, meaning, active engagement, iteration and social interaction) into university pedagogy. Here I describe one such attempt, through a second-year assessment in human geography, that integrates jigsaw learning and the production of a podcast to try and bring play into the university classroom.
References
Boal, A. (1973). Theatre of the Oppressed. Pluto Press (2019).
Brown, S., & Vaughan, C. (2009). Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul. Avery.
Bunce, L., & Bennett, M. (2021). A degree of studying? Approaches to learning and academic performance among student ‘consumers’. Active Learning in Higher Education, 22(3), 203-214.
Cogan, N., Murray, A., Long, E., Gardani, M., O'toole, M., Leung, M., Kyratzi, S., Milicev, J., Dryburgh, K., Bolota, C. and Ho, L., (2025). Student mental health in UK higher education institutions: protocol for a scoping review of trends, gaps, and research directions. JMIR Research Protocols, 14(1), p.e65594.
Haidt, J. (2025). The anxious generation: How the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness. London, UK: Penguin Books.
Johnson, J. E., Sevimli-Celik, S., Al-Mansour, M., Tunçdemir, T. B. A., & Dong, P. I. (2019). Play in early childhood education. Handbook of research on the education of young children, 4, 165-175.
McGorry, P., Gunasiri, H., Mei, C., Rice, S., & Gao, C. X. (2025). The youth mental health crisis: analysis and solutions. Frontiers in psychiatry, 15, 1517533.
Playwork Principles Scrutiny Group. (2005). The Playwork Principles. Cardiff, Wales. Available online at https://play.wales/playwork/the-playwork-principles/ [Accessed 6 August 2026]
Skene, K., O’Farrelly, C. M., Byrne, E. M., Kirby, N., Stevens, E. C., & Ramchandani, P. G. (2022). Can guidance during play enhance children’s learning and development in educational contexts? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Child development, 93(4), 1162-1180.
Vives, E., Poletti, C., Robert, A., Butera, F., Huguet, P., ProFAN Consortium, & Régner, I. (2025). Learning with jigsaw: A systematic review gathering all the pieces of the puzzle more than 40 years later. Review of Educational Research, 95(3), 339-384.
Vygotsky, L. S. (2016). Play and its role in the mental development of the child. International research in early childhood education, 7(2), 3-25.
Wong, B., Chiu, Y. L. T., Copsey-Blake, M., & Nikolopoulou, M. (2022). A mapping of graduate attributes: What can we expect from UK university students?. Higher Education Research & Development, 41(4), 1340-1355.
Zosh, J. M., Hopkins, E. J., Jensen, H., Liu, C., Neale, D., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Solis, S. L., & Whitebread, D. (2017). Learning through play: a review of the evidence (white paper). The LEGO Foundation, DK.
