Leading with Laughter: Strengthening Climate Through Play

Outline

5 minutes | Welcome & Framing
- Experience a low-stakes, community-building activity
- Meet the presenters
- Review session purpose and outcomes

10 minutes | Theory & Research Foundations
- Explore research connecting play, vulnerability, joy, trust, and organizational success
- Reflect on joy and belonging in your school or district

15 minutes | Experiencing Play Together
- Participate in a collaborative activity adaptable to your own setting

10 minutes | From Play to Leadership Practice
- Gather practical, ready-to-use activities
- Examine how psychological safety, positive psychology, and joy drive collaboration and innovation

15 minutes | Co-Design & Application
- Begin developing a “Playful Leadership Toolkit”
- Engage in small-group conversations (elementary, secondary, district) to share strategies and resources

5 minutes | Closing & Reflection
- Participate in a brief debrief
- Leave with takeaways—both tangible and developmental

Outcomes

After this session, participants will be able to:
- Apply at least three playful, low-stakes activities to strengthen staff and student relationships.
- Model vulnerability as a leadership strategy to foster belonging in schools.
- Design a plan for integrating joy and play into their own school or district climate initiatives

Supporting research

- Brown, S. (2009). Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul.
- Fullan, M. (2016). The Coherence Framework: Putting the Right Drivers in Action for Schools.
- Brené Brown – Dare to Lead (2018).
- Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence.
- Zaretta Hammond (2015). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain.
- Immordino-Yang, M. H. (2016). Emotions, Learning, and the Brain.
- Watson, M. (2003). Learning to Trust: Transforming Difficult Elementary Classrooms Through Developmental Discipline.
- CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning). Resources on school climate and SEL.
- Harvard Project Zero: Resources on play, creativity, and learning.
- Danielson, C. (2013). The Framework for Teaching — climate, culture, and relationships.