Now enrolling for 2025-26!
You are invited to join a small global cohort dedicated to constructing pathways for playful inquiry to grow joy, meaning, and courage.
Playful Inquiry is a pedagogical approach that we developed and researched throughout our 20 year collaboration with colleagues, children, and families at Opal School. It is an approach that centers curiosity, relationship, and empathy. It manifests in practices that prioritize play, the arts, story, imagination, and love. It strengthens our capacity to participate in the meaningful construction of knowledge within diverse communities where uncertainty is an expected part of growth and change. Playful inquiry invites us to re-ignite the unique gifts of childhood that are our human birthright and to sustain those gifts in those who are children now as we take responsibility for a more loving relationship between childhood and adulthood. Adults must engage in playful inquiry in their own knowledge building contexts in order to practice an approach of playful inquiry with children. It is the role of pedagogical leadership to ensure opportunities for this practice.
What is playful inquiry?
“This program has reminded me of how I want to participate and contribute to education, and every time I leave our meetings I feel a sense of peace and excitement for what is possible. ”
We have had the privilege of working with thousands of educators who, like Kristie and like you, are committed to developing the highest quality organizations and schools alongside teachers and other staff, children, and families. This privilege has afforded an opportunity to notice common challenges among often isolated leaders who have little chance to collaborate with peers. The stressors inherent to the work are - a lot. For the first time this fall, we are convening a small, structured cohort of professional peers who are seeking to nurture the ecologies that sustain their unique communities - to ensure they are flourishing and full of joy - and who are committed to supporting one another in doing so.
After many years of designing and facilitating professional development programs that engaged participants in playful inquiry, including the programs of the Studio for Playful Inquiry, we are thrilled to open registration to our second cohort of caring, courageous, creative leaders.
Reflections on the program from participants
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"I have immense appreciation for how you structured this course to create community and deeper interactions. The readings were great choices, and I valued the pace, the overall cohort size, and the consistent small group discussions. I also really appreciated the diversity of contexts and people's roles; it was inspiring to see what's possible. I love our cohort. This kind of space is rare these days, and I needed it so much. It helped me reconnect with a part of myself and my leadership goals that had become cloudy and distant. Your care, passion, and intentionality come through in every session."
Kirstin McAuley-Hayes
Assistant Head of Lower School
Oregon Episcopal School
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"I have really valued the ongoing opportunity to connect with others, hearing diverse perspectives and engaging in deep, meaningful conversations. The dedicated time for writing, creating, and participating in both large and small group discussions has been invaluable. Although initially nervous about fitting in, given my primary role as a teacher and limited leadership experience, I was eager to grow and challenge myself within a group focused on elevated thinking. This group has been an unwavering source of support and safe harbor, especially during these difficult times."
Lea Karr
Kindergarten Teacher and Team Leader
Frankfurt International School
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"The experience was truly transformational, and I'm so grateful to have found The Studio and your incredible work. You struck a beautiful, delicate balance throughout, stretching and challenging me while creating a sense of vulnerability as I stepped into unknown and scary territory. Yet, your support was always there, inspiring, resonating, and instilling hope. This allowed me to continue exploring these new areas with excitement, anticipation, and commitment to the journey. I've reflected a lot on this balance you created. I'm amazed by how intentional it all feels, while still allowing openness for discovery, questions, and self-exploration."
Nikki Shaw
Director
Belong Early Learning Centre, Booker Bay, NSW
Create a small consistent group of individuals who are eager to collaborate and define what it means to lead with playful inquiry in an effort to nurture ecologies of joyful learning, who will share stories from their own practice, and who will be generous, vulnerable, and compassionate accountability partners. Matt and Susan will lead with playful inquiry so that every participant has the opportunity for their own first hand experience with the approach.
Meet live every month (Sept - May) to engage in facilitated dialogue, reflection, ask questions, share stories, and make connections - all critical practices that strengthen playful inquiry. Connect with smaller group every other month to work independently with suggested reflections from Matt and Susan.
Support the articulation of values and guiding principles that sustain individual contexts and reflect on practices, tools, and strategies that bring them alive.
Support communication tools, strategies, and practices that express beliefs and values to the wider community (as defined by each participant).
Practice using the arts as tools for communication, expression, and reflection.
Strengthen capacities for documentation and storytelling as we work to build strong relationships between theory and practice.
Access The Studio for Playful Inquiry assets to support understanding and commitment from the caregivers and educators in each member’s unique context. These assets include ongoing readings, poetry and other art, support for thinking with materials, live conversations with valued guests and mentors, support for writing and publication, live meetings with the wider Studio community, extensive opportunities to share and collaborate with committed professionals around the world, a variety of courses on specific topics relevant to the practice of playful inquiry.
Program Intentions
What will we read?
Over 10 months, we’ll use these texts to support our dialogue and find meaningful connections between theory and our leadership practices.
In addition, we’ll have access to all of the resources that are growing in The Studio for Playful Inquiry. A small sampling of topics (we call them Through Lines) we’ve explored includes curiosity, imagination, abundance, resilience, plurality, refuge, story, care, and dialogue.
Details
Each cohort will include 4-12 members eager to grow their capacity to lead with and for playful inquiry. Cohorts will meet online with Susan and Matt September 2025 - May 2026.
We’ll create a private, dedicated space inside the Studio for Playful Inquiry for ongoing connection and building relationship with all of the Leading Playful Inquiry program participants.
The fee for the program is US$2500. Payment plans are available with 3% fee increase.
For those who register prior to July 15, 2025, your annual membership to the Studio (US$375) will be included in your registration fee. After July 15, the program cost will increase to US$2875. We will close registration once we are full. (Current Transform members will always receive discount equal to their annual membership cost.)
You may add monthly individual coaching with Susan at $100 per 45 min session.
If there is strong interest, we will add an optional in-person retreat during July 2026. All information about that possibility, costs, logistics, etc., are to be determined. (This year’s cohort is meeting in Cannon Beach, Oregon in July!)
Dates and Times
Option 1:
Meetings will be held from 10 am - 11:50 am (Pacific Time Thursdays - click link for local time) September 18, October 23, December 11, February 19, and April 23 AND from 9 am - noon (Pacific Time Saturdays - click link for local time) November 15, January 24, March 14, and May 16.
Option 2:
Meetings will be held from 4 pm - 5:50 pm (Pacific Time Thursdays - click link for local time) September 18, October 23, December 11, February 19, and April 23 AND from 3 pm - 6 pm (Pacific Time Saturdays - click link for local time) November 15, January 24, March 14, and May 16.
In addition to these scheduled cohort meetings, you will meet with one or two partners from your group for one hour at a mutually agreeable time to reflect and practice using provocations and recommendations from Susan and Matt.
Jennifer Chen, Program Director, Society of Richmond Children's Centres (Richmond, BC)
“Being in the Cohort has helped me to learn that I am not the only person on this journey. There are others who are figuring this out as well, and having the opportunity to speak with them was invaluable. It kept me sane in some ways. I was hesitant to join because I felt that I wouldn't be able to keep up amongst these brilliant thinkers. I learned that it wasn't about me having to ‘keep up’. It was just about me having to show up and learn alongside.”
As participants, we expect results like these:
Develop clarity around your vision, intentions and supporting values that have the potential to sustain playful inquiry in your context
Increase your capacity to facilitate dialog and reflection rooted in guiding principles and care
Grow courage as a collaborator and leader who bridges theory and practice
Reflect and communicate through story in ways that reveal your own growth as a leader and listener
Nurture compassion for diverse perspectives and self-compassion for tensions and tangles
Strengthen dispositional muscles required to embrace and engage with uncertainty and complexity
Build relationships with colleagues to imagine and create more possibilities
“The problem with the straight line is simply this: once it has reached its end, what then?”
— Tim Ingold
Contact us.
mattandsusan@centerforplayfulinquiry.com