Gender responsive play-based learning in crisis settings: The Right To Play teacher training package

• In Event: Delivering on commitments to girls’ education in crisis – where do we go from here?

Proposal

Education is widely recognized as a critical component of humanitarian response and the physical, emotional and psychological protection of boys and girls. Play-based approaches to teaching and learning are especially critical in humanitarian settings as a means to support the return to a sense of normalcy, but also as a critical precondition for learning (INEE 2016, Cook 2017). Play can create a safe and supportive learning environment that facilitates healing, the development of adaptive life skills, support healthy relationship building, and foster a sense of belonging and community (SDP-IWG 2007, Betancourt and Khan 2008, Kostelny and Wessells 2013, Gordon 2014). As crisis often exacerbates existing gender inequalities and gender based violence, gender responsive approaches to using play in the classroom are paramount.

Right To Play has been delivering sports and play-based programming in school settings as a response to conflict or natural disaster since 2001. Drawing from its long history operating in these settings and its expertise in training and play-based methodologies, in 2015 Right To Play brought together all relevant material into an in-service teacher professional development package. This was made possible by Global Affairs Canada under the framework of the Play for Advancement of Quality Education program (PAQE 2015-2017). The Gender Responsive Continuum of Teacher Training (GR CoTT) is a 30-day program that provides iterative and scaffolded support to teachers over a three-year period to integrate gender responsive, play-based learning methods into their teaching practice. It is also adaptable for humanitarian settings. Through the GR CoTT, teachers in these settings learn to create gender responsive learning environments where girls and boys are afforded equal opportunities to participate and thrive in school. Teachers are also trained to infuse academic content with the development of life skills that support the psychosocial wellbeing of boys and girls, a process that is particularly critical in crisis-affected settings.

Participants are trained on a wide range of topics which mainstream gender, including: play and active learning methodologies, holistic child development, social emotional learning in children, curriculum foundations, lesson planning, and more. Follow-up coaching and mentoring complement the trainings along with teacher Communities of Practice. Overall, the approach promotes equitable education outcomes and reduces barriers to education for girls. This presentation will share an overview of the training package along with results from its implementation in crisis-affected settings.

Author

• Andrea Diaz-Varela, Right To Play