Learning Through Play with Technology: Experiences of professional development employing play-based, learner- centered pedagogy to enable critical thinking in Rwanda

• In Event: Raising student voices: Teachers’ support for student critical thinking through the Tech & Play Initiative in Kenya and Rwanda

Proposal

This panel discussion will focus on findings from a teacher professional development study carried out as part of LEGO Foundation’s Tech & Play multi-country initiative. The Education Development Center (EDC) has been selected by the LEGO Foundation to oversee and coordinate research on the Tech & Play initiative and has partnered with Three Stones International (TSI) as a research partner and Right to Play (RTP) as the implementing partner in Rwanda.

The Rwanda government is prioritizing a transition towards a knowledge-based economy with an emphasis on science and technology. To achieve this, the government has launched a competency-based curriculum (CBC) for pre-primary, primary, and secondary levels in April 2015. The CBC curriculum framework promote use of technology to support the emergence of teaching and pedagogical learner-centered approaches. A learner- centered approach views learners as active agents, bringing their own knowledge, past experiences, education, and ideas – and this impacts how they take on board new information and learn. This new approach, along with rollout of the CBC, has presented some challenges, most notably related to limited teacher capacity, along with understanding of technology integration and application in the classroom learning environment.

An important factor at the school level that influences student agency and the development of capacities to act is “teacher quality” (OECD, 2015). To respond to the need to strengthen teaching quality and student agency, the LEGO Foundation and RTP’s Plug-In-Play (PiP) project is combining playful learning with technology to create innovative approaches to transform how teachers teach and how children learn in Rwanda.

This research explores whether the PiP program model is designed and implemented to support teacher knowledge, attitudes and behaviors with a move toward learner-centered pedagogy, and the extent to which teachers are engaged in meaningful, joyful, iterative, engaging, and socially interactive learning. Key findings explore:

● The benefits of practical sessions, micro-teaching, and space to familiarize with new concepts provide critical support for teacher learning. Formative research suggests that teachers’ learning was supported by micro-teaching, trying out, modeling, and critiquing teaching methods.
● Play-based learning pedagogies promote the active participation of trainees, providing teachers with opportunities to reflect on their practices, spur critical thinking and pose questions throughout the training. Professional development participants and trainers expressed eagerness and curiosity to learn a new way of using LtPT to enhance their own learning and most were observed to be engaged in active learning during the training.
● Addressing trainer capacity provides nurturing communities of practice. Strengthened capacity of Teacher Training College Tutors are perceived by teachers as the most knowledgeable reference group. By strengthening the Tutors capacity, teachers’ level of comfort to seek advice, speak out, and actively engage in training was observed.

Authors

• Claver Yisa, Three Stones International

• Rodgers - KABAMBA, Right To Play