Learning through play across diverse geographies: Culturally- and contextually-responsive approaches in Mexico, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

There is ample evidence that playful learning approaches effectively support children’s learning in early childhood and beyond. Play-based approaches emphasize hands-on activities, exploration, and social interaction to foster holistic development in young learners. Evidence suggests young children learn more effectively through play than through traditional, teacher-centered methods. We also know that play is a culturally-situated phenomenon and that, for play-based learning interventions to be effective, they must reflect teachers’ and children’s local realities. The presentations in this session take seriously the need to adapt playful learning approaches to local contexts and illustrate such adaptations across a range of settings. Each project also foregrounds a different element of a holistic approach to play-based learning that involves building relationships with diverse stakeholder groups.

The first presentation explores the importance of design and the role of outdoor spaces in fostering children’s learning through play. This presentation will explore how a participatory design process led to the creation of outdoor playscapes in Tanzania and Rwanda. In the second presentation, the authors describe their approach to co-creating a feasible and sustainable approach to play-based learning in Tanzania through a community of practice approach that includes a range of stakeholders–pre-primary teachers, university faculty, and NGO officials. The third paper describes the adaptation of the BRAC Play Lab model during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors describe the development and impact of the Remote Learning Play Labs, which employed a multi-channel strategy involving mobile SMS, national and community ‘call-in’ radio broadcasts, virtual training sessions for play leaders, and door-to-door distribution of learning materials by play leaders to continue reaching children and their parents/caregivers with play-based education lessons during COVID-19 pandemic. The fourth presentation discusses how the Fraction Ball program, which originated in Santa Ana, CA, was adapted and implemented in two indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico in partnership with the Mexican Professional Basketball league. The authors report evidence of student learning as a result of the intervention and describe how the game was adapted to meet the needs of local teachers and students, the process of translating Fraction Ball materials into the indigenous language of the region, and other lessons learned from this international collaboration.

The presentations will be followed by a discussion led by Dr. Michelle Neuman, who is currently the USAID Playful Learning Impact Fellow. We hope that these presentations will spark a robust discussion among attendees on topics such as: involving diverse stakeholders in play-based learning interventions, partnerships and relationship-building, adapting proven models to local contexts and in response to contextual realities, and the role of the environment in fostering playful learning.

Sub Unit

• Early Childhood Development SIG

Chair

• Bethany Wilinski, Michigan State University

Individual Presentations

• Designing contextually relevant play-and-learn landscapes - Renet Korthals Altes, Space for Play

• Tucheze pamoja: Co-creating feasible and sustainable play-based learning approaches in Tanzania - Bethany Wilinski, Michigan State University; Subilaga M Kejo, Dar Es Salaam Univ College of Education

• Parents as play leaders: Learning from the remote play labs in Uganda - Anita Anastacio, BRAC International; Rafiath Rashid, BRAC International

• Promoting playful math learning in Oaxaca: Insights into conducting translational research in international contexts - Andres Sebastian Bustamante, University of California Irvine

Discussant

• Michelle Neuman, United States Agency for International Development USAID