Learning through Play as a crisis-responsive teaching method: The impact of PlayMatters on foundational learning outcomes in Somali region, Ethiopia

• In Event: Improving foundational learning outcomes for diverse populations at scale: Evidence from India, Nepal, Tanzania, and Ethiopia

Proposal

An emerging evidence base points to playful instruction as an impactful intervention for improving the life chances of children affected by conflict and crisis. In refugee camps and surrounding host communities in the Somali region of Ethiopia, foundational literacy and numeracy skills are low, and communities face long-term challenges to social-emotional competence and mental health.These skills are critical not only for children’s long-term development but also for national development amidst increasing global fragility. Most rigorous evidence on LtP’s impact, however, comes from stable, global minority contexts, leaving a gap in extant literature on the impact of LtP in education in emergencies (EiE) contexts.

PlayMatters, a project led by the International Rescue Committee in partnership with the LEGO Foundation and Consortium partners, is one project that works to integrate LtP teaching methodologies into refugee and host community contexts in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda. PlayMatters implements using a whole-school approach over one academic year in partnership with government education services through a core package including face-to-face teacher training, school leadership training, school-based teacher continuous professional development, community engagement, provision of teaching and learning materials, and light school rehabilitation to create an enabling environment for LtP. Implementing the project in both refugee and host communities seeks to benefit both Somali refugee and Ethiopian host communities, reducing community tensions and inequities for overall development as Ethiopia progresses on its commitment to upholding the Djibouti Declaration.

Evidence generation on the impact of crisis-responsive teaching methods on foundational learning outcomes is critical for generating systems-level buy-in and support for refugee education. This presentation presents findings from a mixed-methods cluster-randomized controlled trial of PlayMatters’ implementation in the Somali region of Ethiopia during the 2024-2025 academic year. We find that PlayMatters significantly improved children’s numeracy and literacy skills, creativity skills, social-emotional competence, and overall well-being. Teachers also significantly improved their practices and perceptions of learning through play. This presentation will also discuss key insights into the findings and why it is necessary for foundational learning interventions in emergency settings to take a crisis-responsive approach, what this means for systems integration and scale, and the importance of carrying out research on foundational learning interventions in crisis-affected contexts. Finally, we will discuss findings on the cost effectiveness of the PlayMatters intervention. Collectively, this study supports the power of crisis-responsive teaching methods, and specifically LtP, to improve foundational learning outcomes in EiE contexts.

Authors

• Kassa Michael, Addis Ababa University

• Silvia Diazgranados, International Rescue Committee