Play-based Pedagogies for Early Learners in the African Context: A Scoping Review
##article.subject##:
Learning through play, Pedagogies, Early learners, Africa
##article.abstract##
African governments have committed to implementing learning through play (LtP) in pre-primary education, through their policies, however, there are implementation challenges. We conducted a scoping review of publications on LtP in Africa since 2002 to evaluate LtP models that have been successfully used in Africa to inform the development of a suitable model for Kenya. We searched and retrieved literature from different databased. We focused on [1] What are the existing LtP approaches that have been or are being used in ECE in the African context? [2] To what extent were the models effective and what were the contextual factors and mechanisms that contributed to their success? [3] What challenges/barriers were experienced? [4] Which aspects of LtP models are adaptable to the Kenyan context? Altogether 3017 articles were retrieved, 160 progressed to full text screening of which 64 were eligible and were reviewed. Findings revealed various LtP models including those that utilized indigenous activities with significant benefits for learning and teaching. Teachers’ knowledge and skills in play-based learning were critical yet often lacking. Limited integration of play in learning curriculum, misconceptions towards play, lack of play materials and space were common barriers. Play-based learning is feasible in the African context; its implementation can be strengthened through leveraging existing LtP approaches, teacher capacity building, curriculum integration, provision of resources and involvement of all stakeholders.
References
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Chopra, N. (2016). Quality early childhood education for disadvantaged children: an investigation in the MCD schools. International Journal of Early Years Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2015.1096236
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Dowd, A., & and Thomsen, B. (2021). Learning through Play: Increasing Impact, Reducing Inequality - White Paper | Teacher Task Force.
Dzamesi, F. E., & van Heerden, J. (2020). A professional development programme for implementing indigenous play-based pedagogy in kindergarten schools in ghana. South African Journal of Education. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v40n3a1793
Finnegan, R. (2014). Child play is serious: children’s games, verbal art and survival in Africa. International Journal of Play. https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2014.976033
Gerde, H. K., Apol, L., Skibbe, L. E., & Bucyanna, C. M. (2020). Creating high-quality early childhood education in Rwanda: teacher dispositions, child-centred play, and culturally relevant materials. Early Child Development and Care. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2019.1578760
Hadebe, N. P. (2015). An exploration of foundation phase teachers’ experiences in using play as a teaching strategy in Grade R.
Isaacs, S., Roberts, N., Spencer-Smith, G., & Brink, S. (2019). Learning through play in grade r classrooms: Measuring practitioners’ confidence, knowledge and practice. South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v9i1.704
Jemutai, S., & Webb, P. (2019). Effects of a 6 brick duplo block guided play intervention on pre-literate learners’ visual perception. South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v9i1.634
Jensen, H., Pyle, A., Zosh, J. M., Ebrahim, H. B., Zaragoza Scherman, A., Reunamo, J., & & Hamre, B. K. (2019). Play facilitation: the science behind the art of engaging young children (white paper).
Jensen, Hanne, Kvalsvig, J. D., Taylor, M., Sibisi, S., Whitebread, D., & McLellan, R. (2021). What counts as learning in play? Uncovering patterns in perceptions of South African early educators. International Journal of Early Years Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2020.1814215
Jirata, T. J. (2012). Learning through play: An ethnographic study of children’s riddling in ethiopia. Africa. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001972012000058
Jirata, T. J. (2019). The cultural spaces of young children: Care, play and learning patterns in early childhood among the Guji people of Ethiopia. Global Studies of Childhood. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043610618817317
Karenzi, B. (2016). The Benefits of Play in Child’s Creativity; Case of Nursery Schools of Nyarugenge District. Online Submission.
Korir, C., Mutea, Z., & Ayodi, N. (2016). Effect Of Teachers Understanding Of Use Of Play On Pre School Children Oral Literacy Development In Bomet County- Kenya.
Lew-Levy, S., & Boyette, A. H. (2018). Evidence for the Adaptive Learning Function of Work and Work-Themed Play among Aka Forager and Ngandu Farmer Children from the Congo Basin. Human Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-018-9314-6
Lunga, P., Esterhuizen, S., & Koen, M. (2022). Play-based pedagogy: An approach to advance young children’s holistic development. South African Journal of Childhood Education, 12(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.4102/SAJCE.V12I1.1133
Mabagala, S., & Mabagala, D. L. (2007). The Importance of Play during Childhood: The Lesson for Care Givers, Parents and Pre-schools in Tanzania. Huria - Journal of the Open University of Tanzania.
Mayeza, E. (2015). Exclusionary violence and bullying in the playground: Football and gender “policing” at school. Exclusionary Violence and Bullying in the Playground : Football and Gender “policing” at School.
Mayeza, E. (2018). ‘It’s not right for boys to play with dolls’: young children constructing and policing gender during ‘free play’ in a South African classroom. Discourse. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2017.1290584
Mwatha, W. W., Muema, M. J., & Munyoki, M. J. (2017). Availability and Use of Play Materials, and their Influence on Social and Emotional Development of Pre-School Children in Kyangwithya Zone, Kitui County. International Journal of Asian Social Science. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.1/2017.7.4/1.4.278.283
Mwaura, P. A. M., & Marfo, K. (2011). Bridging Culture, Research, and Practice in Early Childhood Development: The Madrasa Resource Centers in East Africa. Child Development Perspectives, 5(2), 134–139. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00168.x
Nehal, M., & Rule, P. N. (2018). Imaginative play and reading development among Grade R learners in KwaZulu-Natal: An ethnographic case study. South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v8i1.518
Ngware, M. W., Hungi, N., Wekulo, P., Mutisya, M., Njagi, J., Muhia, N., Wambiya, E., Donfouet, H., Gathoni, G., & Mambe, S. (2018). Impact evaluation of the Tayari preschool program in Kenya - APHRC. APHRC.
Nkopodi, N., & Mosimege, M. (2009). Incorporating the indigenous game of morabaraba in the learning of mathematics. South African Journal of Education. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v29n3a273
Ogunyemi, F. T., & Ragpot, L. (2016). Work and play in early childhood education: Views from Nigeria and South Africa. South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v5i3.344
Prioreschi, A., Wrottesley, S. V., Slemming, W., Cohen, E., & Norris, S. A. (2020). A qualitative study reporting maternal perceptions of the importance of play for healthy growth and development in the first two years of life. BMC Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-020-02321-4
Strauss, A. M., & Bipath, K. (2020). Expanding vocabulary and sight word growth through guided play in a pre-primary classroom. In South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v10i1.738
Taiwo Ogunyemi, F., & Henning, E. (2020). From traditional learning to modern education: Understanding the value of play in Africa’s childhood development. South African Journal of Education, 40. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v40ns2a1768
Tinajero, A. R., Cohen, N. J., & Ametorwo, S. (2016). No data, no problem, no action: Parenting programs in low-income countries. Making the social-emotional outcomes more visible. Child: Care, Health and Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12301
Uduchukwu, A. (2011). Enhancing Children’s Development through Play: a Task that Must Be Achieved in Early Childhood Education. African Research Review. https://doi.org/10.4314/afrrev.v5i5.27
UNICEF. (2018). Learning through play: Strengthening learning through play in early childhood education programmes.
UNICEF. (2019). Pathways to strengthen the pre-primary workforce in low- and middle-income countries | ECE Accelerator.
van As, A. J., & Excell, L. (2018). Strengthening early childhood teacher education towards a play-based pedagogical approach. South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v8i1.525
Van Vreden, M. (2016). Maestro for a moment: A conceptual framework for music integration in Grade R. South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v6i1.373
VVOB, & and Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE). (2019). Gender-responsive Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education: A Toolkit for Teachers and School Leaders.
Wang, L. (2018). All work, all play: Harnessing play-based learning in Ethiopia and Liberia to create lifelong learners. Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2018.1516467
Zosh, J. M., Hopkins, E. J., Jensen, H., Liu, C., Neale, D., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Solis, S. L., & & Whitebread, D. (2017). The scientific case for learning through play.
Zosh, Jennifer M., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Hopkins, E. J., Jensen, H., Liu, C., Neale, D., Solis, S. L., & Whitebread, D. (2018). Accessing the inaccessible: Redefining play as a spectrum. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(AUG). https://doi.org/10.3389/FPSYG.2018.01124
Aronstam, S., & Braund, M. (2016). Play in Grade R classrooms: Diverse teacher perceptions and practices. South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v5i3.242
As, A. J. Van, Excell, L., Education, M., Division, S., Africa, S., Africa, S., As, A. Van, & As, V. (2011). Strengthening early childhood teacher education towards a play-based pedagogical approach through a music intervention programme. Rnal of Childhood Education.
Askey, H. O’Malley, L. (2009). Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8(1).
Awopegba, P. O., Oduolowu, E., & Nsamenang, A. B. (2013). Indigenous early childhood care and education (IECCE) curriculum framework for Africa: a focus on context and contents. 127.
Chopra, N. (2016). Quality early childhood education for disadvantaged children: an investigation in the MCD schools. International Journal of Early Years Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2015.1096236
Chukwbikem, P. E. I. (2013). Resources for early childhood education (E.C.E). Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n8p161
Dowd, A., & and Thomsen, B. (2021). Learning through Play: Increasing Impact, Reducing Inequality - White Paper | Teacher Task Force.
Dzamesi, F. E., & van Heerden, J. (2020). A professional development programme for implementing indigenous play-based pedagogy in kindergarten schools in ghana. South African Journal of Education. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v40n3a1793
Finnegan, R. (2014). Child play is serious: children’s games, verbal art and survival in Africa. International Journal of Play. https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2014.976033
Gerde, H. K., Apol, L., Skibbe, L. E., & Bucyanna, C. M. (2020). Creating high-quality early childhood education in Rwanda: teacher dispositions, child-centred play, and culturally relevant materials. Early Child Development and Care. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2019.1578760
Hadebe, N. P. (2015). An exploration of foundation phase teachers’ experiences in using play as a teaching strategy in Grade R.
Isaacs, S., Roberts, N., Spencer-Smith, G., & Brink, S. (2019). Learning through play in grade r classrooms: Measuring practitioners’ confidence, knowledge and practice. South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v9i1.704
Jemutai, S., & Webb, P. (2019). Effects of a 6 brick duplo block guided play intervention on pre-literate learners’ visual perception. South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v9i1.634
Jensen, H., Pyle, A., Zosh, J. M., Ebrahim, H. B., Zaragoza Scherman, A., Reunamo, J., & & Hamre, B. K. (2019). Play facilitation: the science behind the art of engaging young children (white paper).
Jensen, Hanne, Kvalsvig, J. D., Taylor, M., Sibisi, S., Whitebread, D., & McLellan, R. (2021). What counts as learning in play? Uncovering patterns in perceptions of South African early educators. International Journal of Early Years Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2020.1814215
Jirata, T. J. (2012). Learning through play: An ethnographic study of children’s riddling in ethiopia. Africa. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001972012000058
Jirata, T. J. (2019). The cultural spaces of young children: Care, play and learning patterns in early childhood among the Guji people of Ethiopia. Global Studies of Childhood. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043610618817317
Karenzi, B. (2016). The Benefits of Play in Child’s Creativity; Case of Nursery Schools of Nyarugenge District. Online Submission.
Korir, C., Mutea, Z., & Ayodi, N. (2016). Effect Of Teachers Understanding Of Use Of Play On Pre School Children Oral Literacy Development In Bomet County- Kenya.
Lew-Levy, S., & Boyette, A. H. (2018). Evidence for the Adaptive Learning Function of Work and Work-Themed Play among Aka Forager and Ngandu Farmer Children from the Congo Basin. Human Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-018-9314-6
Lunga, P., Esterhuizen, S., & Koen, M. (2022). Play-based pedagogy: An approach to advance young children’s holistic development. South African Journal of Childhood Education, 12(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.4102/SAJCE.V12I1.1133
Mabagala, S., & Mabagala, D. L. (2007). The Importance of Play during Childhood: The Lesson for Care Givers, Parents and Pre-schools in Tanzania. Huria - Journal of the Open University of Tanzania.
Mayeza, E. (2015). Exclusionary violence and bullying in the playground: Football and gender “policing” at school. Exclusionary Violence and Bullying in the Playground : Football and Gender “policing” at School.
Mayeza, E. (2018). ‘It’s not right for boys to play with dolls’: young children constructing and policing gender during ‘free play’ in a South African classroom. Discourse. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2017.1290584
Mwatha, W. W., Muema, M. J., & Munyoki, M. J. (2017). Availability and Use of Play Materials, and their Influence on Social and Emotional Development of Pre-School Children in Kyangwithya Zone, Kitui County. International Journal of Asian Social Science. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.1/2017.7.4/1.4.278.283
Mwaura, P. A. M., & Marfo, K. (2011). Bridging Culture, Research, and Practice in Early Childhood Development: The Madrasa Resource Centers in East Africa. Child Development Perspectives, 5(2), 134–139. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00168.x
Nehal, M., & Rule, P. N. (2018). Imaginative play and reading development among Grade R learners in KwaZulu-Natal: An ethnographic case study. South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v8i1.518
Ngware, M. W., Hungi, N., Wekulo, P., Mutisya, M., Njagi, J., Muhia, N., Wambiya, E., Donfouet, H., Gathoni, G., & Mambe, S. (2018). Impact evaluation of the Tayari preschool program in Kenya - APHRC. APHRC.
Nkopodi, N., & Mosimege, M. (2009). Incorporating the indigenous game of morabaraba in the learning of mathematics. South African Journal of Education. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v29n3a273
Ogunyemi, F. T., & Ragpot, L. (2016). Work and play in early childhood education: Views from Nigeria and South Africa. South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v5i3.344
Prioreschi, A., Wrottesley, S. V., Slemming, W., Cohen, E., & Norris, S. A. (2020). A qualitative study reporting maternal perceptions of the importance of play for healthy growth and development in the first two years of life. BMC Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-020-02321-4
Strauss, A. M., & Bipath, K. (2020). Expanding vocabulary and sight word growth through guided play in a pre-primary classroom. In South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v10i1.738
Taiwo Ogunyemi, F., & Henning, E. (2020). From traditional learning to modern education: Understanding the value of play in Africa’s childhood development. South African Journal of Education, 40. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v40ns2a1768
Tinajero, A. R., Cohen, N. J., & Ametorwo, S. (2016). No data, no problem, no action: Parenting programs in low-income countries. Making the social-emotional outcomes more visible. Child: Care, Health and Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12301
Uduchukwu, A. (2011). Enhancing Children’s Development through Play: a Task that Must Be Achieved in Early Childhood Education. African Research Review. https://doi.org/10.4314/afrrev.v5i5.27
UNICEF. (2018). Learning through play: Strengthening learning through play in early childhood education programmes.
UNICEF. (2019). Pathways to strengthen the pre-primary workforce in low- and middle-income countries | ECE Accelerator.
van As, A. J., & Excell, L. (2018). Strengthening early childhood teacher education towards a play-based pedagogical approach. South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v8i1.525
Van Vreden, M. (2016). Maestro for a moment: A conceptual framework for music integration in Grade R. South African Journal of Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v6i1.373
VVOB, & and Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE). (2019). Gender-responsive Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education: A Toolkit for Teachers and School Leaders.
Wang, L. (2018). All work, all play: Harnessing play-based learning in Ethiopia and Liberia to create lifelong learners. Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2018.1516467
Zosh, J. M., Hopkins, E. J., Jensen, H., Liu, C., Neale, D., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Solis, S. L., & & Whitebread, D. (2017). The scientific case for learning through play.
Zosh, Jennifer M., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Hopkins, E. J., Jensen, H., Liu, C., Neale, D., Solis, S. L., & Whitebread, D. (2018). Accessing the inaccessible: Redefining play as a spectrum. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(AUG). https://doi.org/10.3389/FPSYG.2018.01124
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2024-05-18
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Articles
