Project report
The perceptions and roles of teachers and caregivers on play in promoting children’s early learning and development in a rural Kenya
Paul Otwate, Margaret Nampijja, Nelson Langat, Linda Oloo, Silas Onyango et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study explored how teachers and parents in rural Kenya view the role of play in young children's learning and development. Researchers surveyed 96 preschool teachers, 126 parents, and 6 policy implementers using questionnaires, focus group discussions, and interviews. Both teachers and parents recognized that play is important for child development and that adults should provide play materials, facilitate play activities, and supervise children. The study recommends that teachers and parents work together to make play materials and understand play as central to school readiness.
Key points
- Teachers and parents jointly perceived play as pivotal to children's learning and development
- Both groups recognized their shared role in engaging children in play and providing play materials
- Adults understood the importance of supervising children during play
- The study suggests collaborative development of play materials as a strategy to strengthen adult understanding of play-based learning
- Play is identified as a contributor to school readiness in children
Limitations
This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that documents perceptions and roles but does not evaluate the impact of any intervention on child outcomes. The findings describe what teachers and parents think about play rather than measuring whether play-based activities actually improve children's development.
Abstract
Abstract Adults, including teachers and parents have an important role in supporting children’s learning and development through play. This paper aimed to explore parents’ and teachers’ viewpoints and roles on play in promoting early learning and development in children, which has little emphasis in existing studies. This paper employed a cross-sectional study using a mixed-method approach to gather data from preschool teachers (n=96), parents (n=126), and policy implementers (n=6) in Kenya. We used questionnaires, focus group discussions, and interview guides to collect qualitative and quantitative data through face-to-face interviews with teachers and parents and mobile interviews with policy stakeholders. We performed qualitative analysis through reviewing the study transcripts, coding, and generating emerging themes that later guided the draft of the narrative report. Quantitative data were coded, cleaned, and reviewed before they were descriptively computed on the Stata version 18 to generate graphic representations. Our findings revealed that teachers and parents jointly perceived play to be pivotal on children’s learning and development. In addition, parents and teachers recognized that it is their role to engage children in play, provide play materials, and supervise children. Based on our results, we suggest that preschool teachers and parents collaboratively identify days to jointly develop play materials in preschool centers. This strategy may present a better understanding of the adults’ primary role of facilitating play and play-based learning. Our findings may serve as a resource and source of information for preschool teachers, parents, and policy stakeholders to consider play not only as a development pathway but also an element of learning and contributor to school readiness in children.