The benefits of play have been associated with improvements in areas such as exploration, creativity, parent-child bonds, and healthy child development. This course encompasses a range of international perspectives on play, including the diverse interpretations, the philosophical rationales underpinning play, and the various play practices. Specifically, it will explore contemporary approaches and research methods for understanding children’s play, debates surrounding play as curriculum and/or approach, issues pertaining to play advocacy and policy-making, as well as the potential for promoting culturally-appropriate play practices worldwide.

CILO-1: Identify and explain research methods for studying children’s play. CILO-2: Analyse the critical relationship between play, children’s learning, and development. CILO-3: Evaluate play-based curricula in terms of learning ecology. CILO-4: Reflect on international and local play studies and play-based curricula.