POP Celebration

On Thursday 28^th May the Junior School held a celebration of the Pedagogy of Play (POP) academic research undertaken by all its faculty members. This year’s focus in the Junior School has been the play-based teaching and learning initiative brought in by Chloe Hill, PYP Coordinator, in tandem with the teacher research professional development lead by Idah Khan, Academies Master Teacher for PYP. Faculty members presented their research findings to an audience of the school community and to members of Harvard’s Project Zero team plus The International School of Billund staff members. These institutions have been spearheading play-based learning and are leading play in education projects worldwide. The representatives joined the online celebration from North America, Denmark and South Africa and our community members tuned in from England, Mozambique, Mombasa and within India. With play and a playful mind-set at the heart of this project, participants were encouraged to dress up ‘playfully’ or as “POP” stars; the event was a vibrant celebration of the zest and energy the Junior School faculty embody.

Undertaking research is a highly valuable form of professional development, as it develops skills of reflection and documentation. The Junior School faculty members worked in study groups, which allowed for discussion and support, and shared documentary evidence with one-another over the year. The team also worked as a larger group at times, working on common understandings – indicators of play – and sharing best practices. The culminating presentations ranged from research posters/papers to audio-visual presentations and feedback was given by the moderators from Harvard and ISB. To have such experienced educator-researchers give up their time and share their observations with us was priceless and we hope to further foster ties with these organisations. We also endeavour to further embed play as a pedagogy into our daily practice and to hone our skills as teacher-researchers.