The Work of Play: The Perception and Implementation of Play-Based Learning at a Kenyan Preschool, LEAP Academy
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- There are long global histories of both Christian missionary education and play-based pedagogies in early education. These two legacies collide at the rural Kenyan preschool, LEAP Academy. LEAP is an American-founded, play-based missionary school that educates 42 students ages three to five from Mai Mahiu, Kenya. Of these 42, 9 are total orphans living at the children’s home, Naomi’s Village, and 33 are students from the neighboring community. Given the unique nature of a play-based, missionary preschool in Kenya, this study asks two central questions regarding the perception and implementation of play. 1. How is play perceived in relation to learning by administrators, teachers, parents, and caregivers at LEAP Academy? 2. In what ways do the administration’s claims about the academic effects of play align with their goals for LEAP and translate into practice in the classroom? To answer these questions, I conducted two months of participant observation and in-person interviews with two administrators, four teachers, ten parents, and two caregivers. Through my analysis, it is clear that all stakeholder groups perceive play as very closely intertwined with learning. Though they held diverse perspectives and provided a variety of defining qualities of play, all of the groups converged in their belief that play is beneficial for building: language acquisition, critical thinking skills, creativity, social skills, and emotional healing. Parents also identified outcomes such as “play opens up the child’s mind” and can be used to signal a child’s well-being. Regarding goals, all of the administrators’ hopes for LEAP’s teaching environment and prioritized learning outcomes were achieved. The only unmet goal was reflected in excess daily desk time for the 4-year old classes, which I advise can be met by distributing desk time more evenly across school days. This study reveals one of the diverse settings in which play has been implemented and perceived positively by stakeholders. Findings from LEAP reinforce the importance of inter-stakeholder collaboration when creating goals, adopting nontraditional pedagogies, and reflecting on students’ educational experiences. The process of conducting research on the African continent also invites a necessary and ongoing conversation about the ethics and complications of international service.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | January 2018 - May 2019 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Jocelyn Keipp |
|---|
Subjects
| Subject | play-based learning |
|---|---|
| Subject | preschool students |
| Subject | early education |
| Subject | Kenya |
| Subject | Christian missionary education |
| Subject | administrators |
| Subject | teachers |
| Subject | parents |
| Subject | caregivers |
| Subject | participant observation |
| Subject | interviews |
| Subject | Graduate School of Education |
| Subject | Stanford University |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Keipp, Jocelyn. (2019). The Work of Play: The Perception and Implementation of Play-Based Learning at a Kenyan Preschool, LEAP Academy. Unpublished honors thesis. Stanford University, Stanford CA.
Collection
Undergraduate Honors Theses, Graduate School of Education
View other items in this collection in SearchWorksContact information
- Contact
- jkeipp@stanford.edu
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...