How Playful Approaches Can Bring More Joy to Teaching

In the schools Edutopia visited for our Making Learning More Playful series (across four countries!), we saw greater teacher satisfaction and more student engagement. When kids are fully on board in the classroom, teachers have more time and energy to build rich, social, playful, student-centered learning opportunities, and they experience less burnout. The result? Positive school communities where everyone flourishes, transformed by the fundamental shift toward making learning more playful.

To learn more about the research behind the practices seen in the video, check out the links below. 

• The American Academy of Pediatrics’ report on how play enhances development in young children (2018) 
• Kayleigh Skene, Christine M. O’Farrelly, Elizabeth M. Byrne, Natalie Kirby, Eloise C. Stevens, and Paul G. Ramchandani’s meta-analysis and review on whether guidance during play can enhance children’s learning and development in educational contexts (2022) 
• Rachel Parker, Bo Stjerne Thomsen, and Amy Berry’s article on learning through play at school (2022) 

• Marjaana Kangas, Pirkko Siklander, Justus Randolph, and Heli Ruokamo’s study on teachers’ engagement and students’ satisfaction with a playful learning environment (2017)
• Shulamit Pinchover’s pilot study on the relationship between teachers’ and children’s playfulness (2017)