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Category: Journal Article

Learning through play in Global Majority countries: Reflections from the PEDAL Centre on understanding and adapting the concept in four different contexts

9 September 2024

This paper in the International Journal of Play interrogates the concept of learning through play in different global contexts.

Staying self-regulated in the classroom: The role of children’s executive functions and situational factors

24 July 2024

We wanted to explore how an individual child's self-regulation might vary between different activities.

Centring children’s lived experiences in understanding the importance of play in hospitals

8 July 2024

We wanted to understand what playing in hospital is like from the perspectives and experiences of young children themselves.

Creating Classrooms for Change: Developing cognitive flexibility in schools in Rwanda

1 March 2024

This research looked at how schools in Rwanda foster students’ skills for adaptability - their capacity to create, innovate and adjust to shifting circumstances. It uses the psychological lens of cognitive flexibility. Findings highlight teachers’ activities to make lessons more practical and participatory, but also the ongoing obstacles posed by overcrowded classes, resource constraints, inadequate training and limited contact time.

Why and how do healthcare professionals use play in clinical practice?

1 March 2024

We explored what healthcare professionals in different roles and different countries understood to be important and useful about the role of play in paediatric practice. According to healthcare professionals, play in clinical practice can be used to communicate and build relationships with paediatric patients and thus potentially help provide patient-centred care.

Do educational programmes for healthcare professionals focus on play?

1 March 2024

This literature review looked at the evidence to understand how educational programmes for healthcare professionals include the use of play. It found that play is not consistently or systematically integrated into medical education.

Diversity in autistic play: Autistic adults’ experiences

12 September 2023

In this research, we take a neurodiversity-informed approach to understanding autistic play. This means understanding autistic play in terms of differences, strengths and difficulties rather than simply deficits. We also focus on what autistic people say about their play. We were interested in how autistic adults experience play, as well as how they think their play is different to non-autistic play. 

Ruptured school trajectories: understanding the impact of COVID-19 on school dropout, socio-emotional and academic learning using a longitudinal design

1 December 2022

Stephen Bayley, Prof Paul Ramchandani, Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre, Addis Ababa University, RISE Ethiopia

Narrative Matters: ‘Encanto’ and intergenerational trauma

20 September 2022

Read a summary of Sydney Conroy's publication about how themes in Encanto might support children's mental health.