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iPLAY: Play-Based Primary Education
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Challenge
Vietnam is changing rapidly. To reach their future potential, primary learners need a breadth of skills, including cognitive, social, emotional, physical and creative skills. The school culture in present day Vietnam is highly academic and results-oriented. Classroom practice is therefore very teacher-centred and knowledge-focused.
To transform the knowledge-focused education system into an education system that equips learners with a breadth of skills, the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) is rolling out a new, competency-based curriculum. Learning through play (LtP) pedagogies have great potential to contribute to achieving the objectives of the new curriculum.
To successfully integrate LtP in the classroom, there is a need to fundamentally shift school leaders’, teachers’ and caregivers’ deep-seated beliefs about learning as an essentially cognitive process separate from and valued over play towards an understanding of the role of LtP in fostering a breadth of skills.
Goals
School leaders and teachers in primary schools have the competences to systematically integrate LtP pedagogies into their school environment and classroom practice.
Partners
- Ministry of Education and Training (MoET)
- Departments within MoET:
- Department of Teachers and Education Administrators (DTEA)
- Primary Education Department (PED)
- Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences (VNIES)
- National Institute for Education Management (NIEM)
- Hanoi (HNUE), Ho Chi Minh City (HCMCUE) and Da Nang (DNUE) University of Education
Approach
The iPLAY programme centres on integrating LtP pedagogies into the existing in-service teacher professional development (TPD) systems and in the trajectories for school-based continuous professional development (CPD) of primary education teachers and school leaders. School leaders and teachers enrol in the iPLAY trainings as part of their annual TPD trajectory.
The programme is built around three pillars:
- capacitating local education officers to support and monitor school-based CPD on integrating LtP;
- empowering school leaders to foster a playful school environment that encourages integrating LtP in classroom practices;
- shifting primary teachers’ classroom practices towards joyful, actively engaging and meaningful LtP pedagogies.
Each pillar contributes to the effective implementation of the new general education curriculum in primary education.
To further foster an enabling environment for LtP, VVOB will support schools to organise community outreach activities for caregivers in order to change prevailing social norms that prioritise cognitive skills development at the detriment of social, physical, emotional and creative skills development.
By the end of the programme
- MoET:
- The MoET co-developed and formally endorsed key LtP materials, including a teacher guide and CPD roadmap, which were distributed nationwide. A national e-course now completed by 186,795 school leaders and teachers, which is 47% of the national primary teaching workforce.
- LtP has been embedded into the in-service continuous professional development (CPD) system for primary teachers and school leaders, with structured opportunities for nationwide uptake.
- Through its leadership, policy guidance, and active engagement in material development, endorsement, and dissemination, MoET has laid a strong foundation for integrating LtP into broader education frameworks, including alignment with evolving curriculum and assessment approaches.
- Province and district officials:
- Officials from Departments and Bureaus of Education and Training (DoET/BoET) have actively taken on coaching, mentoring, and monitoring roles. They facilitated professional teacher meetings, coaching sessions, and school-based support activities, contributing approximately 200 working days to implementation.
- 92 officials of provincial departments of education and training (DOET) and district bureaus of education and training (BOET), as well as school leaders and teachers from 55 non-iPLAY provinces, participated in a national dissemination workshop refreshing LtP knowledge, providing updates on student autonomy and a deeper dive into coaching.
- The awareness and behavioural changes within these district bodies led to more coherent educational policies and practices that embrace LTP.
- School leaders:
- School leaders strengthened their knowledge and capacity in LtP and its link to holistic skills development. The vast majority reported having the necessary resources and actively facilitating LtP implementation in their schools.
- School leaders contributed to creating learner-friendly, play-conducive environments and ensured that LtP was integrated into school development plans and professional development activities.
- School leaders also played a key role in engaging caregivers, raising awareness of LtP, and supporting its application beyond the classroom.
- 9,284 school leaders were reached to improve their knowledge of LtP in their learning environments and how this links to holistic skills development; 5,958 school leaders and teachers participated in 96 Professional Teacher Meetings (PTM).
- School leaders were better equipped to guide and support teachers in implementing LtP. Their understanding of instructional coaching practices will facilitate more effective teacher development, ultimately benefiting students.
- Teachers
- Teachers demonstrated significant improvements in both knowledge and practice and increasingly incorporated LtP characteristics such as joyfulness, active engagement, and social interaction in their lesson plans. 132,652 teachers were reached to improve their knowledge of LtP in their learning environments and how this links to holistic skills development; 94.7% of teachers now use LtP in their learning environments, with over 90% of teachers recognising its benefits.
- The project's Teacher Professional Development approach (TPD), including instructional coaching, subject-based Professional Teacher Meetings, and blended TPD trajectories, helped to enhance teachers' knowledge and skills in integrating LtP into their classroom practices. Teachers improved their teaching methodologies and shifted towards more interactive and student-centred classroom practices.
- Caregivers
- 371,703 caregivers were reached to improve their knowledge and understanding of holistic skills and how LtP develops these skills. Parents were reached through awareness-raising activities such as parent-teacher meetings and play days. This resulted in strong parental support, with 97% of teachers reporting no resistance to LtP. Caregivers became more engaged in their children’s learning and more supportive of play-based approaches both at school and at home.
To reach its goals, VVOB in Vietnam develops the capacity of its partners. VVOB uses capacity development trajectories that give partners maximal responsibility in the execution and management of their own change processes. This is done through technical assistance provided by the VVOB team in Vietnam, which includes both local and international educational and change management experts.