Play and Playgrounds – Learning that Precedes the Classroom

Our first image of a classroom is often of a teacher who conducts a class, and a blackboard, duster, table, chair and a room of still students. Or what else do we imagine apart from all the above-mentioned things? What makes a school space loved by students or what comes to our mind when we reminisce about our school days? We asked the same question to children during our field visits in Bathinda. And the response was not a surprise. Playgrounds topped the list of children’s favorite places in the school, followed by the library, kitchen, and so on.

What makes these spaces outside the classroom loved by the children? Do such spaces provide learning opportunities and experiences any different from a rudimentary classroom? Or is there something more? As a sports development organization, we have always taken a greater interest in understanding the role of playgrounds in children’s learning processes. During one of our training sessions, we asked a group of teachers, “How much time should a child spend on the playground in a day?” All of them agreed that it should be at least an hour.

But then the same question was put a bit differently, forcing them to think about how much time children spend on the playground in our schools. Most of them realized that it was 30 minutes or even lesser. And that would be organic playtime by children without any structured games, hence without enough formative physical education sessions.

It is recommended that young adolescents spend at least an hour on moderate to vigorous physical activity to stay physically fit and healthy. But in schools, children spend less than one-fourth of the time they spend in the classroom for physical activities.

A recent study found that over 80% of Indian school-going adolescents aged between 11 and 17 years did not meet WHO’s recommended levels of physical activity. The study also found that physical inactivity levels were higher among girls compared to boys.

Hence, there is a need to understand that these spaces beyond the classrooms where children love to spend time will also cater to their various needs for learning and growth.

Beyond the leisure games that are played by children on their own, when structured well by a facilitator, these games can help cultivate both physical and life skills. Let’s explore how the playground offers learning opportunities to children. Games and playbased activities conducted on the school playground are not separate from learning within the classroom but are an extension of it.

Engagement in exploratory play becomes an essential mode of learning and can enhance the development of a child, especially at a younger age. The diverse benefits of play, especially for young children, have been cited for decades (Barnett, 1990).

The focus should be on creating more learner-centric transactions. The relationship between play outside the classroom and learning needs to be understood properly. When a child is outside the classroom, they engage with their environment. This is a relevant space to nurture student agency and prepare our learners to become active citizens.

“Playgrounds create an environment that is democratic in the sense that it fosters a safe, inclusive learning space where children are skilled to demonstrate democratic values, of equality, fair play and taking responsibility for their actions and of their teammates,” says Hemanta Mahanta, Program Manager at ELMS Sports Foundation.

Academic learning processes in a conventional classroom are generally individualized. And peer support and teamwork are abysmal. Just like in the case of subjects like math or languages, where children compare each other based on grades, it happens on the ground too.

Children select teams or co-players in terms of their assumed caliber to win. This can boost or break the morale and confidence of children.

This is where a structured, organized game and the role of a facilitator become crucial. Creating an inclusive environment, therefore, is imperative in actualizing the right of every child to stay physically fit. In our sessions, we encourage children to consider everyone equal, making them realize that every coplayer can contribute. They also learn to create a balanced all-rounder team, which is something that children might not do if asked to do inside a classroom.

Now suppose you ask children to make a team for a math quiz competition, they will only make a team with the ones who are good at math, because that is the only way to win the quiz. So now, when we take sessions with children in sports, the facilitator creates a team that includes everyone in the game irrespective of their skills.

By now children realize that each member of the team contributes in different capacities. Some hold the team together with their leadership or decision-making skills, while others are quick on their feet. Nonetheless, everyone is made to realize that each one of them is playing towards their own growth.

“When children are on the playground, they play and participate in activities based on their pace, and learners of all types get to play irrespective of their skill sets,” says Bharati Odedara. She is a team member who works closely with children on the field.

“Most young children have an inherent aspiration and capacity to play. Thefore, no external incentive is required to make them play,” she adds.

According to Bharati, who facilitates games for children with disabilities (Autism Spectrum Disorder – ASD), games help in improving their social and emotional skills. Integrated and structured communication and cooperation patterns in the games help in these.

The play on the playground is mainly either structured, which is Physical Education class on any given day, or it is free play which happens during the break time or lunch hours in schools. Break time in schools provides an opportunity for children to engage in freely chosen play and physical activity.

While children are on the playground, they engage with their imagination and socialize with their friends extensively. Free play offers children with many learning opportunities. These include making teams, which allows them the liberty of choice, decision-making, and negotiation. It provides them with opportunities to reflect on their individual strengths and weaknesses. They also figure out how they can contribute to the collective efforts of the team.

The playground becomes a site of socialization, which is very critical to educational experiences. It also helps in building a school culture where children can interact and communicate effectively with their peers, which in turn leads to boosting their confidence level.

The games we design through our Physical Education Curriculum consider learning on the playground as facilitative. This takes place most of the time when children tell each other about what to do and what not to do during playtime. They collaborate and also become self-reflective, where they debrief and share the strengths and weaknesses post the game time. This helps children to form self-improvement and team-building goals.

We have seen that this creates a bond between peers, which helps them in classrooms too. While children hesitate to reach out to a teacher, frequently they help each other out. When younger children play with older children, they are more comfortable asking their peers or their seniors on the playground.

“The younger children enjoy the sessions as they are more comfortable practicing skills with their older peers. The senior children learn to operate independently and take ownership of the learning of the younger ones playing on the ground,” says Kalpana. She is one of the educators at our Foundation. She is also a national-level Frisbee player and a PE educator, who conducts PE classes with children at Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute and School, Delhi.

In addition to this, the core of our program design involves the development of physical education practices that are based on making classrooms more gender-equitable. We have seen gender-segregated practices being enforced in schools in India, especially in the rural areas where we work.

Girls and boys play separately or even play more gendered games. Boys often take whatever sports equipment that may be available in the school and run to the field. Girls play games that take up less space in a playground or play indoors.

Through our program, we make sure that the physical education sessions and games are structured in a manner that is mixed. Up to primary grades, all the teams are coed. For upper primary schools, boys’ teams are not allowed to participate in events, until and unless there are girls’ teams as well.

With an extent of internalized gender bias, our attempts are a work in progress. These involve constant dialogues and workshops with students and physical education teachers.

When children have access to the playground, they explore it exhaustively by playing whatever activity they wish to play without any outside interventions. They form groups and create rules and games on their own.

Children face challenges when they share playgrounds with another school or have common spaces that are not attached to the school but belong to the community. These spaces end up being informally claimed and used by adults.

These places also often become gendered. Younger men use these spaces to play games like cricket or football. There is often no systems in place to maintain these spaces as commons.

The freedom that children get on the playground to express themselves is something that makes them develop their abilities such as taking initiative and decision-making by themselves.

There are several spaces in schools beyond the classroom, like the playground, that can play a critical role in the holistic development of children. As educators, it is important to realize this and make these spaces more accessible to all children.