How Learning through Play Supports Children’s Holistic Development in Schools and Families

VVOB has successfully implemented the Learning through Play (LTP) educational approach for 60,551 teachers and 365,711 parents in eight provinces/cities across the country since 2019 through the iPLAY project. 

The project aims to integrate play-based learning activities for young learners in primary schools. In the near future, VVOB will continue to promote LTP to parents and expand the LTP e-course to school leaders and teachers in all 63 provinces and cities. The e-course will provide teachers with the knowledge and skills to apply LTP at a national scale.

Parents and teachers both play important roles in the child's development, being companions to help them answer questions and acquire knowledge. Understanding this, the approach to LTP is not only integrated into teacher professional development programs but also widely disseminated to parents, in order to deeply understand and support LTP, as well as know how to apply LTP at home, thereby promoting the implementation of LTP both in schools and at home.

Parents accompany their children to implement LTP at home

As a sustainable education approach, the implementation of LTP will not be limited to classroom lessons but can also be applied widely at home. Parents are guided and encouraged to implement LTP at home to help their children develop significantly in terms of cognitive, creative, social, emotional, and physical development. As a result, VVOB has compiled a guidebook specifically for parents, in which the approach to LTP is concretized into simple and close activities for easy and flexible adoption.

Mr. Vo Thanh Vinh, a parent of a 2nd-grade student at Nguyen Thi Dinh Primary School in Ho Chi Minh City, acknowledged LTP when participating in the Play day at the school. He shared: "I used to incorporate some mathematics while playing chess with my daughter, but I considered it to be merely a casual game. However, after taking part in the Play day, I discovered that LTP is an educational approach, and realized that if parents can join their children in implementing LTP at home, it will not only strengthen the bond between family members but also empower children to learn and develop their skill sets. This is particularly meaningful as technology is rapidly developing when every household has TVs, iPads, and smartphones so that children can easily get immersed in using them and lose connection with their families and others. Through LTP, children can learn from daily activities while having opportunities to play, explore, and be creative thereby discovering their potential, emotions, and personal feelings."

The integration of LTP into parent-teacher meetings and Play days for parents is one of VVOB's efforts to support parents in understanding the proper ways to educate their children, understanding their children's desires to spark the joys in their daily activities, getting closer to them, and witnessing positive changes in them every day.

Continuing to expand training for teachers via the e-course

Over the past 4 years, VVOB has organized offline LTP training courses for 6,956 DOET/ BOET staff nationwide, as well as for primary school leaders and teachers in 8 project provinces/ cities: Lai Chau, Ha Giang, Thai Nguyen, Nghe An, Quang Tri, Da Nang, Quang Ngai and Ho Chi Minh City.

Recently, with the goal of continuing to implement LTP widely and providing opportunities for school leaders and primary school teachers nationwide with LTP training sessions, VVOB has also announced a free e-course about LTP for primary education on the online learning platform of MOET. In order to introduce and provide guidance for this course,VVOB has cooperated with MOET to organize the workshop "Introduction to the e-course on Learning through Play" as part of the iPLAY project in Da Nang on May 25, 2023. The online course has officially been implemented nationwide since July 2023. So far, about 30,000 teachers have completed the course, and about 10,000 other teachers are participating. This number is expected to continue to increase as provinces and cities will expand implementation for school leaders, teachers and primary schools in their local areas.

The e-course is developed based on “A set of guides for Primary Leaders and Teachers on Learning through Play”, with professional input from MOET experts, the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, and education universities. The e-course focuses on introducing LTP and its connection to the General Education Program (GEP) 2018. LTP can be considered to fulfill the requirements for comprehensive development of students' qualifications and competencies, and professional standards for primary school teachers. The course includes 5 modules. The first 3 modules contain an overview of LTP, principles of application, and techniques for implementation. Module 4 and 5 introduce a learning cycle to teachers about LTP, and basic form of training to support teachers in applying LTP.

Mr. Dang Van Binh, Deputy Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Administrators shared, "The success of the project has been clearly demonstrated through positive results achieved in the 8 provinces where the project has been implemented, thereby expanding training to all school leaders and core teachers in other provinces and cities. After conducting training for core staff in these provinces, many provinces expressed their desire for primary school teachers to participate in training. However, the project framework did not have the conditions for separate training for teachers in each region. Therefore, the implementation of the e-course contributes to ensuring sustainability as well as maintaining the outcomes of the iPLAY project while providing opportunities to approach LTP for more school leaders and primary teachers."

The 4-year journey of “Integrating Play-based Learning Activities for Young Learners” is gradually coming to an end. Ms. Karolina Rutkowska, Country Programmes Manager of VVOB in Vietnam, proudly shared, “Building upon the solid foundation and detailed guidance of the iPLAY project, VVOB hopes that LTP will continue to be widely implemented in primary schools and even at home, fostering students' independence, support capacity, and enhance character development for the next generation. The widespread adoption of the LTP approach will significantly contribute to the comprehensive development of knowledge, qualifications, and essential competencies for Vietnamese students, enabling them to keep pace with globalization and become lifelong learners, thereby achieving the educational goals set forth by the GEP 2018.”

Van Luong (Vietnam Business Forum