The complexity of playful learning

Rit Bahadur Shrestha and Nabina Mahat are among the teachers who have been meaningfully impacted by the Kheldai Sikdai program in Hetauda. They sincerely admired the Learning through PLay(LtP) approach. Rit, who is a science teacher, even implemented the hands-on approach to some of his curricular classes.

Bachchu Sapkota, another teacher from Hetauda, credits the Karkhana Samuha and Kheldai Sikdai program for the change in students’ behavior. Those who previously didn’t pay attention during the classes, engaged in disruptive behavior such as teasing and pinching their classmates have started paying attention during classes. Disruptive behavior has reduced significantly. Bachu reports that this change in behavior is seen in both Kheldai Sikdai classes as well as their regular classes. “There are many such students who have changed.” He added.

Having read till this point, one might assume that LtP was soon adopted by more teachers. However, on the contrary, after the project formally ended, except for a few schools that occasionally conducted hands-on lessons for their students, LtP approach wasn’t sustained by most participating schools.

Karkhana Samuha had designed and implemented Learning through Play(LtP) based lessons for two and half years till July 2024. The responses we have received, from the 100+ teachers who have adopted our learning resources, indicate that LtP has been successful and many teachers believe in its effectiveness. Students enjoy the LtP lessons, teachers enjoy them and have reported that it has resulted in better learning outcomes for students and has helped them build better relationships with their students. Some teachers have expressed surprise at seeing the academically weak students engaging deeply with these lessons and doing well. Comparing the endline assessment with the baseline one, we see a radical shift. Quiet environment, which was the most popular feature indicating a good classroom, has been replaced by learning resources. Other popular responses show that teachers have grown to value excitement, interaction and hands-on learning in their classes. So if everyone is happy with LtP lessons, one would presume that the approach would soon scale through increasing adoption. But that was not the case.

Rit and Nabina had selected 60 students from three sections for the Kheldai Sikdai program at their school. They conducted combined Kheldai Sikdai lessons to minimize the total number of classes required. “Today only 2 classes of mine were consumed.” Rit had told me during a post-class conversation. “It hampers the regular classes and there’s a course to complete.” His use of the word “hamper” was interesting. He appreciated the LtP classes for the value they add through learning and engagement, but he also feels reluctant to conduct them often because they consume the limited class hours he has to teach the course load. Both teachers felt that the course was vague, and too much. It was often difficult to complete the course within the given class hours. Because exams are conducted internally for grades below 8, I had presumed that teachers could omit some lessons they deemed unnecessary. It turns out that there’s a lot of scrutiny on the teachers, and it compels them to complete the course even if in a haste. “We must complete the course. Otherwise students will say that sir didn’t teach us,” Rit shared his challenge. “The parents will complain, the students will tell them that sir hasn’t finished the course.”

While the selected students participate in the Kheldai SIkdai classes, their classmates attend the regular classes. Rit and Nabina share that other teachers have been cooperative towards the Kheldai Sikdai classes. They didn’t complain about their students missing their classes. “This is also education.” They said to Rit and Nabina. But when exams approached, a few teachers had expressed concern regarding students missing the lessons. These teachers had shown interest in the Kheldai Sikdai classes. They told Rit and Nabina that the classes looked fun and they wanted to come and take photos. Some had also expressed an interest to run these classes but it hasn’t been possible because of the lack of time and the course load.

The students showed great interest in LtP lessons and frequently inquired about when their next class would be. Rit and Nabina used this interest to their advantage, prompting students to do their regular coursework quickly, and getting them to maintain discipline. If they didn’t comply, the LtP classes could be canceled, or they might not be permitted to join.

The curricular lessons are time bound. Teachers have a plan to complete a certain number of units within a certain number of classes. “Because we have made up our mind to cover certain content in the given time, we can't give as much time as the lesson needs,” shares Rit.

Rit and Nabina praised the pedagogy of Kheldai Shikadai for being effective, but due to time constraints they couldn’t apply it in their regular classes. They share that during the Kheldai Sikdai classes students can try their own ideas. Students share the ideas that didn’t work and the thing that finally worked for them. But letting students discover ideas on their own, giving them time to figure things out isn't possible in the regular class, Rit shared. “I might have to teach 5 concepts in a class and students might realize at most one in the given time.” Rit spoke about the lack of time to take the LtP approach more often to their regular classes.

Rit and Nabina admitted that the regular classes are very teacher centric. They haven't been able to make them student centric despite their intentions due to constraints like time, resources, class size etc. “In the Kheldai Sikdai classes students connect to concepts on their own. They figure out what works and doesn't and even come up with the reasons on their own. This kind of discovery based learning can't take place in the current structure of our regular classes”, he shared.

We encountered a similar situation in Gulmi where Reena Gumanju and Sudeep Marasini, also teachers part of the Kheldai Sikdai program, shared their experience of conducting LtP lessons for students. Like Rit and Nabina, they had a lot of praise for the program and its approach. They noticed that hands-on learning led to long term retention. Students enjoyed the lessons and exhibited great interest and creativity. Reena shared that students got excited about building things that actually work and can be played with.

Sudeep wasn’t a part of the program at the outset, but developed an interest in it as he observed the lessons. Science, the subject he taught, was closely connected with the lessons. Sudeep taught students about parallel circuits from the materials in the Kheldai Sikdai kit.

The parents, however, weren’t much fond of seeing their children tinker with materials and build toys. They complained to Reena and Sudeep about the useless tinkering students did, and said that the kids are clever when it comes to making things out of paper, clay, cardboard etc. but not when reading or writing, which they see as education. For village parents, who are skilled at various hands-on activities such as weaving, building and repairing tools to work in fields, carving water canals, building fences and even houses, the hands-on activities might not have as much value. Their children grow up helping them in household work, making things and getting their hands dirty in the process. They seem to value government jobs and white color jobs that they believe can elevate families out of poverty.

Like Rit and Nabina, Sudeep and Reena also talk about the pressure to complete the course. They make use of optional subjects, such as the local curriculum, to conduct Kheldai Sikdai lessons. The stakes aren't high for these subjects and not being able to complete the course won’t be as big a deal as with the compulsory subjects.

Underneath the joy and engagement of LtP, teachers faced a deeper concern. Sudeep shared that when students don’t perform well in the exams, all the blame gets put on the teacher. He spoke with eagerness, usually missing from his reserved demeanor. He talked about how parents hold teachers responsible if their children don’t do well in exams. “They always assume that the teachers didn’t teach the children, rather than their children didn’t study.”

Teachers implementing LtP lessons through the Kheldai Sikdai program had to navigate layers of complexities in their schools and communities. From the point of view of organizations like Karkhana Samuha, who advocate for a reform in education through play, it’s puzzling to see the impact of the work not lead to sustenance and further adoption of playful learning. But the reason lies in the precarious situation school teachers in Nepal find themselves in, having to balance expectations of parents, completing the course and preparing students for exams, with adopting a new pedagogy that doesn’t fit well with the way the education system has been designed.