Participant engagement with play research – examples and lessons learned from the Centre for Play in Education, Development and Learning

ABSTRACT

Participatory approaches to play research emphasise the active engagement of key stakeholders in all aspects of the research. Ranging from children, parents and educators to policy makers, the Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL) at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, UK, actively engages with a variety of play research stakeholders. The current paper focuses on the ways PEDAL Centre involves children and teachers in its studies. It presents the key literature on participatory research, describes methods followed in the PEDAL Centre and shares insights from applying participatory approaches to play research with children and teachers.

KEYWORDS:

• Play
• participatory approach
• children
• teachers
• co-researchers

Acknowledgements

The work of PEDAL Research Centre is funded through a donation from the LEGO Foundation and a separate grant related to autism and play. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme also funds the PEDAL Research Centre for leading and other involvement in randomised controlled trials. Three postdoctoral fellows (Dr Marisol Basilio, Dr Dave Neale and Dr Zhen Rao), who are part of the PEDAL team, have received funding from the ESRC.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Lenka Janik Blaskova is a PhD student at the PEDAL Research Centre in Cambridge.

Soizic Le Courtois is a PhD student at the PEDAL Research Centre in Cambridge.

Sara T. Baker is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and leads a team researching playful approaches to children’s early learning in science at the PEDAL Research Centre.

Jenny L. Gibson is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and leads a research team investigating children's social play and social development at the PEDAL Research Centre.

Paul G. Ramchandani is LEGO Professor of Play in Education Development and Learning at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and a Director of the PEDAL Research Centre.

Christine O’Farrelly is a Research Associate at the PEDAL Research Centre.

Elian Fink is a Senior Research Associate at the PEDAL Research Centre and the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.