The Global Symposium on Post-Pandemic Play

The Global Symposium on Post-Pandemic Play was convened by a steering group of 11 researchers in the field of education from institutions across the globe on March 3, 2022. This two-part symposium focused on how play can be incorporated into global post-COVID work with young children and their families and communities. Speakers engaged in question-and-answer style panels, followed by small-group breakout sessions, to discuss global perspectives on play as a post-pandemic strategy for children which prioritises wellbeing alongside learning.

The symposia were hosted virtually by the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, with institutional support from Cambridge’s REAL and PEDAL Centres, UCL’s Centre for Education and International Development, BRAC University, and Early Start at the University of Wollongong. This year-long project has been supported with a funding grant from BAICE.

https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/centres/real/
https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/centres/pe...
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/departments...
https://www.bracu.ac.bd/
https://www.uow.edu.au/the-arts-socia...

Led by Sabilah Eboo Alwani, Cambridge, the steering group also included: Krishna Kulkarni, Cambridge; Esinam Avornyo, University of Cape Coast; Lynneth Solis, Harvard; Janice Kim, Cambridge; Melanie Greaux, Cambridge; Ben Alcott, UCL; Ricardo Sabates, Cambridge; Priya Silverstein, IGDORE, Deborah Spindelman, Cambridge; and Natalie Day, University of Wollongong. The two symposia sessions were live-illustrated by Julia Hayes, Cambridge.

Play comes naturally to children, and it has been successfully harnessed to help children in situations of conflict and change. Play is therefore a highly conducive medium to help children cope with the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, even as the pandemic itself changes shape and continues. The premise of the symposium was that play has a central, important and strategic role in how children can move forward from their Covid-related experiences, which may have been interruptive to their learning and development, introduced stress, or caused other significant changes to their learning and overall wellbeing.

Speakers:

Panel 1

Dr Erum Mariam, Executive Director of BRAC Institute of Educational Development, BRAC University, Bangladesh

Madeeha Ansari, Founder, Cities for Children, Pakistan

Ali Khayam, Country Director, Right to Play, Pakistan


Panel 2

Ciara Laverty, Evidence Specialist, LEGO Foundation Denmark

Katie Godfrey, Head of Monitoring and Evaluation, Lively Minds, Ghana

Josephine Chimoyo, Special Education expert, Malawi

Dr Liang Li, senior lecturer in early childhood education, Monash University, Australia


Panel 3

Deborah Marie Rodríguez García, Education Manager of Humanitarian Programs, Sesame Workshop, USA

Kirsten Simmons, Founder, Talking Tree Hill, New Zealand

Dr Ana Luiza Colagrossi, Professor, Sedes Sapientiae Institute, Brazil


Panel 4

Tom McBride, Director of Evidence, Early Intervention Foundation, UK

Dr Jaye Johnson Thiel, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Studies, University of Alabama, USA

Dr Cimenna Chao Rebolledo, Professor, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico