Early childhood education: Lessons learned from GPE KIX and implications for policy and scale

What evidence and lessons from KIX research over the past 5 years sought to strengthen early childhood education? And what efforts were made to scale up the impact of innovations? Read to find out.

January 29, 2025 by Carmen Pon, Education Development Trust, and Sophie D’Aoust, International Development Research Center - IDRC
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7 minutes read
Marie Goreth Mukayisenga, a teacher at GS Rosa Mystica school in Kamonyi, Rwanda, looks over the work of Gafurama Isheja Ornella, a grade 4 student. Credit: GPE/Nkurunziza (Trans.Lieu)

Marie Goreth Mukayisenga, a teacher at GS Rosa Mystica school in Kamonyi, Rwanda, look over the work of Gafurama Isheja Ornella, a grade 4 student.

Credit: GPE/Nkurunziza (Trans.Lieu)

Early childhood education (ECE) is crucial for helping children develop essential cognitive, motor, and social-emotional skills that set the stage for lifelong learning and success.

Despite the growing recognition of ECE's importance, nearly half of the world’s pre-primary age children lack access to ECE. This figure rises to 8 out of 10 in low-income countries and is particularly high for marginalized groups.

As countries work towards increasing access to ECE services, addressing quality and inclusion is equally important.

Doing so requires a comprehensive system approach that mainstreams ECE into national sector plans and budgets; fosters community engagement and ensures appropriate curriculum development pedagogy, teacher training, and quality assurance mechanisms.

However, many GPE partner countries are still facing challenges in adopting and sustaining such a system approach.

How GPE KIX is supporting ECE

GPE’s Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX), a joint endeavor with Canada’s International Development Research Centre, has funded eight ECE research projects from 2020–2024.

These projects focus on scaling the impact of promising or proven innovations that seek to expand ECE access and quality:

Countries in which GPE KIX research projects were implemented

Countries in which GPE KIX research projects were implemented

In our synthesis report, we drew five themes from the projects, the wider literature, and focus group discussions with key informants, including educational actors, relevant to advancing quality ECE: play-based pedagogy and school readiness; teacher training, support and professional development; gender equality, equity, and inclusion; scaling and sustainability; and partnerships, community and parental participation.

As most projects supported by GPE KIX and co-funded by the LEGO Foundation examined ECE innovations that focused on play-based learning and pedagogies, we unpack new evidence on play-based learning emerging from these studies and what these findings mean for policy and practice.

Play-based learning: What is it and what does the evidence say about it?

Play-based learning – sometimes also referred to as learning through play – is a child-centered approach that emphasizes cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills through hands-on, meaningful learning experiences.

Studies highlight the importance of play for promoting healthy child development as it can help children learn about their environment, build relationships, and develop social and emotional capabilities such as self-regulation.

Learning through play also helps children develop the skills necessary to become critical thinkers and engaged problem-solvers and global evidence shows that play can enhance literacy and numeracy skills and understanding.

Despite increasing support for play-based learning, the approach faces several challenges. For one, while research on its benefits is growing, studies acknowledge that most of the evidence base is drawn from Western contexts.

Reports also note that though established frameworks highlight common elements of play, varying interpretations of play-based learning can result in inconsistent implementation.

Similarly, when play is viewed as incompatible with learning, it can be de-prioritized or experience low uptake. Implementing play-based learning in under-resourced areas is also challenging, as many teachers lack the skills, understanding and appropriate resources to do so effectively in the classroom.

Our synthesis report echoed these findings, noting the gap in literature on play-based learning in Africa, insufficient training and support materials for teachers, and a lack of knowledge and engagement on play-based learning from parents and community members.

Nevertheless, findings from GPE KIX projects also provide valuable lessons on overcoming these challenges.

Teacher Aidana Azatovna plays with some of the children at Ak-Bulak Kindergarten. Credit: GPE/Nkurunziza (Trans.Lieu)

Teacher Aidana Azatovna plays with some of the children at Ak-Bulak Kindergarten.

Credit:
GPE/Nkurunziza (Trans.Lieu)

Evidenced-based solutions in play-based learning

With a focus on Global South partner countries, GPE KIX research contributes to the global evidence base on play-based learning and offers examples of practices and innovations that are effective, such as supporting and training teachers in play-based pedagogy, using older children as facilitators to expand access, and engaging parents and community members.

  1. In terms of supporting teachers, our synthesis report argues the need for hands-on learning opportunities for equipping pre-service and in-service teachers with practical training and skill development. In Rwanda and Mozambique, the Gender Responsive Education and Transformation project observed classroom activities to identify areas where teachers had skill gaps, which were subsequently addressed through coaching and mentoring sessions. There, peer-to-peer learning and communities of practice emerged as a valuable method for capacity building, and teacher training led to greater use of play-based pedagogy. Through the Teacher Capacity for Play-Based Learning project, teacher training in Ghana and Sierra Leone emphasized strategies for promoting equal participation among boys and girls, while accommodating their unique learning styles. This training contributed to a decrease in discriminatory practices and enhanced teachers' ability to effectively deliver play-based learning.
  2. To expand play-based learning and access to ECE, especially in rural areas or regions with teacher shortages, the Child-to-Child project in Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda involved older children as facilitators to help younger children acquire literacy and social skills in communities where formal preschools are either unavailable or not well equipped. Its findings affirmed that children in rural Africa benefit from multi-age play groups led by older peers.
  3. Active engagement of parents and the wider community was key to help schools effectively implement play-based learning collaboratively within local contexts. GPE KIX projects acknowledged that early learning models should tailor pedagogy to embrace culturally relevant practices and meet the diverse needs of communities. Research projects used local language, materials, and activities – such as singing, indigenous games, and storytelling – and capitalized on locally available resources, both human and material, to support play-based learning. GPE KIX project activities included developing resources designed to strengthen the capacity of parents and enhancing parental engagement through regular meetings and workshops. As a result, parents and community members contributed significantly to supporting play-based learning activities by mobilizing local materials and equipment.

Implications for sustaining and scaling quality ECE and play-based learning

GPE KIX projects used different strategies to sustain and scale quality ECE and play-based learning innovations at national and local levels, including:

  • Capacity building of national stakeholders, both at the policy and practice levels, including teachers, parents and caregivers
  • Contextualizing ECE initiatives by using indigenous resources to support learning
  • Ensuring strong community partnerships and civil society engagement
  • Mainstreaming effective ECE innovations and play-based learning into curricula, education sector plans and budgets.

For instance, in The Gambia, Kenya and Nigeria, the Positive Early Learning project reviewed the pre-primary curriculum to integrate play-based learning and strengthened capacities of national stakeholders.

The new play-based curriculum was tested in selected ECE centers and evidence from the project interventions in these three countries reflected positive changes.

The Scaling the School Readiness Initiative project in Zambia integrated play-based learning into the teacher training curriculum through dedicated competency-based modules that offer comprehensive guidance on incorporating play-based activities across different subjects.

Additionally, it created documentaries highlighting successful play-based learning practices and shared them through online platforms, teacher training colleges, and workshops to inspire more educators and foster collaboration.

Other approaches used by GPE KIX projects and national stakeholders to promote the scalability and sustainability of quality ECE initiatives included using tools such as the Better Early Learning and Development at Scale ECE Accelerator Toolkit to support countries in integrating ECE into the broader education sector plans and budgets.

In Kyrgyzstan, guidance from GPE KIX Better Early Learning and Development at Scale project led to the Ministry of Education revising its national curriculum to remove bias, promoting more equitable interactions and learning materials in ECE.

In South Sudan, it led to national ECE policy, strategy and implementation plan and allocation of 13.6% of the total 2022 education budget to ECE.

GPE KIX’s continued support to research on quality ECE and play-based learning

Findings from GPE KIX synthesis report and a scoping study to inform new research projects highlight the importance of collaborative efforts among governments and various stakeholders to promote play-based learning initiatives.

While many countries are adopting new ECE curricula integrating play-based learning, national representatives from GPE partner countries in our scoping study highlighted wider challenges, including the frequent disconnect between curriculum and learning objectives at the ECE and primary levels, creating obstacles for young children as they transition to primary school.

Other representatives pointed to the limited ECE quality services available and lack of teacher training to meet the specific needs of marginalized children, including those with disabilities, from minority language groups, or living in conflict-affected countries.

These findings helped shape the focus of a GPE KIX call for applied research projects (2024–2027).

With these new research projects, KIX seeks to build on emerging findings on play-based learning to strengthen the evidence base on inclusive early learning and pedagogical interventions that ensure foundational skills and school readiness for smooth transition to primary school.

Research into practice

Resources are available to support government officials, policy makers, practitioners and researchers in turning evidence into practice:

  • Policy brief: to be used in meetings with policy makers and practitioners
  • KIX research brief: the summary of national priorities and research gaps for improving quality ECE
  • Infographic: the findings of GPE KIX synthesis report presented in a graphic way.

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