Collaborative approaches to support school readiness through movement play: Insights from South Africa

Globally, concerns about increasingly sedentary lifestyles have highlighted the importance of play-based learning and physical activity. Although physical development is regarded as an essential aspect of school readiness, many factors at home and at school seem to be keeping young children from engaging in physically active play. Considering the associated educational outcomes and holistic development related to school readiness, there is a need for greater focus on movement and play at home and at school, and for partnerships to facilitate these activities. This paper emanates from a doctoral study that explored the way parents and teachers can collaborate to facilitate the development of fundamental skills through play-based movement activities. Then study was conducted in a low-socio-economic community in the Northern Cape, South Africa, with eight participants. Mezirow’s transformative learning theory served as the theoretical framework to explore more inclusive frames of reference. A participatory action learning and action research design was implemented, using arts based methods and discussions to generate data. Data analysis was conducted using Braun and Clarke’s recursive six-step reflexive thematic analysis. The findings confirmed that there are insufficient support structures, such as parental involvement, and that movement and play are often undervalued in practice, possibly owing to misperceptions about play-based learning. In addition, the pressure to achieve academically and the focus on formal tasks prevented the effective use of more active, play-based strategies in the classroom. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by considering factors to improve the collaboration between parents and teachers, thereby supporting children’s holistic development through movement play.