A Play-based Curriculum Introduced in Myanmar's Kindergartens: An Analysis of Classroom Practices, Teachers' Understanding, and Challenges

A play-based curriculum, one of the effective ways of promoting young childrenʼs development, was introduced to Myanmarʼs kindergartens for the first time in 2016. Although play is gaining popularity in early childhood education in the developing world, little is known about the transitional process from an academic learning-focused curriculum to a play-based curriculum in the contexts of developing countries. Therefore, this study aims to scrutinize the play-based curriculum in Myanmarʼs kindergartens by examining the extent of incorporating play in the intended curriculum, teachersʼ understanding of the new curriculum, the implemented curriculum inside classrooms, and the associated challenges. Qualitative methods are employed to answer these questions. Data are collected through semi-structured interviews with 27 teachers from five townships in central Myanmar and non-participant observations of 13 kindergarten classrooms in one of these townships. The results indicate that highly structured teacher-directed play constitutes most of play, both in the intended and the implemented curriculum, with little emphasis on free play. While teachers demonstrate a good understanding of the new curriculum principles, they apply them at very different levels within their classrooms. Even when practicing the play-based curriculum at a higher level, teachers plan and introduce play structurally, leaving few instances for childʼs initiatives. Much as teachers recognize the significance of play for child development, they seem to have merely replaced the academic learning activities of the previous curriculum with structured teacher-directed play. The major challenges to introducing the play-based curriculum include large class sizes, lack of parental understanding of the new curriculum, and inadequate support from inspectors, and some teachersʼ preference for the old curriculum. All this amounts to saying that Myanmarʼs kindergarten curriculum is still at the very onset of transition to a play-based curriculum, whose advanced forms should pay more attention and give value to who initiates and controls play