Right to Play

Website

righttoplay.com

Countr(ies)

Benin, Burundi, Canada, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jordan, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Pakistan , Rwanda, Tanzania, Thailand, The Palestinian Territories, Uganda, USA 

Grade Level of Students Participating

Early Childhood, Primary, and Secondary School levels (Pre-primary to Grade 12) 

Number of Students Participating per Year

Over 1 million children per year 

Year Organization Began

2000

Relationship to the public education system

Rights To Play works with local communities, schools and Ministries of Education to deliver trainings on play-based learning and weekly programs during and after classes. 

Organization’s Vision and Mission

Right To Play’s vision is to create a healthy and safe world through the power of sports and play.

Right To Play’s mission is to use sports and play to educate and empower children and youth to overcome the effects of poverty, conflict, and disease in disadvantaged communities.

Brief Description of Program Activities

Right To Play (RTP) uses the power of play to educate and empower students to overcome the effects of poverty, conflict, and disease in disadvantaged communities. RTP’s educational games engage students to participate in its programs through the Reflect-Connect-Apply approach. This approach encourages students to examine their experiences, relate those experiences to what they already know, and apply that learning to their daily lives. 

Right To Play’s programs focus on creating positive, sustainable change in three areas:

1. Enhancing Education Quality (Ages 2-14):
   Right To Play uses play as a primary teaching tool to engage students and improve learning outcomes. Right To Play trains local teachers and community leaders as Coaches to deliver play-based educational programs before, during, and after classes on a weekly basis. Teachers integrate not only the methodology, but also the core principles of Right To Play into the classroom, such as inclusion and child protection. In addition to modeling inclusive attitudes and practices related to girls or marginalized groups, the use of collaborative learning activities encourages children to work together, breaking down exclusionary attitudes and behaviors over time.2
2. Transforming Health Practices (Ages 6-18): 
   This program fosters the health and well-being of children and youth by equipping students with the knowledge and skills they need for positive behavior change related to HIV and AIDS, malaria, sexual and reproductive health, and water and sanitation health.
3. Building Peaceful Communities (Ages 10-18): 
   Right To Play’s sports and play programs foster increases in acceptance, peer support, and integration amongst groups that are highly marginalized or that were previously in conflict by encouraging diverse children and youth to join together through peace-building activities while enhancing their ability to prevent and resolve conflict in their lives. By participating together in safe, fun activities and discussing the values and importance of peaceful thoughts and behaviors, children and youth begin to challenge the negative perceptions and attitudes that can sometimes exist between other marginalized or divergent groups.

Program Content: Intrapersonal Competencies

Reflection, Self-awareness, Self-efficacy, Decision-making, Confidence, Self expression, Self restraint, Self-esteem, Sense of security, Sense of agency

Program Content: Interpersonal Competencies

Collaboration, Teamwork, Communication, Leadership, Cooperation, Building positive relationships, Sharing, Trust, Tolerance, Empathy, Persuasion

Program Content: Cognitive Competencies

Problem solving, Critical thinking, Concentration, Organization, Planning, Hygiene

Program Content: Attitudes and Values

Respect for Self and Others, Civic engagement 

Program Content: Pedagogy/ Active Engagement of Students

Each of Right To Play games are specifically designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to overcome adversity and to tackle the challenges affecting their communities. Right To Play tailors its programs to each locale’s context and need, whether it is health concerns, lack of education, a need for peace, or all three. Once established, Right To Play’s regularly scheduled programs and repetitive activities provide the students with a proactive routine. This helps them build on newly learned skills and attitudes to positively influence lasting change. As their learning evolves, these students grow from being unaware of their role in society to becoming advocates of positive behavior within their communities.They also develop critical life skills that support improved learning outcomes.

Right To Play games use the Reflect-Connect-Apply approach. At the end of every game Right To Play Coaches – as trained and trusted role models – lead students through a three-step discussion:

1. Students reflect back on the experience of the game.
2. Students compare and connect what they experienced during the game to a similar experience from their own lives.
3. Students explore how they can apply what they’ve learned from the game to an area of their daily lives.

Additional Notes

Teachers undergo professional development to utilize the play-based learning methodology in the classroom. Right to Play has also created the professional development program and works with Ministries of Education to integrate its training approaches into national pre-service and in-service teacher training.

Reference List

¹Unless noted otherwise, all information provided on the table is based on the Right To Play website and information provided by Brijpal Patel, Director of Global Program Development, and Andrea Diaz-Varela, Education Specialist during phone interview conducted on 06/29/16.

²Right To Play Theory of Change Narrative Document.

Prepared by

Seungah Lee