Reimagining play in schools: global teacher perspectives on professional development for quality play

This international mixed-methods study examined schoolteachers’ perspectives on the prioritisation of play in educational settings. Despite recognition of play’s developmental value, teachers report minimal preparation or professional learning to support quality outdoor play, sustaining a gap between valuing and enacting play. Purposeful and convenience sampling yielded N = 135 responses from teachers across N = 25 countries, including ratings and open-ended responses. Ratings showed high importance attributed to play but low preparation and professional development for facilitating outdoor play. Thematic analysis, framed through Desimone’s professional development dimensions, identified needs in content focus, active learning, coherence, duration, and collective participation, alongside barriers, environmental inequities, and policy misalignment. Findings underscore the need for sustained, targeted professional learning to build teachers’ capacity for quality outdoor play, supported by leadership and policy reforms. Applying Desimone’s frameworkadvances understanding of how PD structures shape capacity for outdoor play provisionand informs policy, school design, and professional learning agendas.