Education forum explores the prospect of learning through play

How will China's schools educate children and teenagers in the following 10 years?

A report conducted by a Peking University lab to investigate 9,545 primary school students estimated that the "learning-through-play" model will be widely employed in and outside schools.

The report was released during the Yidan Education Forum 2022 & Series of International Academic Exchange Activities for 120th Anniversary of Beijing Normal University, which was held in the university on Nov 12 and 13.

Approximately 50 scholars and experts from China and multiple other countries including Finland, the United Kingdom, Denmark and the United States gathered to discuss the future learning ecosystem.

Shang Junjie, a professor from the Learning Science Lab of Peking University, said his team has launched the investigation in a total of seven cities, including Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Hangzhou, since December 2020, with all those joining the poll being children at fourth or fifth grades in their primary schools.

To Shang, a noteworthy phenomenon was that most of the children's favorite space to learn through play is the shopping malls, which have gained more popularity than museums.

He said the education model of "learning through play" has also faced some challenges in China, from parents' concerned about vision protection to the negative impact of internet games.

But he estimated that the learning-through-play model will be widely employed across the country, with more such educational tools or facilities injecting traditional Chinese culture into learning.