Creating a school playgroundin Papua New Guinea: A participatory approach with young children

This chapter focuses on a research project entitled ‘Community Engagement in the Redevelopment of a Papua New Guinean School Playground: Participatory Research in Design, Construction, Play and Learning’. The project team included both local and visiting academic researchers, an Australian-based playground builder as well as pre-service teachers enrolled at the Pacific Adventist University, Papua New Guinea, tradespeople, local teachers and communities. The redevelopment of a playground offered a unique opportunity to enact these responsive ways and in doing so aligned with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The final consultation occurred after the children had experienced about four months playing in the redeveloped playground during school breaks, before and after school each day and on weekends. The intent of this project was to honour the participation of young children in this shared playground redevelopment project and, as co-researchers with children, reflect on the multiple insights gleaned from the project.