Play Connect is deeply honored to announce the completion and presentation of our recent collaborative research project at the SUSS PECERA Conference. Our study, "An Exploratory Study on Translating Hong Kong’s Free Play Model for Early Childhood Education Settings in Singapore," explores structural methodologies to successfully adapt cross-cultural play frameworks.

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A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Partners

This milestone would not have been possible without the synergy of international expertise. We extend our sincere gratitude to the Department of Early Childhood Education at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) for their invaluable academic guidance.

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We also want to express our deepest appreciation to our partner schools in both Hong Kong and Singapore. The administrative teams, educators, and community members who supported our research interviews provided the essential, real-world data that grounded this study.

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Abstract 

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An Exploratory Study on Translating Hong Kong's Free Play Model for Early Childhood Education Settings in Singapore.

 

Aim

The aim of this exploratory study is to examine Hong Kong kindergarten educators’ conceptualizations and implementations of free play, the challenges they encounter and the strategies they employ, and to inform implications for early childhood educators’ approaches to implementing free play in Singapore.

 

Research Questions

1. How do Hong Kong kindergarten educators conceptualize and implement free play in their classroom practices?

2. What challenges do they encounter in implementing free play, and what strategies do they employ to address these challenges?

3. How do the Hong Kong experiences inform early childhood educators’ approaches for implementation considerations of free play in Singapore? 

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Hong Kong and Singapore share similar cultures, school systems, and educational philosophies. In Hong Kong, the Kindergarten Education Curriculum Guide has emphasized the importance of free play for nearly ten years. Over this period, the focus on free play has brought meaningful changes as well as ongoing struggles for Hong Kong kindergarten educators. This exploratory study examines how Hong Kong kindergarten educators and school leadership understand and implement free play, the challenges they face, and the strategies they use, with the goal of transferring free play implementation to Singapore early childhood settings, where free play is not required but is voluntarily pursued by some preschools.

 

This study adopts a qualitative comparative case study approach. To enable practice-to-practice transfer across contrasting policy contexts, two cases were purposively selected to represent different implementation conditions while sharing the same underlying aim of strengthening free play in early childhood settings. They were (a) a Hong Kong kindergarten that has implemented free play in alignment with the Curriculum Guide, and (b) a Singapore private preschool that promotes free play on a voluntary basis. In Hong Kong, the case comprises one principal as a key informant, drawing on frontline teachers’ classroom experiences to inform school-level implementation, and participating in discussions to support free play enactment in classrooms. In Singapore, the case comprises three educators, including management and teaching staff, to capture diverse perspectives within the same setting. This case design prioritises institutional depth over sample equivalence, which is appropriate for an exploratory comparative study. Semi-structured interviews are conducted across both sites, focusing on participants’ definitions of free play, its enactment in daily routines and learning environments, and the challenges and strategies developed to address those challenges. Data will be analysed using thematic analysis. Analytic procedures will involve: (1) familiarisation with the interview data; (2) generating initial codes; (3) searching for themes; (4) reviewing themes; (5) defining and naming themes; and (6) report writing. Cross-case data comparison will then be conducted to identify patterns and differences between the Hong Kong and Singapore contexts.

 

Based on the study’s exploratory design and relevant literature, the study expects tentative themes to include: (1) differing definitions of free play; (2) cross-context challenges such as time constraints and parental expectations; (3) strategies including environmental setup and routine negotiation; and (4) context-specific adaptations. These cross-context comparisons reinforce practice-to-practice transfer by examining curriculum expectations, classroom realities, and educators’ beliefs across the two settings. 

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