Play and playwork are central ideas in early childhood education and feature prominently in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs internationally. While play can be understood as a universal human experience, much of Western scholarship on playwork continues to draw on theories, pedagogical traditions, and professional practices that have largely developed within European contexts (King & Newstead, 2020; Playwork Principles Scrutiny Group, 2005). These epistemological approaches have contributed to positioning Western constructions of play as authoritative benchmarks for how play is understood and supported (Newstead & King, 2022; Rennie, 1991). As ITE cohorts become increasingly culturally diverse, this raises important questions about how playwork is taught, whose knowledge of play is recognised, and how pre-service teachers from non-Western backgrounds experience playwork education.

This paper explores an ongoing reflexive teaching practice aimed at decolonising playwork within an ITE program at an Australian university. Building on an autobiographical book chapter that draws on 'Asia as Method' (Chen, 2010) to question Western-centric constructions of play, the study draws on data collected from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) pre-service teachers enrolled in a dedicated playwork unit. Across a term, changes are introduced to the unit to intentionally recognise diverse childhood play experiences and cultural understandings of play. Decolonising play is approached as an iterative and reflective process embedded in teaching practice, curriculum design, and engagement with CALD pre-service teachers.

Through the revised unit design and teaching approach, pre-service teachers are introduced not only to established theories of play and playwork, but also to critical perspectives that emphasise plural and culturally situated understandings of play. In addition to theoretical learning, students participate in practice-based activities, including the design and facilitation of pop-up adventure play spaces in community settings. These activities are intended to create opportunities for students to reflect on their own childhood play memories, cultural backgrounds, and assumptions about playwork, and to consider how these intersect with what is valued in formal teacher education.

The paper is guided by the following research question:

• How do decolonising approaches to playwork within Initial Teacher Education shape the understandings of play and playwork among culturally and linguistically diverse pre-service teachers?

By situating this work within the international field of early childhood education, the paper contributes to ongoing conversations about playwork, epistemic inclusion, and the role of teacher education in responding to increasingly diverse student cohorts. While grounded in an Australian context, the issues raised are relevant to European and other international ITE settings where playwork remains deeply shaped by historically Western pedagogical traditions.

This study adopts a qualitative, narrative inquiry approach to examine how culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) pre-service teachers understand play and playwork within an Initial Teacher Education (ITE) program undergoing decolonising curriculum change. The research is situated within a dedicated playwork unit offered in a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education at an Australian university and draws on data collected from a single cohort of pre-service teachers. Participants are CALD pre-service teachers enrolled in the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and undertaking the playwork unit. Data collection is conducted through focus groups and semi-structured interviews held during and following the unit. These methods are aligned with the ontological view that decolonising playwork is an iterative and ongoing process rather than a fixed outcome. Focus groups support shared discussion and collective sense-making around play memories, cultural experiences, and engagement with playwork theory, while interviews provide space for more in-depth individual reflection on personal histories and learning experiences. Data are analysed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006; 2019) reflexive thematic analysis approach. Analysis involves familiarisation with the data, generating initial codes, and identifying patterns that capture how CALD pre-service teachers narrate their understandings of play and playwork. Ethical approval will be obtained, and all participants will need to provide informed consent.

Based on prior engagement with CALD pre-service teachers in earlier cohorts, we anticipate that the findings will reveal tensions between participants’ lived childhood experiences of play and the dominant playwork discourses introduced within the ITE program. In particular, it is expected that CALD pre-service teachers may describe their culturally familiar forms of play as less valued within formal playwork frameworks shaped by Western pedagogical traditions. These anticipated tensions will be used as a starting point to reflect on how playwork is currently framed in ITE and to consider the possibilities and limitations of engaging with culturally diverse understandings of play in teacher education.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative research in sport, exercise and health, 11(4), 589-597. Chen, K. H. (2010). Asia as method: Toward deimperialization. Duke University Press. King, P., & Newstead, S. (2020). Re-defining the play Cycle: An empirical study of playworkers’ understanding of playwork theory. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 18(1), 99-111. Newstead, S., & King, P. (2022). The Process of Play in a Playwork Context. In Play Across Childhood: International Perspectives on Diverse Contexts of Play (pp. 143-164). Cham: Springer International Publishing. Playwork Principles Scrutiny Group. (2005). The playwork principles. http://playwales.org.uk/login/uploaded/documents/Playwork%20Principles/playwork%20principles.pdf Rennie. (1991) Play and playwork. In N. Borrett (Ed.), Lsirue Services UK (pp. 159–190). Macmillan Education Ltd.