Engaging Young Children in Learning by Project-Based Play

This study is action research conducted on in-service teachers as the participants of the teacher professional education program (TPE) at Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember. The research objective was to develop the in-servive teachers’ ability in designing and applying project-based play. Project-based play was the focus of this study, which aimed to improve the skills of in-service teachers through professional education. The Kurikulum Merdeka, which was introduced in the 2022–2023 school year, includes a new emphasis on using project-based play to teach young children. To most teachers, and especially to those who are currently teaching, the Project Play Approach is novel territory. There was a total of 12 participants across 3 cycles of the study. A video recording of the practice teaching session, cut down to 30–40 minutes, was uploaded to the LMS and used for data collection. We used a narrative inquiry method of data analysis, detailing our results and the process of providing remedial assistance in the accompanying video. This CAR helped in-service teachers become more proficient in developing and enacting project play activities in line with K13 and Kurikulum Merdeka.