Call for Participation: Virtual International Project Launch – 24 June 2020
Resilience refers to a person’s ability to withstand or recover quickly from challenging conditions. As the world learns to adopt and adapt to new normal, social resilience is increasingly becoming more crucial to embrace today. Social resilience is the way communities collectively cope with or respond to external pressures and interruptions, much like what we are dealing with now, with the Covid-19 pandemic. Disruptions may occur due to social, political and environmental changes. To cope with the Covid-19 pandemic, we have had to learn how to protect ourselves and our loved ones, by abiding public health advice.
How do we use Play to build social resilience? A team of interdisciplinary researchers at UNIMAS is investigating how the concept of Play can be utilised as a pedagogy to build social resilience among young people of Asia. The team, comprising of Dr Jacey-Lynn Minoi, AP Dr Fitri Suraya Mohamad, Professor Dr Tarmiji Masron, AP Dr Tan Chong Eng, Dr Leonard Lim, Dr Aazani Mujahid, Dr Floriana Lendai, Dr Farah Zaini, and Mr. Chuah Kee Man, collaborates with three universities in the UK, Vietnam and Indonesia, to develop a pedagogical model that would encourage the development of social resilience within local communities. Using a community-centred approach, young people will learn non-discipline specific capabilities which would build more than fulfilling friendships and exchanges of ideas.
Aligning with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal on equitable and inclusive quality education, we are investigating the impact of transformative education through playful approaches and experiences towards developing the social resilience of young people in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
As social species, we work, think and act as an individual and collectively in groups. Each and every one of us have a diverse mix of interests, talents, capabilities, skills and resources. When in a crisis, or facing challenging changes, we resort to what we know. When we play games and we get stuck in a challenge, we do the similar action – we resort to what we know. Building from this idea, the research team aspires to create a pedagogical model which would be usable and relevant to build a generation of youths who are ready and resilient to face changes and challenges.
Do you want to be involved? To find out more, the research project will host its launch event on the 24th of June, virtually. You can participate by registering at https://aces.gchangers.org/. The launch begins at 4PM (Malaysian time). Partners from Coventry University, Universitas Muhammadiyah Ponorogo (UMPO), and Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) will be present to speak about their perspectives and roles in the project.