Play Around the World
Play Around the World (PAW) is a service learning course offered by the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation.
KSR students admitted in Fall 2024 are eligible to use PAW to complete their in field learning requirements. KSR students admitted prior to this year are eligible to use PAW to complete their practicum requirement.
Cambodia
Peru
PAW North - North West Territories
Thailand
The program selects and prepares U of A students for a 3 month service-learning placement in either South America (Peru), Asia (Cambodia or Thailand) or Canada (Fort Providence and Northwest Territories.
Play Around the World will be offered to students in 2025 via the following:
- KRLS 440 (January - April) with beartracks registration for winter term.
- KRLS 441 for 8 weeks on campus (March - April), followed by the in-country placement experience (May, June, July) with beartracks registration for spring term.
The KRLS 440 course curriculum will be offered with a broad audience in mind, with the title Intercultural Perspectives: Play and Physical Activity.
Students taking KRLS 440 are:
- Students accepted after application into the PAW program
- Students accepted after application into a new program called Antigua Champions for Health (ACH), run by Dr. Jo Sheppard with a placement in Antigua and Barbuda, West Indies in the Caribbean.
- Other students
The KRLS 441 course will be only for PAW students and ACH students (separate sections).
In 2025, faculty-led fundraising initiatives will not be available as part of KRLS 440 however potential funding opportunities could be available for students.
Due to the unpredictability of world events affecting travel (natural disasters, political climate, pandemic, etc) PAW service-learning placements will vary in length and location.
Students from diverse educational backgrounds form learning communities which are structured to provide a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to learning, leadership, and programming. PAW offers students an opportunity to develop a sense of global awareness and citizenry, through collaboration with various schools, orphanages, community based organizations and government agencies to deliver, play, recreation, physical activity and sport to children and youth of all abilities. Play is viewed as a vehicle to enliven the human spirit and to promote optimal development. Students broaden their world view as they live, learn, and work in a culture different from their own.
