Every year, the Alliance for African Partnership (AAP) runs an initiative known as the Partnerships for Innovative Research in Africa (PIRA). It is an opportunity for researchers to earn the funding needed to carry out collaborative, supportive and multidirectional projects which are aimed towards improving Africa. The research ideas put forward by each PIRA awardee have shown the potential to change the future of Africa for the better.   The project created by Dr. Bethany Wilinski of Michigan State University (MSU) and Dr. Subilaga M Kejo of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is no exception. Collaborating, they are researching “Co-Creating Feasible and Sustainable Play-based Learning Approaches in Tanzania”. Based on a decade of collaboration in research into teaching in Tanzania, they have understood that play based teaching is essential for development of the global youth. It allows children to exercise skills across all academic areas, while developing them within authentic contexts, which in turn develops an enthusiasm for young students to continue learning more advanced subjects.   Play based learning has been acknowledged on a global scale, especially so once the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child recognized that this approach to learning will support countries’ progress toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: quality education for all. Be that as it may, while on paper it has proven to be the superior teaching model, some countries have been unable to put this into practice, such as Tanzania. Cultural differences, time and staff restraints, and even ignorance to it’s benefits, have stopped this learning style from being used in Tanzanian classrooms.  That is why the aim of Dr. Bethany Wisinki and Dr. Subilaga M Kejo’s project is to “transform pre-primary teaching and learning in Tanzania by supporting teachers’ ability to use play-based approaches effectively.” Their project consists of a three-phase plan:  1: Building a community of practice (CoP) using pre-primary teachers of UDSM’s demonstration schools, university faculty, teacher development experts and more to create a shared understanding of play based learning.  2: Together they will experiment, test and develop a professional development (PD) program about play-based for Tanzanian pre-primary teachers.  3: Pilot the PD with pre-primary teachers in Dar es Salaam and Musoma  As of this article, the team have made promising headway into phase one of their project. 7 modules have been developed, and the teachers of the CoP have already completed 6. The feedback has been positive, with the teachers stating that “they find the training to be beneficial especially because of the modality where they have opportunity to read, practice, reflect and discuss about their experiences which has enhanced their understanding…Generally, the teachers see the benefits of play and seem more motivated and confident to use play-based learning approach.”   There are already plans in place to move phase two of the project on schedule, and both Dr. Bethany Wisinki and Dr. Subilaga M Kejo feels that their work will leave a positive impact on Tanzania’s teaching methods and youth moving forward.   Upon the project’s completion, they plan to use their findings “to inform the development of a research-practice partnership with the Tanzania Institute of Education focused on improving the quality of preservice preparation for pre-primary teachers.”