PhD Studentship: History: Serious about Play: Childhood, Play and Policymaking in Wales, 1945 to the Present

Wales has been a pioneer around asserting and formalising the importance of children’s play within its policy-making. It was among the very first nations to adopt a national play policy, to enshrine opportunities for children’s play into law, and play is embedded in the nation’s flagship Wellbeing of Future Generations legislation. Taking a historical approach, the researcher undertaking this project will investigate how and when Wales came to develop such a distinctive stance on children’s play. The student will explore the postwar history childhood in Wales to assess whether the emphasis on play that manifested at the start of the 21st Century represented a point of continuity or a moment of rupture in the national imaginary. They will also examine more recent history to understand how notions of childhood and play have been linked to ideas about wellbeing, health, and Welsh national identity since devolution. During the project the doctoral candidate will undertake a 3-month+ placement with a relevant partner organisation, enabling them to consider the ‘real world’ interest in and application of their work, and to develop their skills in relevant policy areas. The placement may take over a period of time rather than in one block. 

The research project, led by the doctoral student, asks: is there a distinctively Welsh history of play, and how is it entangled with broader histories of health, public space, urban design, childcare, community, risk, housing, and child development in Wales? How has play been mobilised in the political sphere, and how has play been used to inform and express ideas about cultural identity, shared values, and national character in the recent past? Moreover, the 2002 play policy was underpinned by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (ratified by the UK in 1991), prompting this research to consider how Welsh policy has mapped onto global shifts in thinking about children’s rights. Wales has also historically been a hub of toy manufacturing, with thousands of employees working across factories in Trefnant, Bridgend, Fforestfach, and beyond. Major brands were part of this story - including Lego, which had a factory in Wrexham, and Mettoy, whose Swansea plant was opened in 1949. This reveals a little-recognised connection between play, toy production, and Wales’s industrial past.  

Policy-makers have recently lamented the lack of scrutiny and historicization of Welsh policy-making. The researcher will draw upon online political archives to map the political roots of play policy, using Assembly – now Senedd – material to understand the discursive function of play in the modern Welsh political landscape. This will be complemented with oral history interviews with policymakers, practitioner and campaigners. But looking beyond this more recent past, the student will use newspapers to understand the reception of play policies, as well as materials produced by and disseminated within practitioner communities – nursery and early-year settings, for example, and infant and primary schools. The student will be invited to use objects held by National Museums Wales to invite oral history participants to reflect upon changing play technologies. The project contributes to the historiographies of childhood, Welsh history, political history, and to social history. It crosses disciplinary boundaries, however, informing work in childhood and early years’ studies.  

Funding Details: Covers full tuition, £21,805 stipend (2025/26)

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