Jonathan Klapwijk
Senior Research Assistant, ParentApp for Teens in Tanzania
Jonathan Klapwijk is a qualified research psychologist from South Africa who is currently a Senior Research Assistant within the Global Parenting Initiative focusing on ParentApp for Teens, Tanzania. He has a demonstrated history and passion researching interventions through a Learning through Play lens, specifically with children, adolescents and families from low- to middle-socio economic contexts in Sub-Saharan Africa. He holds a Master’s degree in Research Psychology with a dissertation focusing on the validation of a psychometric measure used to assess the effects of a playful manipulative-based intervention on a variety of visual perceptual skills. Jonathan's research focus is on understanding the impact of learning through play on parent and adolescent outcomes.
Previously, he was a research lead at Care for Education, a non-profit organisation fully funded by the LEGO Foundation, where he assisted in the M&E, learning, and research of projects aimed at implementing and measuring playful learning for underprivileged children. Since 2019, he has represented South Africa as a LEGO Foundation Learning Through Play Ambassador. His goal is to pursue a PhD focusing on evidence-based Playful Parenting Interventions for low- to middle- income counties.
