Learning Culture:
Learning cultures should foster curiosity, establish empathy amongst learners, and encourage lifelong learning. They promote a growth mindset, create safe spaces, and facilitate co-learning. These dynamic cultures encourage and facilitate opportunities for purposeful risk-taking and agency in the learning process, while fostering a questioning disposition. The creation of a sustainable learning culture requires a unified commitment from classrooms, schools and the system as a whole. (Peel District School Board [PDSB], 2017)
When first looking as this document, with the eye to see how it fit into the realm of board games, I was absolutely delighted when I read the first element, Learning Culture. Within its description, there is so much that directly relates to board games and board gaming, that I immediately knew that I had something that I could work with here. The whole paragraph is a smorgasbord of great terminologies which just lend themselves so the kinds of things that board games do so well. Allow me to elaborate on this, by focusing in on each of these terms individually.
Curiosity
“(Board games) can foster motivation, curiosity, immersion and direct involvement generating and enabling environment for learning.” – (Chiarella and Castellano, 2017)
Dictionary.com defines curiosity as the desire to learn or know about anything. When 
playing games, there is instantly an interest in children, to find out more about what the game contains, how to play it and whether or not it is a fun game. In a well constructed game, the curiosity will not be satisfied but even made more keen as the students explore the game and all that it contains. The best games will motivate students to continue playing over and over again and to even explore other games with similar themes or game mechanics and thereby launch their learning in a new and wonderful direction.
Empathy
When we play games, we play to have fun. That is the point of the game in the first place! But sometimes people are not having fun and we need to be sensitive to the reasons why. Is it because they do not like the game? Is it because they are losing? We start to ask ourselves, is there something that we can do to help improve their enjoyment? Should we? Because maybe they aren’t happy because they are losing. And sometimes kids need to learn to lose. But this is a whole other topic in and of itself.
Many times, while playing games with my students I have seen them negotiate with one another to avoid some negative in-game consequence (e.g., being sent back to start). “I won’t do that to you later, if you don’t do that to me now”. And even during the selection of a game (where a choice may be available) then being aware of the other people, who would like to play, and what game everybody enjoys creates situations where compromise and empathy are involved.
There was even a group of students who were given an assignment where the whole idea was to create games which promote empathy. Check them out here:
https://ww2.kqed.org/education/2017/04/13/student-produced-board-games-that-promote-empathy/
Lifelong Learning
Games do not even have to be overtly educational. Even the simplest games involve learning skills of reading rules and interacting with other human beings. Often there are other skills of math and language in there as well, sometimes heavily disguised under the veil of fun!
Growth Mindset
I have done a video already on this topic. Rather than me rehash everything that I have said there, why not go and check out the video? It’s fascinating! I promise! 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3EJjJmeKYQ&t=4s
Creating Safe Spaces
What is it in our lives where we do not feel safe? Where we feel that we have a chance to lose something that is precious our important; that people may look badly upon us, or even mock us; that we do not meet expectations of an assignments or of our peers. Sadly, it is in our very learning environments that students may feel unsafe. Maybe not from physical harm, but certainly from the fear of failure. Certainly there are many students who dread to be called upon to answer questions during class time for fear of being unable to answer while being watched by their peers. I myself used to hate group assignments and situations where I would be told to work with other people, not because I was not a sociable person, but because I was not popular with my peers, which would lead to awkward situations of being forced to work on open assignments where I could feel the resentment of my group mates.
But board games can do so much to alleviate these kinds of pressures. Within the framework of the game, the students learn to socialize within a very structured framework of the game itself. Every board game has its own set of rules which the players must abide by, and therein the players also enter a certain established framework of a relationship as set out by the game. People who may be socially awkward can learn skills to make them less so. People who are afraid to answer questions in class can now relieve their anxiety through demonstrating understanding in a smaller group and through the framework of the game.
“Board games have distinct boundaries. Living in a complex society, children need clear limits to feel safe. By circumscribing the playing field …board games can help your child weave her wild and erratic side into a more organized, mature, and socially acceptable personality. After all, staying within the boundaries (not intruding on others’ space, for example) is crucial to leading a successful social and academic life.” (Scholastic)
Co-Learning
Hand in hand with the empathy that is being learned and the safe space that is established by the playing of games, you will find that the students will often be quite willing to help one another during the game. So much so, that sometimes you might want to be aware to allow the more capable students to hold back and give the others a chance to answer questions and make decisions for themselves. Cooperative learning is especially notable in cooperative games, where the players all share a common goal (to beat the game) and must work together in order to do so.
Purposeful Risk Taking
Where else will you find more opportunities to take risks, to take safe risks than during the play of games? When playing games students are constantly going to be evaluating the risks vs rewards. But unlike risks which they may take in real life situations, during the play of a game, the worst that is going to happen is that they do not win.
Questioning Disposition
The best board games inspire discussion and conversation after the game is done. I still talk to some of my friends, and even some of my students, about some of the more memorable moments during our games. Sometimes these discussions can come to the “what if”, and considering what might have happened, had only some different choices been made. With any game, learning new strategies requires you to have a solid grasp of the possible outcomes of different situations. This can only be achieved by those who question the possibilities.
Games can also inspire us with their themes, or with their gameplay. I have been known to check up on facts presented in historical based board games or to read up more on the history of a fantasy realm contained in another game. The opportunities to capture interest and inspire independent research is limitless.
References:
- “The Benefits of Board Games”
http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/creativity-play/benefits-board-games Scholastic
2. “Empowering Modern Learners”, Peel District School Board 2017.
3. https://ww2.kqed.org/education/2017/04/13/student-produced-board-games-that-promote-empathy/
4. “Board Games Creation as Motivating and Learning Tool for STEM”, Fabio Chiarella and Maria Gabriella Castellano -11th European Conference on Game Based Learning, 2017
The Board Game Teacher 