Exploring Multiple Perspectives in Citizenship Education with a Serious Game
Erik Blokland (Student TU Delft)
Caroline Cullinan (Student TU Delft)
Doreen Mulder (Student TU Delft)
Willie Overman (Student TU Delft)
Marin Visscher (Student TU Delft)
Amir Zaidi (Student TU Delft)
M.R. Perez (TU Delft - Computer Graphics and Visualisation)
Rafael Bidarra (TU Delft - Computer Graphics and Visualisation)
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Abstract
Within citizenship education, a new focus is being laid upon what is expected of citizens within a diverse and lightning-fast society: more emphasis is placed on teaching students how to understand and respect other people’s opinions, regardless of how they may contrast with one’s own. However, learning to be tolerant with others’ viewpoints comes with hurdles, as currently it is quite easy to become stuck within one’s own worldview. We developed Diermocratie, an in-classroom game aimed at encouraging a more open conversation, which breaks through these hurdles and addresses key competencies such as empathy and argumentation. By role-playing metaphors that parallel real-world events, students explore their own predispositions, are made aware of the perspectives of others, and are enabled to discuss issues objectively. From a preliminary evaluation, most students could identify the parallelism between the in-game metaphor and real-world situations. They also indicated that the game motivates them to further talk to each other, approaching sensitive topics among them.