We the Gamers: How Games Teach Ethics and Civics

by Karen Schrier

Overview

Distrust. Division. Disparity. Is our world in disrepair?

Ethics and civics have always mattered, but perhaps they matter now more than ever before. Recently, with the rise of online teaching and movements like #PlayApartTogether, games have become increasingly acknowledged as platforms for civic deliberation and value sharing. We the Gamers explores these possibilities by examining how we connect, communicate, analyze, and discover when we play games. Combining research-based perspectives and current examples, this volume shows how games can be used in ethics, civics, and social studies education to inspire learning, critical thinking, and civic change.

We the Gamers introduces and explores various educational frameworks through a range of games and interactive experiences including board and card games, online games, virtual reality and augmented reality games, and digital games like Minecraft, Executive Command, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Fortnite, When Rivers Were Trails, Politicraft, Quandary, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The book systematically evaluates the types of skills, concepts, and knowledge needed for civic and ethical engagement, and details how games can foster these skills in classrooms, remote learning environments, and other educational settings. We the Gamers also explores the obstacles to learning with games and how to overcome those obstacles by encouraging equity and inclusion, care and compassion, and fairness and justice.

Featuring helpful tips and case studies, We the Gamers shows teachers the strengths and limitations of games in helping students connect with civics and ethics, and imagines how we might repair and remake our world through gaming, together.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190926106
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/31/2021
Pages:	402
Product dimensions:	9.56(w) x 6.31(h) x 1.06(d)

About the Author

Karen Schrier is Associate Professor of Games and Director of the Games and Emerging Media Program at Marist College. She has over 20 years of experience creating, producing, and designing media, and has worked previously at places like Nickelodeon, BrainPOP, and Scholastic.

Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgments

Part I. Teaching Ethics and Civics
Chapter 1: We the People
Chapter 2: Why Should We Teach Ethics and Civics?
Chapter 3: What Should We Teach?

Part II. Using Games for Knowledge and Action
Chapter 4: What is the Knowledge We Need?
Chapter 5: How Do We Take Real-World Action?

Part III. Using Games for Connection and Community
Chapter 6: How Do We Connect and Communicate?
Chapter 7: How Do We Understand Ourselves and Our Roles in Society?
Chapter 8: How Do We Cultivate Empathy and Respect for Others?

Part IV. Using Games for Critical Thinking and Inquiry
Chapter 9: How Do Make and Reflect on Decisions?
Chapter 10: How Do We Read and Evaluate Information?
Chapter 11: How Do We Analyze Problems and Systems?
Chapter 12: How Do We Explore and Design?

Part V. Games for Ethics and Civics
Chapter 13: Guidelines, Questions, and Considerations
Chapter 14: We the Gamers

Appendix I. Example Lesson Outline 1
Appendix II. Example Lesson Outline 2
Appendix III. Design Toolkit
Appendix IV. Design Principles
Appendix V. Recommendations and Open Questions

Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

"How Do We Cultivate Compassion and Respect for Others? That might be the most important question American society faces at this moment, and it is heartening to see Schrier demonstrate that by incorporating taking perspective, games can enhance compassion, reduce bias, and increase respect for others. We the Gamers is a much-needed text on how games, even when they are not overtly ''educational,'' can make a positive difference in the world." — D.G. Schwartz, CHOICE Connect, Vol. 59 No. 8

"We the Gamers breathes new life into civics education. It shows us how games can be used to help us make good choices as proactive participants in social life and society—choices that lead to human flourishing, not harm." — James Gee, Arizona State University

"Now more than ever we realize the need to implement equitable and creative solutions that will evolve and sustain our democratic institutions. Karen Schrier clearly lays out how games provide a practice field for the skills we desperately seek in civic participants young and old: empathy, problem-solving, community building, and critical thinking." — Amber Coleman-Mortley, Director of Social Engagement at iCivics

"Games have tremendous potential for learning civic engagement and ethics, and Karen Schrier offers a wealth of insight and detail on how to use them well. Her scholarly rigor and savviness about actual games make We the Gamers an excellent guide to this topic." — Peter Levine, Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University

From the Publisher