“All children have the right to playing” Art. 31, Child Right Convention
1. THE ROLE OF GAMES
A game is a kind of simulation which requires active participation and imitates a real activity or an especially designed situation. Games ensure an open atmosphere of mutual interest. Games involve some basic principles of dynamics, role playing, team work, modeling of activities, competition, independence, feedback and, of course fun. Consequently, their role in the classroom is indispensable. Learning by playing is close to a child’s nature and a fascinating tool to use in teaching.
2. OUR EMB EXPERIENCE
Within the 6-th short term training module held in Bad Ems, Germany, the partner schools presented games which aim at coping with bullying in our schools. A variety of them were suggested: board games, computer games, card games, physical activity games. Some of them were developed by the students – they had chosen different cases of bullying and written them as short questions. Some of them were followed by a choice of answers and others suggested group discussions in order to find the best solution. We proof-played them and we discussed them. We were all impressed by the high quality of the artistic design of the board game and the card games and by their inventiveness in general.
3. SKILLS ACQUISITION
Stages a game covers:
curiosity
socialization
acquisition of language skill
creativity
learning
The participants can mix the imaginative and the real world and can explore both while playing. Thus, they develop certain social skills like formulating attitudes, accepting opinions, verbal and non-verbal expression, co-operation, negotiation, preventing and overcoming conflicts. In particular, role plays aim at realizing the social roles. Students get to know the type of behavior they are supposed to have. Finally, by demonstrating and playing games the students invent themselves, they get the chance to improve their presentation and language skills. They enhance their team spirit as they work as a team to make a game and then show it to the audience at its best.
4. OVERALL BENEFIT
In many of these games there are no winners or losers. They fire the imagination and focus on the communication between our students and on mutual help. Many games gather the participants in one team and they need to work together. This approach helps them understand the importance of the problem with aggression in schools and to gain confidence to react on the spot.
5. WHEN TO USE THESE GAMES
These games can be used by teachers and psychologists at schools in order to:
Check students’ knowledge about the problem
Create an atmosphere of acceptance and involvement among all members of the community
Teach students to discern right from wrong
Cultivate sympathy and empathy
There is great flexibility as to when or how to incorporate them. We propose:
Special days (world anti-bullying day, day against racism etc.)
A systematic use in regular circles (every week, month etc. depending on the nature of the game)
A targeted use in cases of bullying (the teacher can introduce the game to a class with relationship difficulties, or in which some students were involved in a bullying incident)
