[Edu] It's official

[miyu]

Kate,
   Absolutely great points and some things I have been considering
(especially the issue of looking at what behaviors are being tacitly
rewarded and improved of within a competitive realm.  That is why a game
like the Lord of the Rings is neat because it allows all human players to
cooperatively work in destroying the One Ring against the mechanics of the
game itself.  All the players lose or all the players win.
   However I also think it is folly to try to ignore and subvert the natural
competitive drive of anyone and instead I prefer games that teach the ideas
that the opponent is not only a competitor but a student and a teacher.
Each game then could be a wordless  conversation between two people.  This
whole philosophy is what specifically drew me to both Go and Zendo.
   Zendo in particular is what originally introduced me to and hooked me on
LL work.  Go is the game that taught me the importance of both opponents
respecting one another looking to their opponent to act as a mirror for
their own personal weaknesses.
   On the note of the class though, I would happily accept any donations
from your company and would love to try some of them out in a classroom
setting.

                         -Ryan

On 4/3/07, Kate Jones <kate at gamepuzzles.com> wrote:
>
> Great subject. I'd just like to add that the Mensa-Select games, to be
> reviewed, must also pay an entry fee of, last time I looked, $125 per
> title.
> That leaves out some worthy products who cannot or will not pay for
> review,
> such as our own.
>
> In using games in class to teach - what? - critical thinking,
> sportsmanship,
> strategy, systems organization, reasoning, goal management, rule creation
> and team play, I would like to introduce one other radical consideration:
> What values are being inculcated? If you have capturing or other kinds of
> sabotage towards the other players, you are perpetuating a predatory
> social
> ethic.
>
> Fostering even subliminally that the other players are the "enemy"
> proliferates, propagates and legitimizes an adversarial attitude toward
> those who share this world with us. That kind of thinking leads to
> accepting
> and even endorsing wars and conflict, conquest and expropriation.
>
> Games that bring players together to collaborate towards resolving
> problems,
> finding mutually beneficial resolutions, and overcoming hardships and
> obstacles in the game environment rather than within each player, would be
> the kind of educational experience that reinforces the positive values.
> Competition where each player gains is great; competition that motivates
> to
> put others down or to impede them rewards the wrong values.
>
> That's my soapbox. Thanks for listening, and I hope it will add something
> to
> your thinking when you choose games for your classes. By the way, I love
> Looney games; they are truly enlightened.
>
> The only other game I would like to see is where everyone wins. The
> winners/losers paradigm needs to go.
>
> -- Kate Jones
> Kadon Enterprises, Inc.
> www.gamepuzzles.com
>
>

-- 
Ora, lege, lege, lege, relege, labora et invenies.
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