[Edu] Curriculum and Cooperative games

[Smithhemb at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/4/2007 7:49:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
xmiyux at gmail.com writes:

The game  [LOTR} truly is an example of very difficult decisions to make and 
everyone  working together to try to win.  As long as one player makes it to 
the  end to destroy the ring then all the good guys win.  If everyone falls to  
the dark then all players lose together. 
There's the rub.  I don't see how a cooperative game that designates  all of 
the players as "good" and urges them to work together to triumph over an  
unembodied evil does anything to dismantle our war culture.  It's an  
us-against-them with "them" logic in which "they" lack humanity and "we" must  suppress 
internal divisions and urge self-sacrifice.  Sounds like the stuff  wars are 
made of.  
 
As for games in which all players win or lose, an 8 year old friend of mine  
had a really interesting perspective:  "I don't care if I win," she  said.  
"It's fun for me when my friends win.  But why play a game  where no one will 
win?"  After which she refused to play Break the Safe a  game whose cooperative 
(beat-the-clock) mechanism I've often seen bring out real  bossiness and power 
struggles among young players.  Once everything you do  affects whether or 
not I succeed, the logic goes, I have a  legitimate interest (and should have a 
say) in what you do and I want to  make sure you don't screw up.  This logic 
can involve identifying the  presumed weakest link and bullying that person 
into following the will of the  majority and/or designating a leader who calls 
the shots.
 
In short, I think these issues are much more complicated than we're giving  
them credit for.
 
Sue Hemberger
Washington, DC



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