Digital Role-Playing Games as Means for Dialogue and Change for Marginalized Teachers

Authors

Jonathan Mendels, Ben-Gurion University of the NegevFollow
Amit Schejter, Ben-Gurion University of the NegevFollow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This study presents a theoretical model that incorporates the theories of Paulo Freire, Augusto Boal and Amartya Sen and uses their ideas to create an innovative digital role-playing game for teachers on ‘To-Be-Education,’ a platform originally designed for teacher-student role-playing . We then demonstrate how Sen’s ‘capabilities approach’, Freire’s ‘pedagogy of hope’ and Boal’s ‘theatre of the oppressed’ are adapted to tools of empowerment for Arab-Israeli teachers, who belong to a community marginalized by State policies. The teachers design their own games and base the scenarios on their own real educational and professional dilemmas. They then re-enact these situations to “rehearse reality,” and debate possible outcomes.

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Recommended Citation

Mendels, Jonathan and Schejter, Amit (2019) "Digital Role-Playing Games as Means for Dialogue and Change for Marginalized Teachers," Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal: Vol. 4, Article 2.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ptoj/vol4/iss1/2