Game-based Learning: Catan in the Classroom
Game-based Learning: Catan in the Classroom
Game-based Learning: Catan in the Classroom
By Clayton Whittle
January 27, 2021
Summary
I'm also a career educator, so I actually use games as learning tools in my classroom.
My go-to game to get students working together and introduce critical thinking is Catan.
Class debrief after the game lets them compare and explore how the mechanics of the game represent real-world systems.
Enter Bruno Faidutti, a French academic and game designer, and his excellent blog post, "Postcolonial Catan".
Faidutti poses an important question-where are all the native inhabitants of Catan? As he points out, the original title of the game, Settlers of Catan, translated into French as Colonists of Catan.
Faidutti then takes us on an interesting trip around the board gaming world as he points out that the many ways that board games may reflect the biases of the board game designers, who usually happen to be white men from Europe and America.
When the students come back to resume the game on day two, they see the game in a whole new light.
We wrap up the game and then have a much different discussion focusing on what was left out of the game.
We also talk about what the trade-offs might be for including these missing elements-certainly, it makes the game more complete, but it also makes the game more complex.
The time spent on the game pays for itself in better discussions and deeper learning later on.
Reference
Whittle, C. (2021, January 27). Game-based learning: Catan in the classroom - Nasaga blog. Retrieved March 31, 2021, from https://nasaga.org/game-based-learning-catan-in-the-class/