CEP 818: How do I love Thee: Play

In performing all of the previous activities in this class, as well as the modeling chapter being the "freshest" on my mind, I came across an older publication that I really feel is a culmination of all of the prior activities. I read "Simple Games for Teaching Sociological Perspectives: Four Examples of the Do-It-Yourself Approach" by Roger Straus and was very impressed with the design of these role playing games to illustrate sociological perspectives. Although the interactive games I previously posted are very well designed and teach similar ideals, the way these role playing games are designed allow for much more creative freedoms for the players.

The first game he discusses is a "Gender Reversal Game".  Here are the guidelines:

The Gender Reversal Game

1. On cue, all males in the class become
females, all females become males.

(The Gender Reversal Game has, since original
submission of this paper, been selected for publication in
the A.S.A.'s syllabi and teaching materials set for sex
and gender--Thorne, et al. 1985).
2. You are expected to act, talk, interact like a
person of the gender you have assumed. This
is to include body language, speech mannerisms,
interaction patterns, walk-EVERYTHING.

3. For about five minutes there will be a trial
period during which you are to practice
acting like the opposite sex. For these five
minutes you are to help one another get into
your new gender roles by coaching, modeling,
etc.

4. Everybody is expected to participate. Wallflowers
will be harassed by the instructor.

5. When the five minutes is over, you are to act
like a typical member of the opposite sex at a
Friday night party. This includes flirting,
dancing, doing all the things men and women
do at parties around here the way they
actually do them.

6. The primary goal of this exercise is to try
behaving like a member of the opposite sex
as realistically and as completely as possible,
to not only act but think and feel like one.

7. Therefore you are to monitor one another's
performance. If you spot any student who is
not doing a realistic job of acting your own
"natural" gender, you are to confront
him/her with what is being done incorrectly
(e.g., stance, talk, interaction) and she/he
gives you 10 credits.

8. A secondary goal of this exercise is to amass
credits, so try to catch people blowing their
role (or even see if you can trip them up)
Assignment: You are to turn in at our next
meeting a write-up including a) what it was
like for you, b) how you played your role, c)
how it felt, how you found yourself reacting,
d) any problems you had in taking the
opposite gender role, e) what you learned
from the experience, and f) anything else
worth mentioning.

I found this game very interesting for a few reasons.  First, the "gender roles" we have defined by society are changing-and in fact have changed drastically since this publication in 1986.  My thoughts on using such a game in the classroom would be to add a decade and give specific scenarios to re-enact.  In other words, behave like a member of the opposite sex in the 1950's in the scenario of "dinner table" or "date night" (men would be acting like women from the 1950s and women acting like men from the 1950s in those situations).  Of course the game could still be used as intended and ask them to take on modern day gender roles-but have the lines between men and women been blurred to the point of not knowing where that line is? For example, working moms weren't as common 20 to 60 years ago as they are today-so if you are acting like a modern day female at dinner time would you take on a different role than acting like a 1950s female? A 1950s female reenactment of dinner time may including the female putting the dinner she prepared on the table and asking how her husbands day was.  A modern day female reenactment of dinner time may include asking her stay at home husband what restaurant they are eating at. Although these two examples could occur in any decade-which decade is each scenario more prevalent in and would that effect the roles the game players choose. Will the students construct their roles differently if they are given a scenario and a decade?

I am a firm believer in the theory that if really want to learn about a person-their world view, character, values and so on-play a game with them for one hour. Although I don't have a classroom to really test out this particular variation of the game I believe that it would be a very valuable introductory activity for the class. Putting people outside of their comfort zones by asking them to pretend to be something they are not can really open up their eyes to their own stereotypes and labels of others. It can teach them a lot about their own world view as well as allow them to explore other views.

This activity could also be done in an online environment. A virtual room could be used where students create an avatar that fits the character they are supposed to play. Design elements on how they create their avatar can be considered the same way the "body language" element of the in person activity was to be considered. They could talk in a forum setting after being given a prompt about the activity and their interactions would follow the same guidelines as the in person activity but take longer to complete (a week as opposed to an hour).

I think this activity would be very beneficial to introducing the students to social injustice as well as inequality. It would also be beneficial to the instructor as it would provide a creative way to do a per-assessment on the students.

Give the article a read, it lists 3 other games that could be modified as well and provides the "goals" of each game/exercise.

Simple Games for Teaching Sociological Perspectives: Four Examples of the Do-It-Yourself Approach

Roger A. Straus

Teaching Sociology , Vol. 14, No. 2 (Apr., 1986), pp. 119-128

Published by: American Sociological Association

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1317618

CEP 818: How Do I Love Thee:Modeling

When I think of social injustice and modeling, I thought of some games I recently found out about at the Meaningful Play conference I attended at MSU recently. I began looking at various websites (Games for Change) and found a few very powerful games that I decided best represent the idea of Modeling (combining abstract thinking with analogy and embodiment). If I were a game designer, I would create one to share with you!  Although I do feel I am a creative person, I believe that creating a true model of a game to illustrate social injustice topics would take me years!  So I have picked a few games to share that I believe would really reinforce my topic well.

!) A Closed World

Play game online here

This information was shared on Games for Change Website about this game:

"Like most game prototypes created by the students at the GAMBIT Game Lab, A Closed World was designed to explore and research different aspects of games, in this case, the lack of compelling video game content for LGBTQ youth (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer).
A Closed World takes the gameplay aesthetics and mechanics of “JRPGs” (Japanese role playing games) and puts you in control of a character of ambiguous gender that begins exploring a forest on the edge of town. Disregarding rumors of “demons” that exist in the forest who have the ability to “destroy” your village, your character must overcome the hardships of a forbidden relationship by exploring what lies inside the forest. Through this journey, players battle the forest’s “demons” and the ideals they are trying to force upon them. The players’ only defense is their logic, passion, ethics, and the ability to remain calm during conflict. As “demons” attack with their beliefs, they must fight back and defy their ideas of what’s “normal” and what love is supposed to look like."

Here is a trailer to the game if you don't want to play it right now. 




While playing this game (self-disclosure I do not identify as being an LGTB person but I did feel a small amount of the pain and suffering one would feel confronting issues of discrimination, stereotyping, etc. presenting in the game).  The emotional responses I had confronting the demons in the game actually surprised me. Having the demons degrade me, put me down and experiencing them as being 5 times larger than my character really put things into perspective for me on the topic of social inequalities. I felt as though this is an excellent game to use in the classroom or as homework even to generate discussion on the societal views of LGTB people and perhaps even evoke discussion regarding the local communities treatment of, policies that support or discriminate against LGTB people.

2) The Curfew

Play the game online here

This information is shared on the Games for Change website:

"The Curfew is an online interactive drama created by Littleloud, published by Channel 4 and written by comic book author, Kieron Gillen. The Curfew addresses a range of political themes targeted at young people, challenging them to examine the freedoms they currently enjoy and the potential consequences if they do not protect them.
The story starts as the player receives important data from a mysterious contact. The contact persuades the player to pass on the data to somebody who will use it to bring down the out of control government. The player proceeds to a safe house where they meet 4 Sub-citizens who are avoiding curfew. Each Citizen has a different story and reason for being in the house that night.
Over four Episodes, the player will play through the flashbacks of the four characters: Lucas the boy, Aisha the immigrant, Leah the dissident and Saul the ex cop. By exploring the interactive 3D environments, conversing with characters, playing mini games and solving puzzles the player will progress through the game. There are 3 scenes in each episode and each scene is followed by an interactive questioning round back at the safe house. The player can question the character on the action they have just experienced and will either receive or lose the character’s trust depending on the questioning tactics they employ. These sequences will decide which character ending they will receive. The Curfew includes a range of digital techniques including 3D sets, dynamic composition and seamlessly integrated live action footage"

 Here is the trailer to the game if you don't want to play it right now: 



With all the current events about the United States becoming more of a police state (drones, the Patriot Act, recent legislation allowing the government to read your emails, etc.) I believe this game illustrates many sociological topics-freedom, social injustice, etc.  Again, playing this game in class or as homework can really allow a discussion about this topic to be facilitated through experiences. When I played this game, I could see how my choices really effected the outcome of the story. However, since this game used videos of "real people" instead of just computer animated characters it humanized the experience a little more for me.

I think that both of these games allow the student to have an emotional experience with these topics and model the situations others face daily when they deal with them. Since my topic is not math, science or subject matter that is always "definitive" it is a different process for me to model the material. When a student simply reads a chapter about discrimination or authoritarian control and is able to recite the theories involved, he or she has learned information. However, when a student plays a game they are able to put those theories into practice and see the results of their choices immediately. While both of them games have scripts and don't allow for complete free thinking, they do model typical responses that the average person would most likely take. Enabling the student to still have choices over how they play the game is an example of our everyday real world experiences that shape sociological theories and norms.

These two games are just an example of the games on Games for Change's website. They have dozens of other choices that teach important lessons (hence the web site's name) and I encourage you to visit their site. 

CEP 818: How Do I Love Thee: Embodied Thinking

Since my topic of social injustice or inequality involves emotion-and embodied thinking incorporates our emotional impulses as much as body movement itself- I became fixated on the emotional side of embodied thinking. I thought about my past educational experiences (most of my undergraduate studies were in psychology and sociology) and came upon one particular experiment that I felt illustrated the embodied thinking of social inequality the best: Jane Elliot's Blue-Eyed/Brown-Eyed experiment.

While an Institutional Review Board (IRB) may not be very fond of one conducting this experiment the way Dr. Elliot did, I think it is possible to incorporate this experiment (briefly) into a lesson plan even by just showing the PBS special created about it rather than conduct the actual experiment itself. PBS's website even has a Teacher's Guide which states: "A Class Divided is an encore presentation of the classic documentary on third-grade teacher Jane Elliott's "blue eyes/brown eyes" exercise, originally conducted in the days following the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. This guide is designed to help you use the film to engage students in reflection and dialogue about the historical role of racism in the United States, as well as the role of prejudice and stereotyping in students' lives today. Because the film deals with racism and prejudice, it may raise deep emotions for both you and your students. Some students may be confronted with privilege for the first time while others may see an affirmation of a lifetime of discrimination. As you see in the film, frustration, anger, and pain are not uncommon responses to being confronted with bias and inequity. To prepare yourself, plan to spend some time viewing and reflecting on the film by yourself or with trusted colleagues, family, or friends before bringing it in the classroom. That way you won't be processing your own raw emotions while also trying to help students deal with their own potentially intense reactions."

John Stossel even discussed this experiment along with other stereotypes at one time here:







The most interesting part of John Stossels coverage (to me) is when Dr. Elliot reenacts this experiment years later with students who KNOW its an experiment and yet it still invokes strong emotions in them-tears, anger, frustration, etc. This is something these students will never forget as an experience-and their entire bodies reacted to it. The research subjects empathized with the subject matter and felt the emotions for themselves. It was a compelling experience and it taught them very valuable lessons about stereotyping, social inequality and social injustice in an atypical format.

Another example of embodied thinking as it relates to social justice would be protesting. "Standing together" to protest something you feel is an injustice is allowing your body to speak for your mind on a topic. History has shown us time after time instances where people physically protest (picket lines, chaining themselves to trees, forming human chains, etc.) to send their message to others (government, unions, societies, corporations, etc.).  "Standing up" for something you believe in is a physical expression of belief as much as it is a figurative explanation of actions.  I teach my own children that if you see people bullying others or if they are bullying you, that you should stand up to them and calmly express to them that what they are doing is wrong. "Standing up" against social injustices or social inequalities is a large part of social activism. 

CEP 818: How Do I Love Thee: Abstracting

How do you abstract social injustice or inequality? Cartoonist often present current events related to social injustice or inequality in their work. For example:

Photographers often capture dramatic examples of social injustices or inequalities due to current or staged events:

 Peaceful Protesting Above.Typically in a peaceful protest, you don't see the participants being pepper sprayed. The officer was later reprimanded for his actions. In the photo, it is easy to see people holding up cell phones and recording the injustice.

 A depiction of a societal view that the poor suffer due to socially constructed economical differences between the rich (zombies) and the poor.

A depiction of a shopper walking by a poor man showing, once again, the gap between the "haves" and the "have nots." In this photo, I believe it is an abstract depiction of the subject matter because the viewer of this photo could "see" different things by observing. One might not necessarily only draw the conclusion of social inequality by looking at it. One may see it as -- a "problem" of homelessness in the urban areas. One could also see it as the two people in the photo not noticing each other because they are so different (gap).

In a previous module I also gave an example of social injustice in a poem (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings). So how do I abstractly depict my subject matter differently in this module?

Social Inequality on Prezi

X marks the spot!! Considering that with abstracting and analogies we are looking at two topics that are seemingly unrelated (a treasure map and social inequality based on traits at birth i.e. gender, ethnicity, etc.) I thought about how much our birth traits effect our social position in life. In this treasure map, the X for the treasure is located on the map with a Caucasian male. Caucasian males have an advantage to other ethnicities and females of any ethnic background here in the United States. I wanted the student to see that by certain birth traits we are closer to success or at the very least access to certain things-education, health care, etc. That led me to creating the info graphic below:


easel.ly
I created this infographic but I'm not sure it is actually "abstracting" the subject matter.  If you are able to look at the infographic and determine based on picture alone what it is I am depicting it is obvious.  However, the idea of an infographic to depict social disparities is not commonplace. Infographics are usually used to visually represent data.  While I didn't use actual data in the above infographic, I was illustrating the concept of the disparities visually. I intentionally made the graphics on the right (heart, building, house) somewhat opaque to illustrate that those things are less accessible to those that are "poor."

Much of our access to education, health care and "wealth" can be determined by where are born (developed or undeveloped nation), our gender, our "race", ethnicity, and the socio-economic status of our parents. Sure, we could achieve upward mobility-for women the easiest way to do so is by "marrying up".  However, I wanted to student to think about how if they had been born another gender, race, in a different place in the world---how much would their lives be different and would they have taken a different path?

Between the cartoons, photos, presentation and infographic I believe I have shown multiple representations of social inequality and/or social injustice. However, I do think there would be many other ways to abstract my topic and hope to develop more in the near future.

(All photos above were licensed by Creative Commons for resuse except for the infographic which I designed using easel.ly and of course the prezi that I created which used "pre-approved" prezi photos from Google Images ). 

CEP 818: How Do I Love Thee: Patterning

The cognitive tool of patterning can assist in problem solving.By recognizing patterns in math, language, and even society-one can better "see" and understand the problem and potential solution(s). My original "problems" were based on the topics of social disparities like the education and health care gaps due to social status (ethnicity, gender, income, etc.)

Patterns in social equality or inequality through charts and graphs are very easy to find online. However, part of teaching social justice issues is connecting the data with the emotional side of the student. While I'm guessing many activists are "born" in current social problem classes, I think it is because the student is able to see the patterns in history on their own doing and not because of a stellar bar graph. How can I make these patterns real for them? Showing them this: 

My guess is not.  

I looked at patterns of injustice in America. One very clear “pattern” is social classes. In a class system, the social injustices are felt most in the impoverished populations as well as the minorities (sometimes overlapping).

After reviewing the educational disparities among men and women and ethnic minorities, it hit me. I thought about graduating class photos. I found on Harvard’s website that they had law school graduating class photos all the way back to the late 1800’s. Seeing the people and being able to recognize their race and gender while they are all in a pattern (in rows lined up) would be a great way to illustrate the disparities in education.

To make the patterns connect for them, I believe it is necessary to use examples that have a human connection. What better way to connect than with photos of actual humans? 

Visually, these photos represent the statistics regarding these disparities over time. It is obvious that Harvard (like many other colleges) had mostly male Caucasian/white graduates for years. I had put these photos into a powerpoint presentation and purposefully kept the side bar language in each slide the same. Because the issue doesn't change over time-only the pattern of outcomes.

Initially, this activity seemed very daunting to me.  However, I did explore patterning from numerous viewpoints which helped me to have a much better understanding of the tool itself. I ventured to other students blogs, read various sociological perspectives on disparity patterns over time, and paid much closer attention to the creative ways that academics were presenting their information. Most of the "white papers" I read involved charts and graphs and some had no visual representation whatsoever of their topic. I can see where presenting this type of subject matter utilizing patterning would be very beneficial to many students and help inspire them to present their information creatively as well.

CEP 818 How do I love thee (one step at a time): Perceiving

In this class, I have chosen the topic of social inequality and injustice. For this assignment, I'm going to share with you what this topic "sounds" like and perhaps "feels" like by using a poem. Then, I'm going to "re-image" what the poem represents.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Maya Angelou

 
The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill for the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

This poem invokes various feelings for the reader. The use of visual words can create images in our minds. When I read the poem over and over I found that my images changed. What does the poem smell like? Taste like? Look like? Sound like? Feel like? The words on the page don't smell, taste, sound or feel like anything. They look like words. What does social injustice smell like? Perhaps it smells like the homeless man on the street. It might taste bitter (figuratively). It may sound like a person crying or a bird singing (happily or sadly). It could feel cold or lonely like the inside of a prison cell for a wrongly convicted person. It may look like a caged bird.

The photos I chose in the prezi below illustrate some of the words and emotions in the poem. Having a visual vocabulary to go along with the poem can help the reader think about the meaning of the poem. Does the caged bird "sing" because it’s happy? Is the caged bird trying to find the "good" in being caged? Is the "free" bird really free? What does freedom look like? How is a caged bird like social inequality? Are the impoverished like the caged bird? Some may feel like they are caged going to an office everyday and looking out the window at people walking by wishing they were "free" to be out there as well. 

People can have varied perceptions about paintings, poems, pictures, events and even words. Perceiving a topic differently can help students make a connection to the material and also foster creativity.  I enjoyed the activity for several reasons. It helped me to think of different ways to present a lesson about poetry. It also caused me to dive deeper into the topic of social inequality in general. I think these activities are not only helpful in thinking of how to design lessons on a new level  but also in generating ideas on how students will make connections with topics and activities that they can do.  The thought processed this activity took me on was much different than I have ever had on the topic of social inequality and considering I have taken at least 10 sociology courses I would say that is pretty significant. I can only imagine what impact it would have on other students. 

As I moved along in the activity I considered how others would re-image the poem. If I asked students to do a presentation like I did choosing photographs specifically to illustrate the poem would their photos be entirely different? What would happen if I asked them to take their own photos to illustrate the poem and present it? The results would most likely show their level of understanding of the poem itself but also it may reveal something about their own world view.

You know when you have an "ah-ha" moment? With all the talk in the media regarding voting id laws and social inequality, it came to me.

I overlapped an image of cage bars on top of a piece of propaganda showing the paradox many voters are experiencing suddenly before a presidential election. Many people feel the new voter id laws are social inequality at its worst and they are "singing" about it. They feel "caged" because it is a law being implemented by government who has control over the people. They feel as though they are standing on the graves of dreams because their right to vote has been taken away from them-them being specific demographics like the elderly, blacks, students, impoverished, etc. The "free" bird would be those in other demographics-the rich, white, typically middle age male who naturally would have a driver's license no matter what because their demographic relies much more on one than other demographics. If the laws go through, the caged bird would have his wings clip and his feet tied-by laws passed intentionally to cage him. This, I believe, represents the poem well visually with an analogy.