Tough conversations abound in a world recovering from a global scale pandemic yet many people engaging in them are overwhelmed by change and unknowns, or perhaps locked in the sadness of lost opportunities.

So how do we tap into the minds and hearts of people who are vulnerable in conversations about finding new ways of moving forward when they can barely move?

The answer? To connect with the curious child that is lying dormant inside them - the being who is curious about what new ways they can experience the world.

Well-designed games can successfully introduce Hard Facts and then generate discussion about it and because they are engaging in the subject in a nonthreatening and nonjudgemental way. When people have fun and not being judged, they are more willing to engage with an open mindset and they will also be able to learn from errors in the engagement. And any hard learning won’t remain in memory long unless it is emotionally significant or engaging. 

Researcher James S Moser found that an unengaged mind is closer to a Fixed Mindset and is not open to change. This is especially so when discussing Hard Facts or learning about New Stuff, for they are more likely to ignore or argue against it, than explore to learn. Depending on the openness of the context and their current state, people often respond to Hard subjects with stoicism or silently withdrawing to an internal comfort bubble ignoring the flow of words.

 

Six key elements that engage people to develop and grow.

Terry Pearce of Untold Play names the Six Key Levers in an effective learning game. We link these with Social Emotional Learning (SEL) approach.

He calls these imperatives and says we need to continually ask ourselves:

‘Are we doing enough of each? Can we improve things by doing more?

 

Six Key Levers in SEL Games aim to: 

  1. Put the learner at the centre - holding a safe space, from where they are right now - no spectators

  2. Set an Open challenge - no right answer, so, no fear of judgement

  3. Let them explore - to build autonomy for independent discovery

  4. Let them fail (little and often) - to learn mastery to help solve it next time

  5. Give them meaningful (big) choices - to build self-efficacy for an ever-emerging world

  6. Nudge them towards effective behaviours - evolving habits aligned with potential future needs.

 
 
 

Further reading