Dilemma 14/18

Core features of the practice


  • Organisation:

    Institution name: Tumult vzw
    Institution type: non-profit organization
    Institution URL: www.tumult.be
  • Format:

    Workshop
  • Target population:

    Students, Young people
  • Cost (per practice):

    101-200 euros
  • Setting:

    Outdoor urban location, Other extra-mural site
  • Themes:

    Remembrance education and/or history education, Citizenship/democracy education, Critical thinking
  • Core activities:

    Group work, Creative activity, Other

Additional information about the practice


    Target population

  • Number of participants:

    Up to 14
  • Age of target population:

    11-15
  • Additional specifics:

    National/local specifities (e.g. activity targeted to Swedish school students)

    • Components of the practice

  • Topics and objectives:

    In 'immersoin game' about World War 1 in your municipality In Dilemma 14/18 young people are confronted with difficult and lifelike dilemmas from the First World War. The events are based on real stories from real youngsters from that time. Each group lives in a person who tried to survive during 1914-1918. The game is adaptable to local situation: you can add local character and introduce young people to local stories. pedagogical goals: Dilemma 14/18 involves young people in a playful way in the memory of the First World War. Young people experience that a war involves much more than just battles between heroic soldiers. Children and young people learn about the impact of the Great War on daily life in their own village/city. Young people feel the madness of war. Dilemma 14/18 introduces young people to different voices: a Flemish-minded farmer's son, a patriotic pastor, a refugee in France or a German family in Brussels. In this way, young people get different perspectives on the occupation. (multiperspective) Indirectly, young people learn to estimate complex dilemmas, listen to each other's opinions and work together. it is a non-formal learning, made for youth work but also suitable as an active activity for students in formal learning settings.
  • Materials used:

    Written or other published material, Material culture, i.e., physical object or setting, Craft supplies
  • Material produced:

    Not applicable
  • Sequence of activities - methodology:

    Dilemma 14/18 consists of three parts: the start-up, the game and the end. The start-up game divides the participants into the desired number of groups and introduces young people to the individual which which they are connected. Group 1 is Martha, group 2 lives in the role of George, group 3 is introduced to Louise, ... They come to know, for example, which hobbies their character has and how old he / she is. Through a short running game, the participants discover the characters of the other groups. The game coordinator gives the game explanation and starts the game. The young people go to five locations and each time play a game order to earn food stamps. They also solve a dilemma at each location, linked to the story of their character. In doing so, they weigh up the moral side of the dilemma, their chances of survival with each choice option and the number of food vouchers that each choice will produce. The five locations are preferably symbolic locations, which have a link with events that happened during First World War. The games are always connected to a theme of WWI (such as smuggling, poison gas, shortage of food,...) At the end of the game all participants gather back at the central spot and a groupdiscussion follows. Based on the risks that that character took in the game and the play of fate, one character dies through the lottery draw. The participants of the other characters can join a snack table and buy their snack with the collected food stamps. What choices did you make? What did you find most important: food stamps or survival chances? Or just the moral? The participants exchange their experiences through a statement game.
  • Length of activity:

    Up to 5 hours
  • Is the activity digital?:

    No

    • Accessibility and replicability

  • Language(s) in which activity can be delivered:

    Dutch
  • Is specialist knowledge or professional training required?:

    No

Qualitative Details


  • Has this practice been evaluated?

    Yes
    • How many times?:

    5-10
  • By whom?:

    Participants, Informal non-participant observer, Instructor delivering the practice, Internal evaluator
  • By what means?:

    Informal verbal feedback, Qualitative written feedback
  • Core content knowledge and transferable skills:

    knowledge about different themes and topics around WWI knowledge about impact of war on daily life of normal people (especially youngsters) ability to reflect on moral choices, the difficulty of ethical dilemmas let youngsters think about their own actions in a similar situation, how would they respond
  • Indicators of success:

    Actually we were somehow dissapoint by the amount the game has been bought/played. Since we believe it is a very qualitative and at the same time fun game, we hoped for more response and interest. So we definitly have some doubts whether it was an effective practice (a lot of costs in development, much material left over) But I think that the positive aspects are the interactive, playful way of approaching this topic. Very suitable for non-formal settings such as youth work. I also think that it is highly adaptable, to the local context where you are playing the game. This makes it easily recognisable, and easier to affiliate with the persons.
  • Educational coordinator contact details:

    Name: Silke Cuypers
    Email address: silke@tumult.be

Scalability

The RETHINK project is concerned with bridging formal and informal education. This section explores the factors that make a practice adaptable.


  • Key factors for successful implementation:

    Materials needed
  • Main challenges to teachers adapting this practice for their students:

    There are quite a lot of steps in the game, so it asks some preparation beforehand to understand the flow of the game. Also, you need several trainers/guiders to do it (or you have to adapt the tasks)
  • Availability of guidance/training/replication materials (and in what language/format currently):

    We gave some workshops for teachers and youth workers interested in playing the game with their target group. In this workshop we presented the game, its goals. We showed how they could adapt the game to their local situation (add a local character and write a story about this person). We also introduced them to the website, how to work with it and also showed them all the materials necessary.
  • Other comments or details:

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