Sports, Games, and Conflict Resolution Education: Strategies for Dialogue and Action

Sherrill Hayes, Joseph Borawski, & Narayan Khadka University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Contact information
Sherrill Hayes, Ph.D. Program in Conflict & Peace Studies, UNCG swhayes@uncg.edu Joseph Borawski jnborawski@gmail.com Narayan Khadka, M.A., LLM khadkanb@hotmail.com

Can this change the world?

Overview - Why Sports & Games?

1.

2.
3.

Context for sports and games in conflict and peace Developmental & Peacebuilding issues Sports
Case study of Newcomers School and work in Bhutanese & Nepalese communities

4.

Table top & Live Action Role Playing Games

The power of the narrative approach The game and storytelling

5.

Questions and thoughts?

Galtung theory

Conflict & Peace

Sport is a carrier of structure Focuses on the competitive aspects of sport as a win- lose issue

time is ripe to examine the role of sports as a contributor to aggression and conflict and, contrariwise, as an agent for the prevention of conflict and the maintenance of peace Milton Schewbel (1996, p. 300)
*PEACE AND CONFLICT: JOURNAL OF PEACE PSYCHOLOGY, 2(4), 297-300

Why sports and games?

Developmentally appropriate - Children through physical activity/space and stories/narratives Fun and engaging - Activities in which children are already interested and engaged

Why sports and games?

Experiential learning - Teaching information shared experiences and reflection/discussion Role playing used extensively as a method of teaching conflict resolution concepts and skills

Play in developmental context

4 to 6 years
Begins to use and understand symbols for instance writing and reading. Shows much understanding and uses reason related to his experiences. Begins to understand simple rules in games. Plays co-operatively, taking turns and enjoying table-top games.

Play in developmental context

6 to 8 years
Enjoys playing with small groups and making up his own games with rules. Enjoys playing co-operative games but not usually coping with losing. Likes to play with children of his own sex. Enjoys using rules and understanding.

As a teaching tool
1.

Sport and game content can conflict

Socio-political elements to sports way of explaining subtleties of conflict Games can take place in any time or place

Cricket Diplomacy?

understand something about rivalry and politics

Barcelona Real Madrid

As a teaching tool
2.

Technique for teaching skills to youth

Collaboration Teamwork Sportsmanship Positive use of physical Control of aggression/hostility

Games With Rules

Progress from an egocentric view to an understanding of the importance of social contracts and rules The "games with rules" concept teaches children a critically important concept
the game of life has rules (laws) that we all must follow to function productively

Case studies of soccer (football)

Social Skills Curriculum
Doris Henderson Newcomers School, Greensboro, North Carolina

Community building
Bhutanese & Nepalese Communities in Triad area of North Carolina

Roleplaying Games and Conict Resolution Education

By Joseph Nabl Borawski - Graduate Student UNCG - Conict and Peace Studies

What do you mean by Roleplaying Games?

Roleplaying games (RPGs) are a collaborative narrative activity where a group of participants craft, explore, and share a story together. RPGs can be broken down into a framework of story and system elements including: Characters; Settings; Themes; Roles; and Mechanics.

Why Roleplaying Games? : A Narrative Approach

Drawing on Narrative Mediation we know that a narrative approach can help participants make sense of complex social contexts and their linked conicts, therefore learn. We also know that whether or not a story is factual matters little in regards to its potential impact. Since RPGs allow us to construct almost any story, the capacity for making an impact in both conict education and education in general is great.*Winslade, J., &
Monk, G. (2000). Narrative mediation: A new approach to conict resolution. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Story Elements
Characters - Protagonists, antagonists, and everyone inbetween. Including both player (PC) and non-player characters (NPCs). Settings - Modern day, science ction, fantasy, etc. Examples might include Star Wars, Harry Potter, or Redwall. Themes - A subject or topic of discourse or of artistic representation. Examples might include cooperation, high vs. low culture, consequences, etc.

System Elements
Roles - There are two major basic roles within a tabletop roleplaying game, they include: Players - Responsible for representing one or more characters in the narrative activity. Story Tellers - Responsible for representing all other characters in the narrative activity as well as dening the setting and facilitating the process. Mechanics - Rules which give structure and are used to determine the outcome of events when they are uncertain.

Discussion Points
Wait You mean like Dungeons and Dragons?: Clarifying and Dening the Activity! Advantages of Games: Structure, Flexibility & More Framing the Lesson: Education Through Themes and Story Teaching Moment: Critical Incidence The Narrative Process: Choices and Priorities