Málfríður - 15.10.2012, Blaðsíða 22

His contention is that this is a simple approach . . . . well
– it gives a clear idea about how to go about it anyway!
My personal interest in Role Playing Games in teach-
ing has several roots . I have always been on the lookout
for novel teaching methods as well as interesting and
fresh approaches . Many years ago I took a course with
FEKI on how to employ drama in the classroom (Terry
Gunnell being one of the teachers) but somehow what
I learned there I have only been able to apply in my
practice to a limited extent . I have always been an avid
reader of Fantasy and SF – and in that context gaming
has always been on the horizon . The amazing writer,
China Miéville, has, for example, stated how the play-
ing of fantasy games influenced his writing; he played
DnD when he was younger and what he loved most
were the monsters; but also “the weird fetish for sys-
tematization, the way everything is reduced to ‘game
stats’ .”(Gordon, 2003) . I was a student in Hamrahlíð
College when Gunnell started the D&D course, many
of my friends took it but for some reason I did not;
something I have always regretted . I teach two ‘nerdy’
courses online, one on SF and one on Tolkien and I
have once taught a similar course in Day-School, but
minus the games . After long periods of thinking and
brooding I sent an e-mail into the universe, eventually
got in touch with Hilmarsson and then I started on my
formal and informal experiments . On the one hand, I
have been doing some personal experiments (playing
in groups, organizing games for my daughters and
their friends, acting as DM), on the other hand, I have
done two small projects in my teaching based on RPGs
– and I will tell you a little bit about both, and then end
up with a little glimpse into the future .
In our second-year English course in Versló we teach
To Kill a Mockingbird . I wanted to try to use an RPG
approach there, but was unsure how to go about it . I
decided to have a short gaming session as part of the
final project on the book, after the students had read
through it . I introduced them to the character sheets
and assigned characters early on . I was (to some extent
deliberately) vague on what I intended to do, to the
great frustration of some students, amusement and
even joy to others . I divided all the classes into groups,
assigned a GM and had them play out a free form
adventure in any way that they pleased . This turned
out to be a very chaotic experience, but those groups
that really engaged with the material had fun . I then
had all the groups tell us about what happened, and
with the freedom involved lots of dragons and zom-
bies emerged . It probably didn’t enormously improve
their understanding of the book but it was an excellent
speaking exercise and certainly fuelled their imagina-
tion and creativity . I did not use a particular system,
which I think was a mistake . A simplified version of
DnD rules or possibly the TWERPS system What’s
that? might be an idea . I also think, in line with Phillips’
ideas, that playing out particular scenes from the book
22 MÁLFRÍÐUR
Gunnell, he seems mostly concerned with D&D, but he
focuses on the use of the games to stimulate imagina-
tion and writing . Writing opportunities abound; sim-
ple character descriptions; arguing for plans of action
in writing; writing speeches for characters to perform
in game situations; writing down what happened in a
campaign as a story . Desilets seems to have brought
the games into the classroom, which I believe is a good
idea . There are various practical issues involved, but
frankly speaking, I think that playing in class and
preparation at home would be a more realistic plan for
today’s students than Gunnell’s MO .
Brian David Phillips (1993, 2011), host of the website
http://www .interactivedramas .info has written exten-
sively on the use of role playing games in teaching and
I pick two articles for brief discussion here . In “Role-
Playing Games in the English as a Foreign Language
Classroom” his focus is on the use of RPGs for lower-
level English speakers . Phillips discusses a range of
game systems and is very knowledgeable in the field .
He discusses practical issues and outlines various uses
for the games in this article, while not going very deep-
ly into the issues . For teachers of more advanced class-
es his “INTERACTIVE PYNCHON, “Teaching Thomas
Pynchon’s Crying of Lot 49 with Roleplaying Games”
(2011) is more interesting . Here he offers the concept of
interactive stories and makes the case for opening up
the experience of works of literature through the use
of RPGs . He argues: “The student is able to step inside
the story and puzzle out the problems presented from
the perspective of the characters . This is possible only
to a limited extent through class discussion, solitary
or group reading, viewing of film or dramatic adapta-
tions, or even through participation in a drama based
upon the piece .” (Phillips, 2011) He offers solid advice
from Joshua Levy, on how to adapt a novel to game
play, advice I intend to take to heart in the future:
A . Read the book, recording page numbers of cha-
racter and plot information . This includes anything
regarding the setting which might be relevant as
well as skills and abilities the characters might have
(for instance, we know that Oedipa is in her late
twenties and has research skills) .
B . Write up an introduction for the players which
would cover how to create their characters and any
background information they might need - the deta-
ils needed would be different for those who have
read the book than for those who have not (the teac-
her controls this through the design of the course) .
C . Write up the rules modifications (for the game
master, particularly if the teacher will not be runn-
ing the game) .
D . Translate the things found in step (A) into the
game system .
E . Reread the book, checking for contradictions and
omissions . (Phillips, 2011)