TASKs for democracy

Activity 35
Change the rules!
DESCRIPTION
Original activity contributed by Rasa Askinyte, Ferenc Arató and Pascale Mompoint-Gaillard
Focus: some of us live in democracies, some of us do not. Whether or not we do, our societies are often plagued
with anti-democratic behaviour: corruption, unlawful policing, covert and overt discrimination, prejudice,
unsanctioned and/or institutional violence. Through this creative board game and activity participants will
reflect on how the rule of law can protect citizens from blatant infringement of their human rights. The processes
they will experience through the game will also raise participants’ awareness of the violence within
themselves and each and every person’s propensity to engage in violent and discriminatory behaviour. The
activity can be shortened: the game is 30 minutes, with a shorter debriefing than the one proposed here.
Target group: pre-/in-service teachers of age groups 3-5/6-10/10-14/14-18/adult learners
Expected learning outcomes:
A_DIV_2 Disposition to be empathetic to enhance living and acting together within society
A_EPIST_2 Recognition of formal, non-formal and informal learning in a lifelong perspective
A_HR_4 Willingness to act and encourage others to act against discrimination, prejudices, stereotypes
and injustice
S_HR_1 Ability to promote “convivencia”
K_HR_2 Understanding of social and economic and political processes, power relations and conflicts
Type of activity: Core/main activity
PROCEDURE
Introduction
Very succinctly explain to participants that they will be invited to play a game and that after that the group
will debrief on the experience.
Step 1 (board game – 20 minutes)
1. Explain the rules.
Players, one after the other, roll one dice and go as many steps (from 1 to 6) as the dice shows.
If you stop on a red flower you have to go one step back.
If you stop on a green flower you have to go one step forward.
The aim is to win the game and get the chocolate.
The most important part of this game is “Change the Rules”. If you stop on this square, you have the
right to change the rules of the game. All rules are acceptable, except:
– a player cannot eliminate the other players from the game or stop them entirely (e.g. such
rules as “everybody has to leave the game”, or “everybody is paralysed, only I may play” are
prohibited).
– a player cannot set a rule that results in the whole game not being played (e.g. such a rule
such as “I skip all charts and go straight to the finish”).
Remind the players that they may set different rules not only for separate persons, but also for groups.
For example, one rule for women/another for men, one rule for one kind of characteristic (e.g. race,
age, social or economic status, disabled person)/and another for a different characteristic, and so on.
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