Dialogue game ‘The ant, the sheep and you’ tested at IMC Weekend School
Voluntarily going to school on a sunny Sunday morning to engage in a conversation about animals: that’s what the 10- and 11-year-old pupils of the IMC Weekend School in Utrecht Overvecht did. Guest teachers from the Centre for Sustainable Animal Stewardship (CenSAS) provided an interactive lesson there on human-animal relations, testing the new dialogue game ‘The ant, the sheep and you.’
The IMC Weekend School Foundation provides complementary education for curious young people. Through guest lessons from professionals, students are introduced to a variety of fields and dreams for the future. This week was all about nature and animals, and so CenSAS was invited to stop by for a lesson in dialogue skills, with animals as conversation starters.
The dialogue game played during the lesson was developed by CenSAS researchers, to support an open conversation between people about human-animal relationships. Intended for people with a greater distance from science, the game aims to support reflection and create space for different perspectives.
Using question cards such as “What is our role in caretaking for animal X?” or “Which animal really gives you the creeps?” the children learned not only to express their own thoughts, but also to listen to each other. By paying attention and guessing the correct order of fellow players’ animal cards, players could earn points and win the game. This quickly led to lively conversations among the students.
The students enthusiastically participated, “Miss, can we play it again?!” The lesson gave students a chance to engage with the topic in a playful way, and provided CenSAS with useful feedback for further development of the game.