Overview
James Paul Gee further, throughout the chapters on identity and situated meaning, draws the link between learning and playing good games. He identifies two major aspects which are integrated into good games as well as good learning. These aspects allow the learner (predominately the child in the case of this book) to grow and morph into a learner who can work beyond the skill-and-drill learning that seems to be happening within the schools.
The first major aspect of good games and good teaching Gee discusses is the role of identity in learning. A child learns to adopt new identities while playing games, synthesizing their own identities with that of the role they are playing to create a third identity. This skill, present in good games, mirrors the principle of learning which is seen in science classrooms. When students are asked to take on the role of a scientist within the classroom they can adopt the role and create the image of the scientist they would like to be.
The second major aspect Gee discusses has to do with situated meaning. Gee posits that children/learners must be able to situate meaning within a specific context in order to really learn it—that is, to learn it past memorization. In games children learn that specific items might have a generic meaning, such as a key means to open a lock, but they also have meanings which are much more specific and situational. A key might mean it can open a lock, but if there is one key the meaning might alter (due to the situation) to mean a key to be used as a last resort. On a more education level, the same thing is true in learning. If a child is given a text book they might not understand, really understand, what it says. Without experience and engagement, it will just be words.
Constructing Identity
When you play a video game there is movement—movement far beyond the basic transporting characters from one location to another. We, the players, slide in and out of identities, moving (as it were) into different spheres of thinking.
When we start a game, we are allowed to pick a character. In a game such as DragonAge (as this is one of the only ones I have experience with, I’m going to go back to it a few times) the player can choose to be any number of characters, genders, races. The player can even chose a background for the character. The choices that the player/learner makes position the player as the character—the first identity. This identity is that of the player. What makes up who the player is? The player’s gender, political standing, their religion, their belief systems in general all contribute to what the identity of the player is.
The character that is being made is the next identity—the virtual identity. This is the character and its background, influences, etc. There are specific things an elf, an orc, or a mage can do that are unique to who they are.
Now, the third identity is the identity which emerges from the coming together of the real identity and the virtual identity, called the projective identity. This identity is the creation of what you, the player, want your character to be? Do you want your character to be considered cold and unyielding or helpful? Also, this presentation of a new identity can affect the way others within the game react to you.
For instance, as I have been playing DragonAge, I have noticed that characters can give me approval or disapproval points. In my particular party the mage accompanying me often gives me disapproval points for being kind and helping people. The human soldier often gives me approval points. If I choose to continue to be good, the mage might not longer help me when I need it. If, however, I feel the need to retain the help of this mage, I can alter the projection of who I’d want to be as an elf. By combining who I am as a person and the background of my character as a person, I can, in essence, sculpt many aspects of the game because of my third identity.
This whole idea of adopting personalities is intriguing and in relating it to teaching English (as Gee does a fabulous job relating it to science). In a classroom about the construction of a novel, students can take on roles of writer, editor, designer—all roles which help the child discover just what it means to interact in that world and to gain a further understanding of the construction of a novel instead of merely reading words on a page that they might not fully understand. Or, as another example—an astronaut simulation for kids learning about space.
Questions
1) Gee comments that video games cannot be as rich as movies or books. Is that necessarily possible? Can video games stand on an equal or perhaps higher ground than novels or movies?
2) How can the use of identities be realize in English classroom instruction? Gee provides examples of its use within the science class, but how can we use it to allow students a much deeper learning and understanding of literature?
3) What are ways students can be rewarded by trying? It seems teachers will often give the "really close, good try" statement to students when they get an answer wrong, but it doesn't seem to be very effective way of rewarding effort, whereas in games trying and effort may be rewarded by finding a new item or leveling up, which is a much more concrete "reward."
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