Skytte Institute Presents Educational Game at 5th ISA Forum of Sociology in Rabat in Collaboration with International Partners

Anna Beitane, Head of Digital Education Projects at the Skytte Institute of Political Studies, co-led the educational workshop “How to Teach Students about Social Polarisation?” alongside partner Agata Komendant-Brodowska (University of Warsaw) during the 5th International Sociological Association (ISA) Forum of Sociology, hosted at Mohammed V University in Rabat.

The Forum, held from July 6–11 in Morocco under the theme “Knowing Justice in the Anthropocene,” brought together more than 4,600 scholars and educators from around the world.

The workshop, led by Komendant-Brodowska and Anna Beitane, was designed for educators interested in testing an educational game co-developed by Skytte together with other partners in their classrooms while exploring with students the underlying mechanisms of social polarisation.

During the session, participants first had the opportunity to play “The Paperclip Game of Opinions”—an educational game that helps demonstrate how social polarisation can evolve. Playing the game themselves allowed educators to experience it from their students’ perspective. The second part of the session took the form of a co-creation workshop.

“We wanted participating teachers to reflect on their experience and help us refine the format to better suit their classroom needs,” said Anna Beitane. “Through a 'case clinic' discussion, we guided them on how to implement the game effectively, giving them a clear understanding of how this educational method works. In this way, students can experience how easily polarisation develops—without engaging with real-world controversies, as the game topics are completely abstract.”

The Paperclip Game of Opinions is developed as part of the ongoing Erasmus+ project ActIPLEx: Action for Interactive Anti-Polarisation Learning Experiences for a Better Democracy, coordinated by the University of Warsaw in cooperation with partners from the University of Groningen, the University of Tartu, and the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society. ActIPLEx aims to combat social polarisation among young people by raising awareness of its dangers and improving understanding of the mechanisms that drive it.

Supporting materials and instructions for educators to implement the game in their classrooms will be available for download from the project’s official website: https://socialpolarisation.eu

For additional information about the project, please contact – Anna Beitane, Head of Digital Educaiton Projects ([email protected])

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

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