Press B to Belong: Creating Inclusive Esports Programs in School Communities

Purpose & objective

Esports has become a global cultural phenomenon. Transcending the dated stereotypes of who ‘counts’ as a real gamer and a narrow understand of why people play video games, the field of esports encompass many diverse communities playing many different types of games. Reflecting this shift in understanding, educators, coaches and school leaders are increasingly looking for ways to harness the cultural power of esports as a means for developing more inclusive and cohesive school communities. Unfortunately, there has been very little research into the components of a truly inclusive esports club so educators and school leaders have largely been left to experiment through a process of trial and error.

The purpose of this EdTalk is to share with the audience cutting edge research about the importance of creating inclusive esports programs in our school communities, and the specific supports and strategies that can be used by program facilitators (teachers, teaching assistants and coaches) to remove barrier to participant for students from historically marginalised communities. To help guide program facilitators, the audience for this EdTalk will be introduced to the 'Everyone can Play' inclusive esports framework developed through research conducted with innovative esports programs in Australia and the University of Melbourne.

At the end of this session, participants will be able to identify enablers and barriers for different groups of students to participate in school-based esports programs, be able to contextualise a number of research-informed strategies and supports to make their esports programs more inclusive, and be able to use the Everyone can Play inclusive esports framework to guide future planning for their school community.

Outline

In line with the three overarching objectives of our EdTalk, this 60 minute session will consist of three 12 minute mini-presentations, each followed by a 8 minute micro-activity that will ask participates to reflect on the presentation and apply their learning to their context.

1. Mini-presentation 1: Why is esports an important space for creating inclusive school communities? (12 minutes)
*Content:
a. Research around who plays games and how social play can develop positive mental health, a sense of identity and belonging.
b. A quick overview of the identified enablers and barriers in engaging with esports that may be experienced by students who are from low socio-economic communities, female or gender diverse, neurodivergent, have a physical disability or are from regional or rural backgrounds.

2. Micro-activity 1: Guided reflection on enablers and barriers in your school for one of these populations using Padlet (8 minutes)
*Each participant in the EdTalk will be asked to choose which population they would like to focus for this activity, and then be guided through two prompts to consider the enablers and barriers for this group of students in their local context.

3. Mini-presentation 2: Strategies and supports for including everyone in your esports community
*Content
a. Two 'Tier 1' universal strategies and supports are introduced that have been co-designed with teachers and students that can be introduced in every esports program to remove barriers experiences by students with a range of needs.
b. Two targeted supports are then shared that address the specific needs of students who are neurodivergent and students who have a physical disability that will remove barriers to them fully engaging in the esports program.

4. Micro-activity 2: Reflecting on implementing Tier 1 strategies and supports in your context using Padlet (8 minutes)
*Each participant will be asked to consider what each of the Tier 1 strategies would look like in their esports program, being guided through a number of possibilities and questions about contextual fit for their school community.

5. Mini-presentation 3: Introducing the 'Everyone can Play' inclusive esports framework (12 minutes)
*Content
a. Participants are guided through the six key components identified as being key to creating an inclusive esports program, with examples of each indicator being shared to illustrate what this might look like in their school communities.

6. Micro-activity 3 and plenary: Applying the framework to your school esports program (8 minutes)
*In concluding this session, participants will be provided with a QR code linked to a digital copy of the 'Everyone can Play' framework. They will be asked to consider each of the six components required for inclusion and to asses whether their school community has 'Fully achieved this/Working on it/Not yet' using a traffic light system. From this review, participants will be asked identify one indicator of inclusive from the list provided in the framework to focus on when they return to their school esports programs (or when they begin their school esports programs if they haven't yet started).

Supporting research

"The building blocks of an educational esports league: lessons from year one in orange county high schools" - important research by Cho, Tsaasan & Steinkuehler (2019) into the opportunities presented by esports for building a sense of community and belonging.

"The impact of esports participation on the development of 21st century skills in youth: A systematic review" - a systematic review by Zhong, Guo, Su and Chu (2022) that highlights the evidence around socio-emotional learning that can occur through esports when the right supports and strategies are put into place by facilitators.

"Using Video Games to Level Up Collaboration" - the best selling book by Dr. Matthew Harrison about creating inclusive gaming groups in schools.
*Link: https://www.routledge.com/Using-Video-Games-to-Level-Up-Collaboration-for-Students-A-Fun-Practical/Harrison/p/book/9780367458829

"I love video games – but they don’t always love me back" - an award-winning article by Jess Rowlings about the barriers to inclusion when identifying as a female gamer.
*Link: https://www.whynot.org.au/tech/i-love-video-games-but-they-dont-always-love-me-back

"Gaming 101: What you need to know about autism and gaming" - a guide written by Jess Rowlings and Matthew Harrison for Amaze, the largest autism advocacy group in Australia.
*Link: https://www.amaze.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Amaze-Gaming-101.pdf