Simulation-Gaming in the Classroom. Some Obstacles and Advantages

The main objective of this article is to delineate some of the general difficulties encountered while introducing simulations / I games into the school system. It is based upon experiments and experiences of the author in the Geneva secondary school system (Cycle d’Orientation). We shall not attempt, therefore, to analyze all the systemic difficulties of schooling, but shall focus on three specific social-structural characteristics which obstruct the use of innovations such as simulation gaming. They are the element of time, spatial organization, and the methods of evaluating learning which characterize the school system. In the final section we shall discuss some of the different types of knowledge that such techniques as simulation gaming are particularly apt to transmit and whose real meaning may not be apprehended through the use of traditional methods of evalua-tion