Today, in Social 10-1, we played "The Trading Game". I found this on the internet, and decided to play. It is a fairly straight forward game. We had 6 groups of varying numbers which represented the trading power each held. The point was to make as much money as possible, largely through resources and manufacturing. Each group is given a package of material, but all are not created equally. At the beginning, the students were hesitant because they were not positive about how to proceed. Within a minute, one group said "We have to trade", and the game began. It quickly became apparent that some groups understood power politics, while others were more naive. The game itself lasted for an hour, which left us with 15 minutes or so to debrief.
The overwhelming response from the students was that this was "fun" and "can we play again?" Our conversation lead to the deeper understandings of power, as it exists now, and as it could be if particular resource rich countries were able to command a greater presence in the international trade system. Many experienced frustration and a sense of unfairness as they watched some groups "get rich" at their expense. Their understanding of our current situation grew tremendously: the gap between rich and poor; the power and frustrations involved in negotiations; the importance of personal qualities which lead to the ability to play fairly or not.
Our next step is to look more closely at the role of transnational corporations and the opposing philosophy of Fair Trade. I am looking forward to the thinking and discussion that will take place, now that a rich context has been created.
http://learn.christianaid.org.uk/YouthLeaderResources/trading_game.aspx
The overwhelming response from the students was that this was "fun" and "can we play again?" Our conversation lead to the deeper understandings of power, as it exists now, and as it could be if particular resource rich countries were able to command a greater presence in the international trade system. Many experienced frustration and a sense of unfairness as they watched some groups "get rich" at their expense. Their understanding of our current situation grew tremendously: the gap between rich and poor; the power and frustrations involved in negotiations; the importance of personal qualities which lead to the ability to play fairly or not.
Our next step is to look more closely at the role of transnational corporations and the opposing philosophy of Fair Trade. I am looking forward to the thinking and discussion that will take place, now that a rich context has been created.
http://learn.christianaid.org.uk/YouthLeaderResources/trading_game.aspx