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20

Orientação

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Afonso,Alexandre,André,Bruna,Carolina,David,Gustavo,Inês,João,José,Leonor,Luna,Mafalda,MariaLeonor,MariaLuís,

Maria,Mariana,Pedro,RodrigoA,RodrigoM.andSantiago,

youreffectshavetouchedmyheartandwillendureforeverwithinmymemory.Mysincerest,thankyoutomy“meninos”,thisprojectwouldhaveceasedtobewithoutyourexistence.

Tomynobleadvisor,Prof.DoutorMárioRuiDominguesFerreiradaCruzandtomyco-advisor,MestreMariaEditePaisdeOliveiraAiresOrange,words cannotexpressmygratitude forallyour advice, guidance and reassurance. I would have found a far more difficult path toovercomewithoutyourpresence.

ToProf.PauloSilva,myteachingco-operator,thankyouforopeningyourclassroomdoors,foralways giving my ideas their deserved leeway and for helping me to embrace challengesheadstrong.TheColégiodoSardãowillforeverbeinmyheart.

ToProf.VítorMendes,4ºB’shomeroomteacher,thankyouforenthusiasticallyacceptingandmakingmefeelapartofthewhole.

ToMarcoMartins,thankyouforyouremotionalsupportandbearings,andtotheWoodlandsInternationalSchoolstudentsforcontributingtowardsmakingthisprojectmyprideandjoy.

Toallmyteacherswhohavehelpedtobringoutsomethingbetterinme,

Prof.EditeOrange,youhave inspiredmysenseofcreativity,makingmedreamofdoing theimpossible.

Prof.CristinaPinto,Iwouldhaveneverimaginedthatmyculturallongingnessforhomewouldhavemademeunderstanditstruebeautyandvalue.

Prof. Bernardo Canha, the urging and probing helped me to become even more reflectiveonmypurposeandreasoning.

Prof.JoséAntónioCosta,yourinspirationalviewoflanguagehasmademeacknowledgethatIwillneverapproachlanguageteachinginthesameway.

Prof.MárioCruz,itwaswithinmygreatestChallengethatIhaveunderstood,foraHousetobeaHome itneedstobemadeupoffourparts.Thefloorhasalwaysbeenasolidbedrockandfoundation. The walls have been kept strong because they were constantly uplifted by itsrenovation.ThewindowshaveservedasaneyeopenerthatissupportedfromwhatisfarandBeyond. The roofhasbeena reminder to always keepmy chinupand to reach for the sky.However, it is the door that was opened in order to make my fly that makes me foreverendeavouredtoyou.Obrigada!Yourepicnesswillalwaysbemydrivingforce.

To my dear teacher friends, Albina Loureiro and Vanessa Reis Esteves, you were the “bigmamas”thatgotme intothis, Iamsoproudtosay, this ishowfar Ihavecome.Youalwaysbelievedinme,gavemecredit,andwerethefriendlyshoulderstocryon.

ToMartaFortunato,yourcompanionshipandlonglastingconversationsresultedinveryhardworkandabagfulofknowledgethroughoutourstudies.IthasalsomadetheAchieverinyoubringouttheSocializerinme.Therecanbenogreatermotivatorthanthis.

ToAnyaOjiugoLilian,yourhumbleness, simplicityandeagerness to learnwillalways inspiremetobebetterthanIam.To my Mommy, Carlos and Dani, sadly we have endured the hardest of all hardshipsthroughoutour lives.However, I cansay that IhaveachievedmyEpicwin! IhavenowtrulyunderstoodmyDaddy’sthoughtfulwordsto“Alwayslookupandneverlookdown”!Thisoneisfor Daddy. Your teachings have paved the road for my improved understanding. You willalwaysbetheheroofmygame.Mommy,CarlosandDani,beproud,wewillforeverbeguidedfromabove,onedayatatime,nothingmore,nothingless!

TomyJorge,youhaveheldmyhandforthelongestoftimeandneverforoncequestionedmycapacity.SebastasseunabellacanzonewouldbetheonlyonethattrulysaysIloveyouwithallmyheart.Iwouldhavenevermadeitwithoutyoubymyside.

Tomyprincesses, thebeautiful lovesofmy life,GabrielaandDaniela,my journeyhas lastedquitelongbutIknowyoucanfindmanygreatlessonsandvirtuesfrommyexperiences.Neverforget,ADreamisawishyourheartmakes,alwayslookup,thereisnolimit.

Dedications

FormyDaddy…

AbstractThis project targets on African oral tradition storytelling intermingledwith the Ubuntuphilosophy and traditional cultures (Varty, 2013) in primary school learning contexts,focusingonhoworal traditional stories canbe integrated into classroompracticesasameansof transformationandof accommodatingdiversity to foster social cohesionandsustainable development (Battiste, 2005; Themane, et al., 2011). By encompassingoraltraditional storytelling with an experiential communicative approach (Fernández-Corbacho,2014),bothstrategiesandmaterials,whichtakeintoaccounttheGamificationOctalysis Framework (Chou, 2016), have been created and experimented in a 4th yearprimaryschoolinOporto.Departing on Chou’s (2016) Octalysis framework and how it can effectively be appliedduringtheimplementationofseveralgamificationdesignsandpractices, leadingustoagreater understanding of how competitiveness fostered in gamified tasks can befavourabletoPrimaryEnglishlearning.Moreover,itistheauthors’intentiontotapintothecoreessenceofclassroompractice,byfocusingonthegamifiedtaskswhichstimulatedcollaboration,communication,criticalthinkingandcreativity,whichareconsideredasthebasisfor21stcenturyskills(Duarte,&Cruz2017).An ethnographic methodological approach, with triangulation of data collection tools(questionnaires, course books analysis grids, lesson plans, self-assessment worksheetsand project works), was resorted. Gamified practices, which deal with South Africanculturaland linguisticvarieties (Esteves,&Hurst,2009)and21stCenturyLearningskills,wereanalized.The main results show that the gamification approach can aid in the progression ofdialogue,canpromoteculturalawarenessandcanexpeditepupil’scognitiveandaffectiveenthralmentandengagement,fosteringthedevelopmentoftheseskills(Cruz,&Orange,2016;Shatz,2015).KeywordsOctalysisframework,gamification,storytelling,21stcenturyskills

ResumoEstetrabalhofoca-senanarrativadastradiçõesoraisAfricanas,articuladascomafilosofiaUbuntueasculturastradicionais(Varty,2013)emcontextosdeaprendizagemdo1ºCEB,concentrando-senaformacomoashistóriastradicionaisoraispodemserintegradasnaspráticasdesaladeaulacomomeiodetransformaçãoedeacolhimentodadiversidade,de forma a estimular a coesão social e o desenvolvimento sustentável (Battiste, 2005;Themane, et al., 2011). Ao abranger a narrativa tradicional oral com uma abordagemcomunicativaexperiencial (Fernández-Corbacho,2014),estratégiasemateriais,quetêmem consideração aOctalysis Framework deGamificação (Chou, 2016), foram criados eexperimentadosnumaturmade4ºanodeumaescolado1ºCEBnoPorto.OnossoobjetivoérefletirsobreaestruturadeOctalysisdeChou(2016)ecomoelapodeefetivamente ser aplicada durante a implementação de vários designs e práticas degamificação, levando-nos a uma melhor compreensão de como a competitividadepromovidaatravésdetarefasgamificadaspodeserfavorávelàaprendizagemdoinglêsno1ºCEB.Além disso, é a intenção dos autores explorar a essência central da prática da sala deaula, concentrando-se nas tarefas gamificadas que estimularam a colaboração,comunicação,pensamentocríticoeacriatividade,quesãoconsideradascomobasenascompetênciasdoséculoXXI(Duarte,&Cruz,2017).Recorreu-se a uma abordagem metodológica etnográfica, com triangulação deinstrumentosderecolhadedados(questionários,grelhasdeanálisedemanuais,planosde aula, fichas de autoavaliaçao e trabalhos de projeto). Foram analisadas práticasgamificadasqueseencontramrelacionadascomasvariedadesculturaiselinguísticasdaÁfrica do Sul (Esteves, & Hurst, 2009) e as competências para o século XXI (Duarte, &Cruz,2017).Os principais resultados mostram que a abordagem da gamificação pode auxiliar naprogressão do diálogo, promover a conscientização cultural e acelerar o efetivoentusiasmoeengajamentocognitivodosalunos,promovendoodesenvolvimentodessascompetências(Cruz,&Orange,2016;Shatz,2015).Palavras-chaveOctalysisFramework,gamificação,storytelling,competênciasdoseculoXXI

INDEX

INTRODUCTION 2

PARTI–GAMIFICATION’SMEANINGFULREALM 5

CHAPTER1-21STCENTURYSKILLPRAXIS:FROMCRADLETOCAREER 6

CHAPTER2-GAMIFICATION’SOCTALYSIS:THEEXPERIENTIALFORCESBEHINDHUMAN-FOCUSEDGAMIFICATION12

CHAPTER3-PRO-ACTIVEPUPIL’SDEVELOPMENT:INTERTWININGINTERDEPENDENCE,COLLABORATIONAND

COMPETITION 24

PARTII-“UMUNTUNGUMUNTUNGUBUNTU”–AREFLECTIONOFUBUNTUTHROUGH

MEANINGFULCLASSROOMPRACTICES 30

CHAPTER1–ACTIONRESEARCHPROJECTDESIGN 31

1.1.RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY,QUESTIONSANDAIMS:ANALYSISOPTIONS 31

1.2.SCHOOLDIMENSIONANDLEARNINGENVIRONMENT 36

CHAPTER2–PRESENTATION,ANALYSISANDRESULTSDISCUSSION 38

2.1PUPIL’SKNOWLEDGEANDCONCEPTUALIZATIONSINTERPOLATEDWITHINEXPERIENCE 38

2.2.THEINTERCONNECTIVITYOFPUPIL’SINQUISITIVENESSANDOPENINGUPTOOTHERPLACESINTHEWORLD 40

2.3.TEACHINGMATERIALS–AREFLEXIVEAPPROACHOFTOOLSTHATGOBEYONDMIRROREDPROJECTIONSINTO

FUTUREENLIGHTENMENT 47

2.4.“MYHOMEISAFRICA”–UBUNTUSTORYTELLINGINTHETEACHING-LEARNINGPROCESS 54

2.5.“INEVERYREVISIONTOBEDONE,THEREISALWAYSANELEMENTOFFUN”–CLASSROOMQUESTINTHE

TEACHING-LEARNINGPROCESS 60

2.6.“WEAREWHATWEEAT.WEAREUBUNTU”–SOUTHAFRICANENGLISHLANGUAGEVARIETYINTHE

TEACHING-LEARNINGPROCESS 66

FINALCONSIDERATIONS:OVERVIEWS,LIMITATIONSANDRECOMMENDATIONSFORFUTURE

STUDIES 77

BIBLIOGRAPHY 84

APPENDIXES1

Appendix1–Pre-questionnaire

Appendix2–UnitPlan‘MyHomeifAfrica’

Appendix3–‘Wherestoriescomefrom”

Appendix4–UnitPlan‘Ineveryrevisiontobedone,thereisalwaysanelementoffun’

1Note:ACD-ROMwiththeappendixesisattachedtothisreport.

1

Appendix5–Self-assessmentWorksheet1

Appendix6–‘FishBones’

Appendix7–UnitPlan‘Wearewhatweeat.WeareUbuntu’

Appendix8–Self-assessmentWorksheet2

INDEXFORFIGURES

Figure1-TheOctalysisFramework.........................................................................................................15

Figure2-ActivitiesonTraditionalBreakfasts/HousesAroundtheWorld...............................................51

Figure3-ActivitiesonschoolLunches/DreamHouses............................................................................51

Figure4-OurWorldActivity...................................................................................................................52

Figure5-VideoconferencewithpupilsinWoodlandsInternationalSchool.............................................55

Figure6-Classroomrealiaduringstorytelling.........................................................................................57

Figure7-Comprehensionexerciseson“Plickers”....................................................................................58

Figure8-CollaborativeTownPlanning....................................................................................................59

Figure9-ClassroomQuestcircuitbases..................................................................................................61

Figure10-PupilsonTask........................................................................................................................62

Figure11-ClassroomQuestLeaderboard................................................................................................63

Figure12-Kahoot!Activity.....................................................................................................................69Figure13-StoryMapExamples...............................................................................................................71

Figure14-Collaborativeandcreativedevelopmenttasks.......................................................................72

Figure15-Atthegreengrocers................................................................................................................73

INDEXFORTABLES

Table1-Researchquestions,aims,dataandanalysisoptions.................................................................32

Table2-Datarelatedtopupil’sproduction.............................................................................................35

Table3-Analyzedtextbooksandtheirformalcharacteristics.................................................................47

Table4-Proposedgames/gamifiedtasksfoundinthetextbooks...........................................................49

Table5-Proposedculturaltasksinthetextbooks...................................................................................50

Table6-Proposedlinguistictasksinthetextbooks.................................................................................53

INDEXFORGRAPHS

Graph1-Self-assessmentlikesanddislikesI...........................................................................................64

Graph2-Self-assessmentlikesanddislikesII..........................................................................................75

ABBREVIATIONS

AmE-AmericanEnglish

BrE-BritishEnglish

CnBL-Competition-basedlearning

HFD-Human-FocusedDesign

PBLs-Points,BadgesandLeaderboards

2

INTRODUCTION

3

“Iambecauseweare”

Ubuntu

Contemplating that pupils may create and express themselves through languages and by also

consideringthatintoday’sinterconnectedsociety,communicationplaysanincreasinglyimportant

roleduetoprominentdigitalandmultimediatechnology(Cruz,&Orange,2016), it iswithinthe

cynosureofthisInternshipReporttheintegrationofdifferentteachingapproaches.Wewilladduce

analysisandsupplyevidencethatclassroomdevelopmentandexperienceexpatiationcanserveas

thebedrocktowardspupils’thinkingwithinandbeyondclassroomwalls.

Credenceisgiventhatbyacknowledgingthesepedagogicalapproachesandstrategies,educators

areable toencourage thedevelopmentof21stCentury skillswhen introducedatearly stageof

learning.Theclassroomsessions’layoutcatersforcontextswhichencouragepupilstosharetheir

apprehensions and feelings, to annotate and elucidate their reflections as well as to make

meaningful learning connections. We believe that these can serve for pupils’ motivation and

accomplishments, which in turn can help to facilitate the anchors of 21st century skills and

competencydevelopment,namelyincollaborationandcommunication,creativityandinnovation,

criticalthinkingandproblemsolving(Cruz&Orange,2016).

ThecontextualenvironmentofthisInternshipReportintegratesAfricanoraltraditionstorytelling

present inthe literatureofMucina(2011), intermingledwiththeUbuntuphilosophy,whichcan

serveasameansoftransformationandofaccommodatingdiversitythatcan,inturn,helptofoster

social cohesion and sustainable development (Battiste 2005; Themane et al. 2011) in primary

schoollearningcontexts.Apartfromoraltraditionstorytelling,SouthAfricanculturalandlinguistic

varieties(Esteves,&Hurst,2009)werealsocarefullyentwinedwithinclassroompractices.These

specificvarietieswerechosenduetothefactthatthetrainingteacherisSouthAfricanandanative

speakerofEnglish.

By encompassing oral traditional storytelling with an Experiential Communicative Approach

(Fernández-Corbacho, 2014) and by taking into account the Gamification Pedagogy (Cruz, &

Orange, 2016), we aimed at creating significant and easily recalled experiences on the pupils’

counterpart,promotingprogressionofdialogue,culturalawarenessandprovokingtheircognitive

andaffectiveenthrallmentandengagement.

Itisourintention,totapintothecoreessenceofclassroompractice,notonlybymotivatingpupils

through Ubuntu Oral tradition storytelling and South African linguistic varieties, because we

considerthattheycanbeveryneatlyplacedwithintheP21'sFrameworkfor21stCentury’slearning

skills.Hereonweunderstandthatcollaborationcanbeessentiallytiedinwithcommunication,as

criticalthinkingcanbeamalgamatedwithcreativity.Byalsoconsideringthatpupilsmaycreateand

4

expressthemselvesthroughlanguagesandthroughotherknowledge,weareabletoconcedethat

languagelearningformsthebasisforprofessionalsuccessinthe21stcentury(Duarte,&Cruz2017).

ThroughoutthisInternship’sReport,carefulconsiderationisalsogiventoChou’s(2016)Octalysis

frameworkandhowitcaneffectivelybeappliedinEducation,therebyservingasamotivational

frameworktowardstheimplementationofseveralgamificationdesignsandpracticeswithinthe

classroomwalls.Furthermore, this leadsustoagreaterunderstandingofhowcompetitiveness,

fosteredingamifiedtaskscanbefavourabletoPrimaryEnglishlearning.

Thereportisorganizedintotwoparts.Inthefirstpart,wewilltacklethemainconceptsrelatedto

the theoretical basis of our report, namely: 21st century skills, English cultural and language

varietiesandgamificationpedagogy.Inthesecondpart,wewillpresentthepracticalstudywehave

developed during our internship,which is related, on the one hand, to the analysis of primary

English course books and our pupils’ learning styles, and on the other hand to the design and

creationofgamifiedpractisesforthepromotionof21stcenturyskillsandculturalawareness.

5

PARTI–GAMIFICATION’SMEANINGFULREALM

6

Chapter1-21stCenturySkillPraxis:Fromcradletocareer

"InthecollectiveconsciousnessofAfrica

wegettoexperiencethedeepestpartsofourownhumanity

throughourinteractionswithothers"

Varty

Presently, learnersaremoreandmorecompelledbycuriosity intheageof informationwithan

ever-growingunderstandingthatthereisanurgentneedforpupilstobeabletocrafttheirown

questions, strategizeupon their inquiry, andharness their curiosity to incite theirown learning

(Minigan,2017).Focusshouldbegivenonthenewfoundappraisalofpupil’sabilitytothinknimbly

andtousecuriositytodriveinnovation(idem).

In our increasingly recognized technology and media-suffused environment, the 21st Century

learningskills,suchascreativity,criticalthinking,communicationandcollaborationareessentialto

preparepupilsforthefuture(P21,2015).Accesstoanabundanceofinformationandrapidchanges

in technology tools can help to make the whole process of communication and peer-to-peer

collaborationeasier,inwhichpupilsareabletocriticallyinterpretmessages,conveypointsofview

andshowtheircreativityinsolvingproblems(Cruz,2011).

ItisinP21’s(2015)understandingthatschoolsmustmovebeyondbasiccompetencyinorderto

promote understanding at higher levels by weaving 21st century interdisciplinary themes into

classroom needs. According to Duarte, & Cruz (2017), as the world evolves towards greater

connectedness, the Primary English language classroom’s main concern is for pupils to

communicate transversely through cultures, borders and perspectives, it is upon our pupils to

whomweentrusttheresponsibilityofbuildingabetterglobalsociety.

TheP21’sunifiedandcollectivevisionforlearningupholdsthatbasiclanguageskillsareessential.

It is indispensable for individuals todevelopmasteryskills,knowledgeandexpertise inorderto

succeed,thereon,helpingandcompellingpupilstothinkoutoftheboxwhilefocusingonhuman

valuegoals(Ohler,2013).Assupportiveteachers,itiswithencouragementthatpupilscanbecome

critical thinkersanddoers,which is seenas the combiningof creativeprocesseswith reflective

thoughttoproduceoriginalwork.Thiscanultimatelyleadpupilstogainingnewerdexteritieswhere

theyhavethecapacity to findsolutions to futureproblems, tocollaborateandtoreachacross

culturalconsensus(Duarte&Cruz,2017).

Therefore,weneedtoconcedethatlanguageeducationiscriticaltowardspupils’futuresuccess

and languagearts is regardedasoneof thekeysubjectswhichpupilshavetomaster, including

“English”andother“Worldlanguages”(P21,2015,p.2).Duringlanguagelearningandacquisition

pupils are capable of developing and enhancing: a) communication skills, i.e, through

7

understanding,interpretationandthepresentationofinformation;b)culturalawarenessthrough

animprovedunderstandingofculturalviews,practicesandproductsofthepeopleandspeakersof

a target-language; c) connections, such as the accessing of the target-language within subject

knowledge;d)reflectedcomparisons,wherebyaugmentingthecapacityofidentifyingsimilarities

anddifferencesbetweenculturesandthetargetlanguages(cf.P21,2010,2015).

Inaquestofencounteringactivitieswhichinvolvestrangeness(Bryam,1998)anddifference,itis

theunderstandingthatlivingandknowingothersrequiresanunderstandingattitudetodifferent

ways(cf.Bryam&Fleming1998).Understandingone,whilebelongingtoanotherculture,holdsthe

potential of initiating critical engagement with multiple concepts of otherness (cf. Phipps &

Gonzales,2004).

As the English language is the proposed language of study in this Internship Report, it is our

intention toexplore themanner inwhichSouthAfricanEnglish, recognizedasbeingaso-called

“New English”, has become distinct from other Englishes, namely British and American English

(Esteves,&Hurst, 2009).According toMcArthur (2001), SouthAfricanEnglish is alsobecoming

moreautonomous,leadingtoastrengtheningofconfidenceasavarietyofEnglish.

Consequently,byalsofocusingonSouthAfricanlexicon,weareabletoconcedethatthevocabulary

ofalanguagereflectsmorethanmerewords,itgoesasfarastoacountry’speopleandculture(cf.

Esteves, & Hurst, 2009). It is in vocabulary that we see the greatest divergence between the

differentvarietiesofEnglish(cf.Barber2000;Esteves,&Hurst,2009).Therefore,activitieswere

plannedaccording to this knowledgeandemphasison the following SouthAfrican cultural and

linguisticaspectswasgiven.Pupilshadtheopportunitytoknowandencounter:a)SouthAfrican

vocabularyandexpressions;b)SouthAfricanlinguisticvariantsinrelationtoplacesinatownand

food; c) South African traditions, art and crafts work, musical instruments, tribes and people,

locationandgeographicalpositioning;d)typicalandrusticSouthAfricanhousing;e)theZuluand

Xhosapeople;f)SouthAfricancuisineandtypicalrecipes.Inthisway,wewerenotjustequipping

pupilswithperformative languageskillsandcomprehensive informationontheforeigncountry,

but ratherencouragingpupils toalso investigate for themselves the strangeness inandaround

them(cf.Frimberger,2009).

Wealsounderstandtheimportanceofexposingourpupilstotheculturalandlinguisticvarietiesof

SouthAfricanEnglish,firstlybecauseweareeffectivelyabletomoveawayfromthe“Englishes”

thatmightbelinkedtostereotypes,suchasBritishandAmericanEnglish.Secondly,wearefurther

aidingourpupilswithculturalawarenesswhichleadstotheacceptanceofothers.Thirdly,during

thisparticularactionresearch,thetrainingteacherwasofSouthAfricanorigintherefore,thepupils

were in direct contact with linguistic nuances, such as pronunciation, lexis and grammatical

structures. The training teacher also perceived culture, not as the transmission of cultural

8

informationtopupils,butthatitrathercatersforpupils’engagementinlightofthefactthatculture

isadynamicandvariableentity(cf.Heidari&Ketabi,2012)

Alsowithinconcession that languageeducation iscritical towardspupils’development it isalso

within this internship report that focus is given to storytelling. Cognizant that storytelling is an

intimateanduniversalartformthatisover50,000yearsold(Sheppard,2009),itcanservetoteach

usaboutlife,aboutourselvesandaboutothers.Italsoservesasauniquewayforpupilstodevelop

understanding, respectandappreciation forothers, aswell as fosterpositiveattitudes towards

people from different lands, races and religions (cf. Duarte, & Cruz 2017). They are also the

conveyersintheenhancementofinterculturalunderstandingandcommunication,by:a)offering

acommon-groundbasisfordifferentcultures;b)supplyingbroaderperceptionsoflifeexperiences;

c)helpingpupilstoconsidernewideas(Dujmović,2006).Theyalsocaterforholisticapproaches

towardslanguageteachingandlearningbyplacingahighpremiumonpupil’sinvolvementandby

alsoofferingrich,authenticusesofaforeignlanguage(cf.Cameron,2001).

AsOhler(2013)mentions,storiesallowustotakesnippetsoflifeandputthemtogetherinways

thatmakeitpossibleforustolearnandremembernewthingsbygivingcommunitiescoherence

andmeaning.Forteachers,understandingastoryasastructureandprocesshaspracticalbenefits,

leavingprofoundimplications.Notonlycantheyserveasacurriculashaper,ormakeprovisionas

aninstructionalunitbuilder,itcanalsoleaveaframeworktowardsacademicargumentsbecause

theyarethecornerstoneofconstructivistlearning(idem).

Seeingtheutilityofstoriesasalearningtool,thestructureandrhythmaswellastheemotional

involvementthattheycanencourage,thesecanhelpbothteachersandpupilsto:a)remember

importantinformation;b)developplanningskillswhichareimmenselyusefulandtransferable;c)

engage in a creative content world; d) synthesize imagination, creativity, research and critical

thinkinginordertotranslatetheirideas;e)leadtoamoreprofoundandpracticalpersonalgrowth.

(cf.Ohler,2013).

Itisalsotobeacknowledgedthat,accordingtoOhler(2013),storytellingisahumanconstructof

greatdepthanddimensionthatmeansmanythingstomanypeoplebecausepeopleandcultures

aredifferent,therefore,storiesaredifferent.Indigenousstoriesthathavesurvivedthroughoutthe

ages feel familiar in content and form. In fact, according to Ohler’s perception of a “Western

audience”, these kinds of indigenous stories, very often don’t fit well within the modern

mediascapebutwhenwedoseethem,itisconceivablethattheybringtostorytellingabreadth

anddepththatseemsquitenew.Ohler(idem)furthersuggeststhatitisagoodideatoofficially

recognizethedifferencesinstorytellingapproacheswheninvolvingindigenousthemes.Firstly,they

offerauthenticandusefulapproachestotraditionalstorytelling.Secondly,theycanhelppupilsto

9

understand issues of respect and authenticity. Thirdly, they describeways for interpretationof

culturalmeaningbyacknowledgingtheapproachusedtobuildandtellstories.

Bytakingthisallintoaccountitwasourintentiontoconsidertheongoingbenefitsofindigenous

storytelling and incorporating these practices within the Internship. We resorted to using

traditional oral storytellingwhile acknowledging that themain purpose of storytellingwas the

continuouspromotionof pupil’s cultural and language awareness. Therefore, different learning

opportunitiestousetheirimagination,tocommunicateeffectively,toenhancetheirsocialliteracy

andbuildcommunityinadifferentway,weregiven(cf.Berkowitz,2011).

It is widely conceived that in capacious parts of Africa, indigenous inhabitants are known to

congregatearoundpivotalfirestogiveaudiencetoemergingfolktalestories.Thestories’narration

is amalgamatedwith singing, drumming, percussion instruments, clapping, and dancing (Lewis-

Coker,2013).Withthepsychologicalintentof,exposingthevillage’schildren,aswellasofferinga

solidjustificationandreasonfortellingfolktales(NgugiwaThiong'o,1964),Indigenousstorytelling

revealidealsbeliefsandfactsbylinkingthepast,thepresentandthefuture,byinterpretingthe

universe while teaching morals and maintaining cultural values (Lewis-Coker, 2013). By

predominantlyfollowingasequentialorderbuthavingnowrittenframework,storiesarerevealed

andtoldsubjectively(Tuwe,2016),alltobekeptalivewhilekeepingthefamilyandthecommunity

united,passingontraditions,codesofbehaviorandmaintainingsocialorder(Lewis-Coker,2013).

Oralstorytelling,inagreementwithGbadegesin(1984),isamethodofrecordingandexpressing

feelings, attitudes and responses of one’s lived experiences and environment. It holds the

primordial intention of: a) mediating and transmitting knowledge and information across

generations; b) conveying information to younger generations about culture, worldviews and

moralsandheighteningexpectations;d)andpercolatingnormsandvalues(cf.NgugiwaThiong'o,

1982).

Oralandfolklorestorytellinghavenoaccountableauthorsandtheyareoftenexpandedandshaped

bythestoryteller’stonguesastheyarepasseddownfromonegenerationtothenext.Indigenous

storytelling canbeequaled to folktalesasbeing the retellingofa tale tooneormore listeners

throughvoice, intonationandkinestheticgesturing.Theoralstorytellercreatesandgeneratesa

series of mental metaphors and images associated with words (Tuwe, 2016). Ensuing and

aggregatedtostorytellingaresongs,music,dances,plays,dramasandpoetry(Utley2008),which

canbenotedandserveaspedagogicaltoolswithintheclassroomwalls.

Referenceshouldthereforebemadethatstorytellingandfolktalespossessseveralbenefits,inthat

andaccordingtoNomlomo,&Sosibo(2016),theyarearichandperennialreservoirthroughwhich

younglearnerscanacquirenotonlyliteracyskills,butalsocognitive,linguisticandsocialskills.In

turn, theycanserveasaspringboardwhichcanhelppupilsbecomeactivecitizens intheworld

10

(Nomlomo,&Sosibo2016).TherebyreinforcingDuarte&Cruz(2017)findingthat intheEnglish

Language classroomoneof the teachers’primary concerns is forpupils to communicateacross

cultures,bordersandperspectives,thiscanbebolsteredwithtraditionaloralstorytelling.

Byacknowledgingtheculturalbenefitsofstorytelling,wehavealsoconsideredtheAfricanconcept

of“Ubuntu”throughoutourclassroompractices.“Ubuntu”isaphilosophicalviewthatservesasa

guideforouractionsinordertomaintainrelationalbonds(cf.Mucina,2011),therebystatingthat

“Iambecauseyouare”,whichcanberecalledandembellishedinMandela’s(1994)enshrinement.

AmongstAfrican folktales,deliberationof therelationshipsbetweenhumankindandtheanimal

kingdomneeds tobe contemplatedandparalleled.Assuredly, theentire concept is centredon

peopleorhumanity(Mandela,1994)hereupon,byrecognizingtherelationalinterconnectedness

to all elements and beings on earth (Mucina, 2011). Moreover, there is an awareness of the

following philosophical principles whereby: a) clear ancestry thought and reflection is

demonstratedthroughtheacknowledgmentthatallthingsknoweachotherinrelationshiptoand

withoneanother;b)greatimportanceisgivento“Ubuntu”spirituality,whereholisticallyweare

consideredasbeingone;c)havingacommonbeliefthatexperiencewhichonehaswithspecific

elements,suchaslandandwater,aidusinlanguageandknowledgedevelopmentinaneffortto

respectthesurroundingsweoccupy(cf.Mucina,2011).

UbuntustorytellingisthereforeandaccordingtoMucina,(2011)afunctionalandviableteaching

approachwhichhasbeenignoredatone’speril.Duetoacademicdecolonization(Dei,2000),failure

torecognizethatUbuntu’sIndigenousknowledgemayadjoinmultipleandcollectiveoriginsaswell

ascontributetowardsthecollaborativedimensionsofknowledgewiththeintentionofaidingin

theinterpretationandanalysisofsocialreality(cf.Dei,2000).Theinterplayofdifferentknowledge

isoneofthemanyreasonswhyIndigenousknowledgemustbetaughtintheacademy(idem).The

ultimate goal of this integration, within the learning environment, is to affirm a collaborative

dimensionofknowledge,andtofurthermoreaddressthediversityinstories,events,experiences

and ideaswhich are thebuildingblocks for humandevelopment (cf.Dei, 2000;Mucina, 2011).

Ultimately,theprizedobjectiveofUbuntustorytellingistomaintainculturalcontinuityasitisto

allow for cultural directional change (idem). “Ubuntu” storytelling is an effort to create shared

interpretationstructuresaboutexperienceinorderforchangetohavesharedmeaning.

Undoubtedly,itiswithinourreasoningandbeliefthatstorytellingisateachingapproachwhichcan

invite pupils to think for themselves and create their own truths. It iswith the convergenceof

multisensorialsourceinformationthatpupilscangenerateideas,formulatenewerinterpretations,

assesstheprocessandchangedirectionsbasedontheirjudgments(cf.Ohler,2013;Duarte,&Cruz

2017)leadingtocriticalthinking.

11

Criticalthinkingandproblemsolvingistheencompassingofmeta-cognitiveprocesses.Diligently,

teachersarerequiredtohelptheirpupilsindevelopingtheirskillsinorderfortomorrow’sleaders

tobecomeawareoftheirperceptions,assumptionsandvalues.Byhelpingpupilstolearnhowto

expressandvoicetheirownpointsofview,theyareabletopositionthemselvesinrelationtoreality

andcurrentissues(cf.Martinez,&Niño,2013).

Collaboration should also be fosteredwithin the classroomwalls, where pupils are able to: a)

demonstrateanabilitytoworkeffectivelyandrespectivelywithdiverseteams;b)exerciseflexibility

andwillingness;c)demonstrateasenseofhelpfulnesstowardsothers;d)makecompromises in

ordertoachievecommongoals(P21,2015).Bygivingpupilstheopportunitytopositionthemselves

inrelationtoothersbyagreeingordisagreeingwiththeirpeers,ahealthy,activeclassroomisa

sharingclassroomwhere,togethernessbuildsbonds,trustandcooperation(cf.McGonical,2010).

Inherently, creativity and innovation is an essential skill set,which according to Fogarty (2013)

shouldbeinstilledinourclassroomsduetothefactthatcreativethinkingfostersanever-ending

stream of innovations, i.e., creativityis the ideation of a thought whereasinnovationis the

realization of the idea (Fogarty, 2013).Therefore, creative thinking involves creating something

newororiginal, implyingflexibility,originality, fluency,elaboration,brainstorming,modification,

imagery,associativethinking,aswellasmetaphoricalthinking(cf.Duarte,&Cruz2017).Hence,by

instillingmorefocusedintention,purposefulprojectsandenlighteningperformancesthatcanbe

easilywovenintoclassroompractices,pupilswillbecomebetterequippedwithessentialthinking

attitudesandskills(cf.Fogarty,2013).

Taking into consideration all the aforementioned, we are made to believe that “Ubuntu”

storytellingaswellasSouthAfricanculturalandlinguisticvarietiescanbeveryneatlyplacedwithin

the P21'sFramework for 21st Century learning skills. The 4Cs found herein form the basis of

“Ubuntu” storytelling and linguistic diversity, where collaboration is neatly tied in with

communication,criticalthinkingandcreativity,knowingtheseshouldformtheessenceofmodern

dayclassroompractices.Havingtheabilitytoexpressoneselfcreatively,throughcommunicated

languagesandthroughotherknowledge,canformthebasisforfuturesuccessinthe21stcentury

andbeyond(Duarte,&Cruz2017).

Upon further consideration, we also believe that by applying an experiential communicative

approachenhancedby (hyper) sensorystrategies (Cruz,2015), teachersareable to involveand

engage pupils with competencies and dexterities which may help to further develop their

collaborative,communicative,creativeandcritical thinking,hence,creactical skills (Ohler,2013)

both inandbeyondtheclassroomwalls.Focusonthisapproach isemphasized in the following

chapter.

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Chapter2-Gamification’sOctalysis:Theexperientialforcesbehindhuman-

focusedgamification

As stated by AEE (2008), we are able to consider that experiential education holds at its core

learningexperiences.AccordingtoUCDavis,experientialeducationisconceptunderstandingata

level that can be generalized and applied to new situations or, when combined with the

understandingofotherpreviouslylearntconcepts,caneffectivelydevelopnewerlevelsofmastery,

formingthebasicunderstandingthatallexperiencematters.Furthermore,withoutanexperience,

notruelearningorrealunderstandingcantakeplace.Withthisbeingsaid,accordingtoAEE(idem),

experientialeducationcanbeconsideredasamethodologywhereeducatorspurposefullyengage

with learners indirectexperienceswhereby focusedreflection isoptimized inorder to increase

knowledge,developskillsandclarifyvalues(idem).It istheprocesswhereknowledgeiscreated

through the transformation of experience (Kolb, 1984). It delves in introducing change from a

relevantandauthenticexperiencewherebypupilsarereadilyabletomakeconnectionswithreal

life. Being a multidimensional and holistic approach, it aims at improving pupil’s potential to

buildingupself-esteemandintrospectiveness(cf.Duarte,&Cruz.2017).

Inanexperientiallearningclassroom,therolethattheteachertakesonisnolongeratraditional

teacher-as-expert (Knutson, 2015) instead they are seen as facilitators, guides and helpers (cf.

Spruck-Wrigley 1998; Knutson, 2003). However, according to Knutson (2003), for experiential

learningtosuccessfullytakeplace,itdoesrequirethattheteacherbepreparedandorganizedprior

toprojectimplementation.Eachphaseshouldbethoughtofandreflecteduponandteachersneed

toanticipateanypossibledifficultiesormishapswhilemaintainingcreativitytowardsanyteachable

moments.Byproviding learnerswiththenecessaryguidance inorderforpupilstoanalyzetheir

experiencesandtotransformthemintolearning,ultimately,pupilswillbeleftatanadvantage(cf.

Knutson,2003).

Fernández-Corbarcho (2014) further epitomizes this teaching approach by pinpointing the

following features: a) classroom tasks and projects need to engage pupils into cooperative

strategies,therebymakingthemresponsiblefortheirlearning;b)authenticuseoflanguagewith

meaningfulandstimulatingactivitiesshouldbeprepensed;c)toexpeditefurtherinterest,eachtask

needstobechallenging;d)avarietyofactivitiesshouldbeconsideredaccordingtothegroups’

different learning styles; e) a sense of security and belongingness should be offered by giving

constantrecognitionofachievements.Fernández-Corbarcho(idem)alsoregardstheuseofICTas

classroomtoolsandproposesseveraltypesofactivitiessuchaswebquests,wikisandblogswith

multimediamaterial,socialnetworks,etc.

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Attheheartoftheexperientiallearningapproachonewillfindpupils’needsandinterestsaswell

asinteractionandcommunication(cf.Duarte.&Cruz,2017;Cruz,&Orange,2016;Cruz,2015).It

encouragespupilstodevelopinterestinexploringandinquiringandupholdscreativity,flexibility,

risktakingandleadershipaspredominatecharacteristics.AccordingtoKnutson(2003),whenthese

approachesareimplemented,pupilsbecomemoreawareoftheirownlearningbecauselanguage

islearntinrealsettings.Classroomcollaborationisbuiltontheprinciplethatlanguagelearningis

facilitatedwhenpupilsarecollaborativelyinvolvedwhileworkingonprojects.Thesetasksshould

include exposure, participation, internalization and dissemination (Knutson, 2003). In turn they

become, challenging, communicative and meaningful because classroom collaborated tasks

provide opportunities for pupils’ ownership and participation in their own language learning,

according to Knutson (idem). Ultimately, experiential learning creates environments that are

conducive to sustaining further learning motivation as it seeks pupil’s personal growth and

development, by enhancing self-esteem, by respecting diversity while simultaneously fostering

theirrisktakingability(cf.Duarte,&Cruz,2017).

Multisensory learning can also be blended in with the experiential learning approach as it

transforms the senses in perception channelswhich in turn can activate the brain connections

(Shams&Seitz, 2008).Multisensory learningoffers adoorway towardsan improvementof the

learningprocess,wherepupilsaregiventheopportunityofgainingsomethingthroughexperience

becausetheyaregiventhechancetocommitsomethingtomemory(Arslan,2010).Wealsoagree

withArslan (2009,WEB)who refers that “every lesson should include a hands-on experience”.

Pupilsarethereforeabletoreapthebenefitsofmultisensory learningbecause it impliesbetter

understanding,betterretentionandamoreinclusivelearningenvironment(idem).Ultimately,and

byagreeingwithFernández-Corbacho(2014),itisnecessarytointegrateexperienceswherepupils

havefulfillmentopportunities.Thisincludesreflectionandstimulatingcriticalanalysis,inorderfor

pupilstoabletoassimilateandcreateproactiveknowledgewhichcanbeusedinothercontexts.

Arslan(2009,WEB)alsopavesthewayforeducatorswhoareimplementingandusingICTtoolsin

theclassroombysuggesting:“considerthepotentialoftouchscreensineducation,whereachild

caneasily slideobjectsbackand forthon the screenand learn in theprocess.” It is this sliding

backwardsandforwardsthatcangiveourpupilsafullhands-onexperience.Notonlybecauseit

brings innoveltytotheclassroomenvironmentbutpupilsarealsoengagedinthedevelopment

andaddingonideas.Interactivitycanalsobefoundwiththiscollaborativetoolwheretwoormore

pupils can share ideas, can become more intrigued and focused as it lets creativity flow.

Furthermore,pupilsaregivenagreatersenseofempowermentandresponsibilityfortheirlearning

process(cf.Anderson,2015).Therefore,usethecomputerandonlineresourcestotakelearningto

anewlevelwheretheycanseeandhearandinteract(Arslan,2009).

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Therefore, it is understood that by involving pupils can increase the learning process through

stimulatedexperiences,whereby,chancesofpupilsrememberingandretainingnewinformation

areincreased,i.e.,itisthoseexperienceswherepupilsareactivelyinvolvedandareactivelydoing,

whichwillhelpourpupilstounderstand.

Bytakingtheaforementionedintoaccount,webelievethatthegamificationpedagogyservesthis

purpose. According to Kapp (2012), gamification is defined as using game-based mechanics,

aesthetics, and game-thinking to engage people,motivate action, promote learning, and solve

problems.Itisaboutapplyinggameelementsandgamemechanicstonon-gameactivitiestomake

everydayactivitiesmorefascinating,motivationandbehaviourchanging(cf.Duarte,&Cruz.2017).

AccordingtoChou(2016),gamificationisthecraftofderivingfunandengagingelementsfoundin

typicalgamesandthoughtfullyapplyingthemtoreal-worldorproductiveactivities.Thisprocessis

called Human-Focused Design (HFD). It emphasizes that people have feelings, ambitions,

insecuritiesandreasonstodoandperformcertainthings.It isthereforetheoptimizingofthese

feelings, motivations and engagement that HFD is at the basic foundation when designing for

overallsystemsorwhenapplyingthemineducation.

Theauthoralsocallsthisdesigndiscipline“Gamification”becausethegamingindustrywasthefirst

tomasterHFD(Chou,2016). It isunderstoodthatgameshavenootherpurposethantoplease

peopleandplayers.Theyholdtheprimaryobjectiveofkeepingpeopleconstantlyengagedthrough

purposefulgoals,hereon,servingasagreatsourceofinsightandunderstandingintoHFD(idem).

Therefore, according to this author, gamification is the looking through the lens of games and

understanding how to combine different gamemechanics and techniques to form desired and

joyfulexperiencesforeveryone.

Hereon,gameassumptionsaretakenintotheclassroom,stimulatingtheintegrationofexperience,

criticalanalysisandreflectionintheteaching-learningprocess(Duarte&Cruz.2017).Itiswithhope

thatbysuccessfullyapplyinggamificationprinciplesandtechniquestorealworldsituationsthat

theycanactuallymotivateandchangebehaviourinsteadofbysimplyaddinggameshells(Chou,

2016),whichmayfallshortatitscoreduetoalackoffoundationandshallowness.

Ineducation,focuscannotliesolelyondevelopingasuperficiallevelofagame,hence,theshellof

the game experience (cf. Chou, 2016). This is often embodied in the form of gamemechanics

commonlydenominatedas:Points,BadgesandLeaderboards(PBLs).Onecannotbelievethatthe

sumtotalofthegamificationmethodologyandphilosophyisbysimplyaddingpoints,somebadges

and providing a competitive leaderboard that it can make a tedious activity into something

immediatelyexciting(cf.Chou,2016).

ThesePBLmechanicsneeds tobeappliedwith the intentionofengaging thepupil. Inorder for

activities tobecomemeaningfuland fun,certainelementsarenecessary, suchas:a) theuseof

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elementsofstrategy;b)peergroupinteractivity;c)capacitytoovercomechallengesandobstacles

(cf.Chou,2016).Hereon,PBLscanserveasaddedbonuses.Theycanberelatedtobothextrinsic

motivation where pupils are engaged because of a goal or a reward, or related to intrinsic

motivation,wheretheactivity in itself is funandexciting,withoutareward.Therefore, thePBL

elementsaresimplytheretopushandpullpupil’sbehavioralCoreDrives(cf.Chou,2016)

AccordingtotheauthorChou(2016),everysuccessfulgameortask,appealstoCoreDriveswithin

us andmotivates us towards a variety of decisions and activities. Chou (2016) theorizedwhat

differentiatesonetypeofmotivationfromandother,thereforelayinggroundforagamification

designframeworkknownasOctalysis. Itsname isderivedfromanoctagonalshapewith8Core

Drivesrepresentingeachside(seeFigure1).Reflectionwasmadethateverything,actionorchoice,

isbasedononeormoreofthe8CoreDriveswithintheOctalysis.It istherefore,Chou(2016)’s

startingpremiseoftheOctalysisFrameworkthatgamification’saimistomaximisethemotivation

fordesiredbehaviouraloutcomes through theuseof8CoreDrives (Meaning,Accomplishment,

Empowerment,Ownership,Scarcity,Unpredictability,Avoidance,SocialInfluence).

Figure1-TheOctalysisFramework

Thesecanalternativelybeclassified intoWhiteHat (positivegamification) -BlackHat (negative

gamification) and Left Brain (extrinsic tendency) – Right Brain (intrinsic tendency) (cf. GamFed,

WEB).

AsstatedbyChou(2016),theOctalysisFrameworkisarrangedinawaythattheCoreDrives,which

focus on creativity, self-expression and social dynamics are organized on the right side of the

octagon,herebyconsideredasRightBrainCoreDrives.ExamplesontheOctalysisincludeCoreDrive

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3:EmpowermentofCreativity&Feedback,CoreDrive5:SocialInfluence&RelatednessandCore

Drive7:Unpredictability&Curiosity.ItistheRightBrainCoreDrivesthatmostlyfocusonIntrinsic

Motivations,whereonedoesnotneedagoalorarewardtousetheircreativity,bewithfriends,or

feelthesuspenseofunpredictability–theactivityinitselfisrewarding(Chou,2016).

TheCoreDriveswhichappealtologic,analyticalthoughtandownershiparegraphedontheleft

sideoftheoctagonandaretermedLeftBrainCoreDrives.TheyareexpressedinthefollowingCore

Drives:CoreDrive2:Development&Accomplishment,CoreDrive4:Ownership&Possessionand

CoreDrive6:Scarcity& Impatience.LeftBrainCoreDrives tend to relyonExtrinsicMotivation,

whereoneismotivatedbecauseonewantstoobtainsomething,suchasagoal,agood,oranything

thatcannotbeeasilyobtained(cf.Chou,2016).

Ineducationalterms,byprovidingforExtrinsicMotivators,suchasrewardsfortaskcompletion,

areimportantasinitialmotivators,however,extrinsicmotivationcanimpair intrinsicmotivation

becausewhenpupils no longer receive rewards, theirmotivationmay plummet. It is therefore

suggested that classrooms are designed better in Right Core Drives, which appeal to Intrinsic

Motivation,bymakingtheactivitiesinitselffunandrewarding,sothat,pupilsinturnareengaged

intheactivity(cf.Chou2016).

Another important aspectof theOctalysis Framework (idem) is that the topCoreDrives in the

octagon are considered very positivemotivations,while thebottomCoreDrives are treated as

morenegative.TechniquesthatheavilyrelyontheuseofthetopCoreDrivesaredenominated

“WhiteHatGamification”andcanbefoundinCoreDrive1:EpicMeaning&Calling,CoreDrive2:

Development & Accomplishment and Core Drive 3: Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback.

Techniques thatutilize thebottomCoreDrives are called “BlackHatGamification”, and canbe

foundinCoreDrive6:Scarcity&Impatience,CoreDrive7:Unpredictability&CuriosityandCore

Drive8:Loss&Avoidance.

Educationally,therearedominantstrategiestodeterminewhenandhowtouseeitherWhiteHat

orBlackHatgamification(Chou,2016).SchoolsareurgedtouseWhiteHatgamificationbecause,

itnotonlyhelpspupils feelemotionallyconnectedandhelpsthemtodevelopandgrow, italso

implies long-termengagement(idem).WhiteHatgamificationisoftenaboutthetopthreeCore

Drives in theOctalysis: creatingmeaning, providing a path tomastery and ensuring autonomy

(idem).Ontheotherhand,becauseBlackHatgamificationcreatesasenseofurgency,forexample,

whenpupilsneedtotakeimmediateactionorreactquickly,hereBlackHatstrategiesoftenbecome

themosteffectivesolutions(Chou,2016).

Therefore, as suggestedbyChou (2016), inorder toblend thenatureanddifferencesbetween

WhiteHatandBlackHat,teachersshouldconsiderthattheduringtheDiscoverystage(idem),initial

stagesoftheunit/theme,itisbettertofirstsetupaWhiteHatenvironmenttomakepupilsfeel

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powerfulandcomfortable,andthenimplementBlackHatgamificationatthemomentwhenone

needs to perform a Desired Action. Once an achievement is accomplished and the rewards

obtained,teacherscanfinallyrevertbacktoaWhiteHatstrategytomakepupilsfeelcomfortable

again.

TheOctalysisFrameworkisatooltohelpdecipherallthemotivationalCoreDrivesandcanbeused

intheclassroomto:a)understandhowtoengineeranddesignformotivationwithinaparticular

classroomsetting;b)understandandoptimizemotivation inorderto fulfill shortand long-term

classroomgoals;c)provideavisualunderstandingoftheintricaciesofmotivationand,d)transform

activitiesintomeaningful,fulfillingandenrichingexperiences.IftherearenoneoftheseCoreDrives

behind a Desired Action, even within classroom practices, there is no motivation, and no

behaviourialchangeoccurs(idem).

Hereon,wewillexaminewhatthese8CoreDrivesareandpinpointsomeclassroomstrategiesand

activities that can be incorporated in order to blend game design, which can be found in the

Octalysis’motivationalcore,andfurtherdevelopthemintoeducationalexperiencesandpractices.

According to Chou (2016), the mentioned “Game Techniques”, hence “Game Elements”, are

consideredasActionable.Hereon,itisourintentiontorefertotheappliedclassroompracticesin

ourInternshipReport,asActionablePractices,wherebyservingasasuggestedActionablePractice

ResourceBankforfuturereference.

ConformingtoChou(2016)thepowerfulandenchantingOctalysisframework,thefirstCoreDrive

isknownasCoreDrive1:EpicMeaning&Calling.Itisthedrivewherepeoplearemotivatedbecause

theybelievethattheyareengagedinsomethingbiggerthanthemselvesandthattheyaredoing

somethinggreaterthanthemselves.Pupilsareofferedasenseofresponsibility fortheiractions

andchoices.ItisalsoverypowerfulintheDiscoveryandOnboardingPhasesofthepupil’sjourney

(Chou,2016).

In fact, we believe that novelty can be introduced into the classroom through storytelling and

consideration must be given that in order for them to connect in a meaningful way, three

componentsarerequired.Theseneedtobeemotionalengaging,benoveltomadememorable(cf.

Gallo,2016).Ingamifiedstorytellingemotionthroughstorytellingisveryimportantmainlybecause

oneneedstotouchtheheartbeforeyoureachthebrain(Gallo,2016;Duarte,&Cruz,2017).Stories

also inform, illuminate and inspire through the connecting of human beings, making them

meaningful andmemorable because storytelling is an emotionally-charged event (cf. Duarte&

Cruz,2017).Hereon,byinstillingEpicMeaning&Callinginto,andatthestartalesson/unitwitha

narrative, it gives pupils a valid contextualization and reason as to why they should actively

participateandbecomeengagedinthelesson(cf.Chou,2016).Thisallowstheteachertogivepupils

acontextforhighermeaningthroughthepupil’sinteractionwiththestory.Bystorytelling,itcan

18

givethemreasontomake-believeamagicalmeaningwhichcaninspirepupilsandengagethem

morebecausetheyareleftmotivatedbytheirimaginations(cf.idem).

In terms of Actionable Practices, Core Drive 1 can also incorporate “world missions” and epic

meaningintheclassroom.ItiswithinthisdrivethatinstillsasenseofHumanity,accordingtoChou

(2016). This can be the promoting of lifelong learning skills, where pupils might learn how to

collaborativelymakecupcakes,sconesorevenpeanutbuttersandwicheswhichcanthenbeserved

foragreatercause,suchaspromotinganAfternoonTeapartyfortherestoftheschoolcommunity

andfamily,whichwehaveundertakenduringourpractice.Therefore,CoreDrive1underlinesthe

purposebehindtasksandstrengthensalltheothersevenCoreDrives(Chou,2016).

The second CoreDrive is known asCoreDrive 2: Development&Accomplishment, which is an

internaldriveformakingprogress,developingskills,achievingmasteryandultimatelyovercoming

challenges(Chou,2016).Achallengingandmeaningfultaskservesasa justificationforabadge,

trophyorawardanditiswithinthisCoreDrivethatmostofthePBLscanbefound(cf.idem).

Themajority of pupils,within this CoreDrive, are driven by a sense of growth and a need for

accomplishment of targeted goals. It is an enthusiasm generator and leads to a commitment

towardslearningnewskills.ItistheCoreDrivethatmotivatespupilsbyshowinghowfartheyhave

comeandhowmuchtheyhavegrown(cf.idem),whichcanbefeltbyintegratinglevels,badges,

stagesorevenprogressbars.Theycancomeinmanyforms,evenchocolatemoneycoins(astobe

foundinthisreport’spracticalcomponent).However,justbyseeingthesegamifiedelementsdoes

not necessarily imply that one feels accomplished. Core Drive 2’s essential key is to therefore

ensurethatpupilsareproudofovercomingtheproposedchallenges.

FallinginlinewiththeChou(2016),theachievementsymbolsforexample,apointssystemcanbe

regarded as Status Points and Exchangeable Points, which are for keeping a progress score.

Internally, itallowspupilstoknowhowclosetheyaretowardsawin-stateandexternally; it isa

pupil’sfeedbacksystemfortrackingtheirprogress.Thesepointsandtrackingsystems,inChou’s

(2016)Octalysisframework,canbeusedbyworkingwithtwodigitalplatformresources,“Plickers”2

and“Kahoot”3,whichwehavetackledduringourpractice.Theyaretypicallyusedforformative

assessment, to monitor pupils’ progress towards learning objectives (cf. Valle, 2015). Showing

pupilstheirscoreandhowitchangesbasedonsmallimprovementsservesasaclassroommotivator

becauseitisbasedonmeaningfulandengagingtasks.

Anotherachievementsymbol,accordingtoChou(2016),isaleaderboardwhichisagameelement

whereusersarerankedbasedonasetofcriteriathatisinfluencedbyusers’behaviourstowards

2Plickerscanbeaccessedhere:https://www.plickers.com.

3Kahoot!maybeaccessedhere:https://kahoot.it.

19

the Desired Actions. With careful design, leaderboards can create what is known as Urgent

Optimism,whichaccordingtoMcGonigal(2011)iswhentheuser,hencepupil,feelsoptimisticthat

ataskcanbeaccomplishedbutthereisalsoanurgencytoactimmediately.Leaderboardscanalso

be set up asGroup Leaderboardswhere the ranking is basedon the group’s combinedefforts,

whereby a seemingly competitive activity can lead into a motivationally driven group effort,

resultingineveryoneworkinghardtowardsanachievementofcommongoals(cf.Chou,2016).

ForActionablePractices,intwodistinctclassroompractices,GroupLeaderboardswereused.Both

impliedavariationofthedataanditsmainaimwasthestartofanewtrackingprocess,whereby,

nogroupwouldfallbehindandleadtoarenewedsenseofUrgentOptimismwithinthegroup.

ThethirdCoreDrive isknownasCoreDrive3:EmpowermentofCreativity&Feedback,and it is

expressedwhenpupils are engaged in a creative processwhere they repeatedlywork towards

hands-on problem solving (Salen, 2009) by figuring out new things and trying out different

combinations(cf.Chou,2016).Pupilsshouldbeengagedinactivitieswheretheycanseetheresults

oftheircreativity,receivefeedbackandadjustaccordingly.CreativitycanbeseenasanEvergreen

Mechanic(Chou,2016)becauseitstandsforpupils’empowermentwhilebeingcreativeandseeing

immediateresults.

ThisCoreDrivelies intheperennialabilityofcontinuouspupil’sengagement(Chou,2016)atall

stagesofclassroompractices.Teachersshouldbeurgedtocreateaclassroomsetupwherepupils

are given a goal, while using different didactic strategies, as well as by offering a variety of

meaningful tools, in order for them to reach the proposed goal. Suggestion is made that this

effective Core Drive, within the classroom walls, implies endless pupil’s engagement. It is the

allowingforpupilstoexpresstheironboundcreativityandtoreceiveimmediatefeedback.

TohelpcreateOnboundingcreativityexperiences,pupils’autonomyneedstobebestowed.It is

theofferingofpupilsmorecontrolinusingtheirowncreativeprocesses.AccordingtoPink(2009),

bygivingpeopleautonomyoverwhattheyworkon,howtheywork,whotheyworkwithandwhen

theywork,becomesagreatermotivator.InGoogle’sprogramme,20%Time,hence,GeniusHour,

thecompanies’ collaboratorsweregiven theopportunity toworkonanycreativeproject, fora

certainperiodoftimeintheweek.Thisenabledcollaborators,whohadgreatideasandwantedto

see them turn into reality, the opportunity for their project time and development. Within

classroomwallsthesameprinciplescanbeapplied,i.e.,pupilsarechallengedtoexploreanddoa

projectwhichisthensharedwiththeclassandcommunity.

ThisReportcancountondifferentActionablePracticeprojectswhichcanfallunderCoreDrive3.

ThefirsttobeconsideredisaFlippedClassroomstrategy,whichisdirectinstructiondeliveredto

the individual outside of class, and more strategic use of in-class time for group work and

20

individualized attention (Bergmann, & Sams, 2014). It aims at reversing traditional learning

environmentsbydeliveringinstructionalcontent,oftenonline,outsideoftheclassroom.

The main topics researched for the Actionable Practice project development were related to

“TraditionalSouthAfricanHomes”and“What’sfordinner?”acrossthenations.Thefirsthadthe

intentionof,asacollaboratedeventandtohelpdevelopmoreculturalinsight,pupilsresearched

for thedifferent traditionalhomes inSouthAfricaandweremadeawareof thesimilaritiesand

differences. Pupils thenproduced their own image slideshowand later videoconferencewith a

SouthAfricanschool.ByknowingthatthroughvideoconferencingandWeb2.0fosteredtheonline

mobility(Cruz,&Melo,2004)ofEuropeancitizens,pupilswereherebygivenahandonexperience

with other pupils from South Africa. Pupils were offered the possibility to engage in virtual

encounters, which promote both intercultural communicative (Byram, 1997) and plurilingual

competences(AraújoeSá,&Melo,2004;Cruz,2005).Hereon,pupilswereabletocollaboratively

createatownplanningproject,wheretownmapsweredrawnupandlaterpresentedtotheclass.

ThesecondActionablePracticeresearchedtopicwasavideocalled“What’sfordinner?”.Notonly

didpupilshavetheopportunitytowatchthevideoasmanytimesnecessaryinthecomfortoftheir

homesbut theyalsohadtheirparent’smoralandemotional support.Thepromotingof further

culturalawarenesswas itsmainobjective,butalsotheuseofmobiletechnology,suchastablet

computers,whichcanpavethewayforanincreasedcommitmenttoandaninterestinlanguage

learning(Hockly,&Dudeney2014).Inthiswaylearnerscanundertakepartoftheirstudytimewith

their own choice of tool, whereby generating higher and more sustained interest (idem). By

watchingthevideo,pupilswerealsomadeawareofthedifferentwaysofharvestingorbuyingfood.

AthirdActionablePractice,accordingtotheOctalysisinAction,pupilsparticipatedina“Stokvel”

NumeracyQuestwhichcancontributetowardsalife-longlearningproject.The“stokvel”isaSouth

African community driven and collaborativemoney saving scheme. According to their “money

earningsandsavings”,pupilswereinvitedtogofoodshoppingontheirgivenbudget.

Accordingtotheaforesaid,itisinouropinionandbeliefthatforalonglastingandeffectiveCore

Drive3:EmpowermentofCreativity&Feedbacktobeusedwithintheclassroomwalls,teachers’

considerationneedstobegiventotheapplyingofthesethreeMMM’s(Blikstein,2016;Muir,2017).

By teachers focusingonandbringing into theclassroomModeled tasks,pupilscandevelopand

work on them wherebyMaking them their own and furthermore offering pupils a sense of

empowerment. This ultimately leads toMemorable,meaningful classroomgenerated activities,

therebytappingeffectivelyintoCoreDrive3’sessence.

ThefourthCoreDriveisknownasCoreDrive4:Ownership&Possession.Itisappliedwhenpupils

aremotivatedbecausetheyfeelthattheyownorcontrolsomething,suchasaprocessoraproject.

Whenownershipisfelt,theyinnatelywanttoincrease,improveandevenobtainmore(cf.Chou

21

2016).ThisCoreDrivealsoprovidesemotionalcomfortandhasanabilitytoinstillasenseofwell-

being.

AccordingtoChou(2016),aninterestingeffectofCoreDrive4isthatitalsodrivesustovalueour

ownidentities,charactersandbecomemoreconsistenttowardsourpastcommitments.Thelonger

weliveorareinvolvedinacommunity,themorewebecomeattachedtoourexistingbeliefsand

preferences.ThisCoreDriverecognizesthattheattachmenttoone’sidentitycanbecomesostrong

thatanythingconnectedorrelatedtothatidentitybecomesdesirable.Therefore,wecanconcede

thatcultureplaysanimportantrolewithintheclassroomwallsasitservesasthebuildingblocks

forpupil’sidentity.

InCoreDrive4,theActionablePracticescouldbeseeninthefollowingways:a)pupilsbroughtina

familyphotoandaphotooftheirhomeswiththeobjectiveofsharingandspeakingaboutthemto

others;b)theycreativelydrawnpicturessuchaswhattheyhavefordinnerweremade;c)using

personalrealiahelptoserveasclassroomprops;andd)theysharedatraditionalfamilycakerecipe

inordertomakeaClassroomRecipebook.

ThefifthCoreDriveisknownasCoreDrive5:SocialInfluence&Relatedness,incorporatesallthe

social elements that motivate people, namely mentorship, social acceptance, social feedback,

companionshipandevencompetitionandenvy(cf.Chou,2016).Itisinspiredbywhatotherpeople

think, say or do. Success is basedonour desires to connect and comparewithone another. It

expresseshowwearenaturallydrawnclosertopeople,placesoreventsthatwecanrelateto,even

creatingasenseofnostalgia.

Ineducation,whenusedproperly,itcanserveasoneofthestrongestandlong-lastingmotivations

forpupilstobecomeconnectedandengaged.Byimplementinganinterestingdynamicbetween

CoreDrive1:EpicMeaning&CallingandCoreDrive5:SocialInfluence&Relatednesscanhelpto

developgroupandteamrelationshipsaswellasleadershippractices.Withinthegroup,theleader

isusuallymotivatedbyEpicMeaning&Callingandtheynormallyhavethelong-termvisionforthe

team. Inorderforthegrouptosucceed,the leader isusuallywillingtosacrificetheirownwell-

beinginordertofulfilthathighermeaningandreasoningthattheyarepassionateabout(idem).

The group’smembers are usuallymotivated by Social Influence&Relatedness,where they are

performingtasksbecause,notonlytheirteamleaderwantsthemtobuttheyalsodon’twanttolet

theteamdown.Theleaderisusuallysuccessfulifeveryonebecomespassionateaboutthehigher

meaningofaprojectortask,therefore,theyareaimedatthemotivationalgoal.Anachievedaim,

withinagrouptask,normallyimpliesanequallywell-balancedEpicMeaning&Callingmotivation

withSocialInfluence&Relatedness(idem).Inotherwords,itistheachievingofcommonground

goalswithinagroupeffort,whenagroupofgreatthinkerscometogethertoattackaproblem,

goodthingstendstohappen(McKinney,2016).

22

In consonance with Chou (2016) and parallel to the theme of leadership, is the concept of

competition. In terms of gamification, competition in the classroom needs to be properly

implemented in order for it to improve classroom productivity and dynamics. In general,

competitioncreatesanadrenaline rushandaddsa senseofurgency (McGongical,2012) to the

effortbutforittobestressfreeand,tobeabletopooltogetherstrengthsinacollaborativeway

(Herger, 2014), it needs to be short-term. Teachers should consider strategies which bring

individual strengths together inorder toproduceeffective collaboration.Collaborativeplay can

help preserve and improve a positive classroom culture as well as support and encourage the

development of talent and skills (cf. Chou, 2016) at the same time by increasing competitive

strengthwhereitreallymatters.

InorderforaclassroomenvironmenttodrawpowerfromCoreDrive5, inActionablePractices,

ClassroomQuestsareveryeffectiveincollaborativeplaybecausetheyrequiregroupparticipation

beforeanyindividualisabletoachieveaWin-Stateemotion.ChallengingRevisionandNumeracy

Questsrequirethewholegrouptoworkcollaborativelyandresponsiblyinordertocompletethe

quest(s). Pupils collaboratively gain “Social Treasures” (Chou, 2016)which are rewards as they

completethetasks.Inourinternship,theActionablePracticessocialtreasuresweresmileybadges,

tobeplacedon the leaderboard, and chocolate coins,whichwereused for themoney savings

mission,the“Stokvel”inordertogainmoneytogofoodshopping.

ThesixthCoreDriveisknownasCoreDrive6:Scarcity&Impatience,isthelongingforsomething,

simply because it is extremely rare, exclusive or immediately unattainable.We have a natural

tendencytowantthingsthatwecan’thave.AsusingChou’s(2016)example,ifabowlofgrapes

weresittingonthetable,wemaynotcareaboutthem;butiftheywereonashelfjustbeyondour

reach(unattainable),wewouldlikelybethinkingaboutthosegrapes.Becausetheyaresodifficult

toobtaintheirperceivedvalueincreasedimmensely.Therefore,accordingtoChou(idem),scarcity

worksbecausepeopleperceivesomethingtobemorevaluablewhenitislessattainable.However,

considerationmustbegiventhatifthereisarealisticchanceofgettingsomethingscarcityisenough

toengagepeople.

ThisCoreDrive,plugs innicelywithCsíkszentmihályi’sFlowTheory(2008).Thistheory indicates

thatFlow,isanoptimalpsychologicalstatethatpeopleexperiencewhenengagedinanactivitythat

isbothappropriatelychallengingtoone’sskilllevel,oftenresultinginimmersionandconcentrated

focusonatask.Thiscanresultindeeplearningandhighlevelsofpersonalandworksatisfaction

Csíkszentmihályi(idem).Therefore,thedifficultyofthechallengemustincreasealongwiththeskill

setoftheuser(Chou,2016),i.e.,toomuchchallengeleadstoanxietyandtoolittlechallengeleads

toboredom.

23

By also placing a limit on something, people’s interest in it will increase and people will

enthusiasticallytakeadvantageoftheopportunity(Wansink,2006;Chou,2016).Bydrawinglimits,

pupilsaredrawntowardsthelimit.Implyingthatteachersshouldplacealimitonanactivityinorder

toincreasecertainbehavioursandincreasepupil’sengagement.

IntermsofActionablePractices,byplacingwhatisknownasAppointmentDynamics(Chou,2016),

whichisaformofatriggerbuiltaroundtime,suchasarecurringscheduleorachronometertype

ofactivity,ascanbefoundinClassroomQuests,pupilsweregivenacertainamountoftimeinorder

to complete a specific task so as to gain their rewards. Therefore, there is pupil engagement

becausepupilsaredrivenbyanincreasedinterestaswellashaveasenseofurgencyinwhichto

performandcompletethetask.

TheseventhCoreDriveisknownasCoreDrive7:Unpredictability&Curiosity,andit isthemain

forcebehindourinfatuationwithexperiencesthatareuncertainandinvolvechance(Chou,2016).

Unpredictabilityimpliesbeingconstantlyengagedbecauseonedoesnotknowwhatwillhappen

next.Infact,ourbrainstartstopayattentiontotheunexpected.Coupledwiththisisournatural

curiositytoexplore.Exploringtheunknownhelpspeopletoadapttochangingenvironmentsand

discovering new resources. In turn, this discovery can even lead to fun,which is pleasurewith

surprises(Schell,2008).

Asexplained,people’srationaletellsusthatifonewastoplayagamewhereabuttonhadtobe

pressedcontinuouslyandateveryoddstrike,onecould,bychance,getareward,suchasinthe

SkinnerBoxphenomenon,onewouldkeeponpressingit.Heretheanimalpressedalever(aDesired

Action)andaportionoffoodwasreleased.Aslongastheanimalpressedthelever,thefoodwould

continuetobedispensed.Thisindicatesthatthereisanunpredictablechanceofwinningwiththe

rightreward incentive. It isthesatisfyingofourburningcuriositythat is intrinsicallymotivating,

sometimesevenmoresothantheextrinsicrewardoffood.Alessonthatcanbedrawnfromthe

SkinnerBoxphenomenon,isthatitisnotPointsandBadgesthatmotivatepeople,butratherthe

unpredictableresultsstemmingfromCoreDrive7(cf.Chou2016).

CoreDrive7:Unpredictability&Curiosityalsocreatessuspenseandmystery.DuringtheActionable

Practices, introducing African Oral and Ubuntu Storytelling can help to create excitement,

anticipation and added suspense and curiosity towards what will happen next. Curiosity was

generatedtowardstheunknown,foundinstorytelling,wheretherewasasenseofexplorationand

chancetodiscovernewenvironmentsandthings.

The last Core Drive is known as Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance. It is themotivation to avoid

somethingnegative fromhappening(Chou,2016). Inthegamingworld, it is thestayingalive in

order to advance to thenext round.Havingdiedor contracted injury, players are facedwith a

setbackandareforcedtorestartorlosesomethingsignificant,suchascoins,rewards,orplaying

24

lives.Thiseffectcanalsorefertoreallifesituationswherethereisfearoflosingforexample,time,

investments,resourcesetc.Inordertopreserveouregoandsenseofself(idem),innatelythereis

arefusaltogiveupandadmitthatachievementsuptothispointcanberenderedasuseless.

InActionablePractices, throughproactively involvedexperienceswhichhaveundertakenduring

ourinternship,pupilsavoidednegativeoutcomes,suchaswhenlearningthelifelongbakingskills.

Whenthecupcakes,whichweretobeservedatanAfternoonTea4,weremadebythepupils,who

weremotivatedtoavoidacupcakebakingfailureandepicovenflop,bycarefullyfocusingonthe

recipeinstructions,bycarefullybreakingtheeggs,bycorrectlystirringthebatter,beingcarefulthat

theovendoesn’tburnthecupcakes,etc.Ifoneofthesestageshadbeenincorrectlyperformed,a

negativeoutcomewouldbeachieved.

Itistherefore,inourbeliefthatthroughoutourinternshipdemonstrationhasshownthatall8Core

DrivesontheOctalysisFrameworkwerecarefullyandthoughtfullyblendedandusedinclassroom

practices.ByhavingplacedourresearchandfindingsintotheOctalysisFramework’sperspective,

wewouldnowliketoputonour“OctalysisGlasses”(Chou2016)inordertofurtherunderstand

howcompetitiveness,fosteredingamifiedtasks,wasfavourabletoPrimaryEnglishlearning.

Chapter3-Pro-activePupil’sDevelopment:IntertwiningInterdependence,

CollaborationandCompetition

“Iyouwanttogofastgoalone.

Ifyouwanttogofargotogether”

AfricanProverb

Ithasbeenunderstoodthat,accordingtoChou(2016),sincepupil’smotivationrequireslong-term

engagement,weshouldgenerallyapplyWhiteHatCoreDrivestoclassroompractices.Nonetheless,

thereare someBlackHatmotivational techniques that canbeused tomotivatepupils towards

short-termproductivitybursts,suchas:scarcityofopportunities,socialpressuresandcompetition.

P21(2009)beholdsthat21stcenturyeducationisthebedrockofcompetitiveness,andknowingthat

pupilswillencountercompetitionandcompetitiveenvironmentsintheirpostsecondarycareers

andlaterintheirjobmarkets(cf.Hanna,2014).Byexposingpupilstotheseenvironments,earlyin

theireducationalcareer,wecandeemitpossiblethatourpupilswillbebetterpreparedtohandle

competitioninlateryears(idem).

4Theschool’scommunityandparentswereinvitedtoparticipateinthisactivity.

25

Competition is also easily adopted and is a frequently usedmotivator in classroomsbecause it

drawsattentionandexcitementanditisawell-structuredactivitywithclearlydefinedgoals(Cheng,

Wu,Liao,&Chan,2009).

Competitioncanappearindifferentways,byoftenembodying:a)individualsorgroupscompeting

againstoneanotherorb)specificgoalsestablishedtoencouragemotivation(Cheng,Wu,Liao,&

Chan,2009;Hanna,2014).ItispartlysuggestedinEricksen(2011)thataseducatorsweshouldlook

atthetypesofcompetitionweencourageinourschoolsandgearthemmoretowardscompetition

to better one’s own performance rather than against another child, by effectively encouraging

collaborationandco-operativelearning.

Itisalsounderstoodthatamongthevarioussociallearningactivities,competitionplaysarolein

thedesignofatechnologicallysupportedlearningenvironment(Chang,Chuang,&Ho.2013).When

choosing to integrate technology, it is essential that solid pedagogy must precede technology

(Hanna,2014).Thechosentechnologyshouldbeaknowledgeandcomprehensivefacilitatorwhich

providesadditionalinsightastohowmuchpupilslearnandaremotivatedtolearn(idem).Aknown

historicaltechniquethatisoftenusedasamotivatoristhatofcompetition,introducedbetween

individuals and between groups, which, according to Hanna (2014), is referred to intergroup

competition.

Even though classroom competition does face some serious opposition by reasoning that it

potentiallycreatesanxietyandpossiblytoomuchfocusisputoncompetitionandnotenoughon

actualcoursematerial(idem).However,byencounteringandblendinglearningfacilitators,suchas

technology supported environments (Chang, Chuang, & Ho, 2013) with traditional visual

communication(Lester,&King2009),whenproperlyexecutedandwiththerightgoalsinmind,not

only is it enticing but it also helps pupils to learn in amultitudeof differentways and enables

teachers to teach limitlessly (cf.Hanna2014).Bycombining face-to-face instructionwithonline

elements,pupils get thebestofbothworlds in ahybridenvironment that isbeneficial to their

comprehensionofcoursematerial(cf.Vauhan,2007;Hanna2014).Thisearlyandongoingexposure

tonewtechnologyishypothesizedbyPrenskyasbeingresponsibleforthewayinwhichpupilsthink

andprocessinformation(cf.Prensky,2001;Hanna,2014).

Cognizancetocompetitioniscompetition-basedlearning(CnBL).AccordingtoBurguillo(2010),it

isconsideredtobelearningwhichisachievedthroughcompetitionbutnotnecessarilythepupil’s

achievement within the said competition; whereas competitive-based learning suggests that

whetherornotapupillearnsisdependentontheirachievementwithinthecompetition(Johnson,

Johnson,&Stanne,1985;Burguillo,2010;Hanna,2014).Itcanbenotedthat,accordingtoHanna

(2014), competition-based learning techniques can improve motivation to learn, increase

involvementandclassroomengagementaswellasencourage interactivityamongstpupils inan

26

efforttoperformwellwithinthecompetition(cf.Burguillo,2010;Vandercruysse,Vandewaetere,

Cornillie,Clarebout,2013;Hanna,2014).Competitioncreatesanadrenalinerushandaddsasense

of urgency to the effort (Chou, 2016), as well as creates pique excitement amongst pupils

(Vandercruysse,etal.,2013)whichresults in increasedfocusandmotivationduringachallenge

(Aldrich,2009;Chou,2016).

As in Hanna (2014), applying competition-based learning within the classroomwalls does face

certain challenges.TheopposersofCnBL construeavarietyof reasons theybelieve couldhave

negativeeffectsonpupil’sperformance,namely:becausethereisaheighteningofanxietylevelas

well as in certain classroom settings, there is an over-focus on the achieved score, resulting in

decreasedmotivationandlearning.Indicationisalsogiventhatinorderforcompetitiontobean

effectivelearningtool,thereneedstoberoomforimprovementaswellasafacilitatortohelpwith

thisimprovement(cf.Hanna,2014).However,thosewhoparticipateinCnBLstandtolearnfrom

theirperformance,particularlyregardingpreparation(idem).

Despite opposition, it is worth stating that the aforementioned reasons are important to

consider and account for, however, it is a fact that school going pupils will be exposed to

competitionatsomestageorother,regardlessastohowtheinformationthattheyarestudying

orlearningabout,isputforth.CnBLoffersawiderangeofadvantagesthatshouldberegarded

alongsideitsdisadvantages(Hanna,2014).

Theuseofcompetitioninaclassroomenvironmentcanbebeneficialtopupils’performancein

thesensethat it servesasaneffectivemotivator forsuccessandthat itgearspupils for the

“outsideworld”(Hannes,2014).Itisimportantforpupilstodevelopthenecessaryskillstodeal

withcompetitionconstructively(Hanna,2014)withinasenseofurgency(McGonigal,2011)and

havingshort-termproductivitybursts(Chou,2016),inordertosucceed.Learninghowtocompete

is an invaluable skill (Hanna 2014). In the future, pupils will need to face challenging tertiary

educationmodelsaswellas the jobmarket, in itself. Inotherwords, thecompetitivenatureof

society shouldnotbe fearedbut ratherexpected (cf.Hanna, 2014). Learninghow todealwith

competitionshouldthereforebenotedasthebuildingofacruciallifeskillwhichcanbedeveloped

earlyinacademicschooling.

The cognized benefits of competition-based educational techniques can be furthered by

acknowledgingtheeffectivenessofintergroupcompetition.Hence,intergroupcompetitionisthe

understandingofthisframeworkasacooperativerewardsystemwhereparticipantsinthegroup

havehigherprobabilitiesofachievingagivenreward(cf.Hanna,2014;Chou,2016).Inotherwords,

theachievementofanyindividualinthegroupisdependentontheworkpresentedbythegroup

asawhole(Hanna,2014).Groupmembersmustperceivethattheirindividualcontributionwillhelp

with the groups’ overall performance, and in turn they are meaningfully rewarded (idem).

27

Therefore,thereneedstobeacompetitionbasedactivityinorderforthegrouptobesuccessful.

Themotivationforthegrouptoworkcohesivelyisduetothedesiretowingamesandrankhigher

amongst other groups (idem). Such motivational Core Drives can be found in Chou (2016)’s

OctalysisFramework,aswehaveanalyzedinthepreviouschapter:CoreDrive1:EpicMeaning&

Calling,CoreDrive2:Development&Accomplishment,CoreDrive5:SocialInfluence&Relatedness

andCoreDrive7:Unpredictability&Curiosity.

Also, according to Slavin (1977), intergroup competition is essential for a cooperative reward

structure to be successful and accolades this systemwithin a competitive environment for its

uniqueabilitytomotivateindividualswithinthegroup,inawaythattheybehavesoastofacilitate

theproductionofothergroupmembers(cf.Slavin,1977;Hannes,2014).Thisisauniquemethod

of learning because it represents a resource sharing amongst groupmembers, which could be

unattainableinnon-competitiveenvironments(Hannes,2014).

Socialsupportisalsoencouragedthroughintergroupcompetitionnamelyintheembodimentof

theSocialInterdependenceTheory,whichisanexampleofinteractionamongtheory,researchand

practice(Johnson,&Johnson,1999)andhasbeenwidelyamalgamatedineducationduetothefact

thatitisaproviderofeffectivepracticeinawiderangeofsettings(idem).

TheSocialInterdependenceTheoryislargelyconcernedwithdevelopingandorganizingmeaningful

views by perceiving events as “integratedwholes”, rather than as a “summation of parts” (cf.

Johnson,&Johnson,1999).TheprinciplesofGestaltPsychology,developedinKoffka(1935)and

thenextendedonbyLewin(1949),indicatedthatgroupsaredynamicwholesinwhichmembers

aremadeinterdependentthroughcommongoals.Thearisingstateoftensioniswhatmotivates

thegrouptowardstheaccomplishmentofgoals.Deutch(1949,1962)furtherextendedthenotion

of the tension systems of interrelated people and conceptualized two types of social

interdependence,namelypositiveandnegativeinterdependence(cf.Johnson,&Johnson,1999).

Positiveinterdependenceiswhenthereisapositivecorrelationamongstindividualsandwhereitis

perceived thatgoalscanonlybeattainedwhen individuals,withwhomtheyarecollaboratively

linkedwith, canattain theirgoals,herein, itpromotes interaction.On theotherhand,negative

interdependenceexistswhenthere isanegativecorrelationamongst individualsandwhere it is

perceived that goals canonly beobtainedwhen individuals,withwhom they are competitively

linkedwith, fail to obtain their goals, herein, it promotes oppositional or contrient interaction

(Coleman,2009).Nointerdependenceexistswhenthereisnocorrelationamongstindividual’sgoal

achievements.It isperceived,byindividualsthattheirgoalachievementisunrelatedtothegoal

achievement of others, herein, it results in the absenceof interaction (cf. Johnson,& Johnson,

1999).

28

TheunderlyingpostulationoftheSocialInterdependenceTheoryisthewayinwhichparticipants

goals are structured, determine how they interact, and the interaction pattern determines the

outcomesofthesituation(Deutsch,1949,1962; Johnson,&Johnson,1999).Therefore,Social

Interdependence exists when the accomplishment of each individual’s goals is affected by the

actionsofothers(Deutsch,1949,1962;Johnson,&Johnson&Smith,2007).Thus,collaborations

tendtobe inducedbymutualassistance,anexchangeofneededresourcesandtrust,whereas,

competitiontendstobeinducedbytheobstructionofeachother’ssuccessesandstrivingto“win”

conflicts. Social Interdependence lies within the convergence of both collaboration and

competition.

Withinpositiveinterdependence,hencecollaboration,positivegoalsandrewardinterdependence

tendtobeaddictive(cf.Johnson,&Johnson,1999)anditissufficienttocreatehigherachievement

andproductivity(Johnson,&Johnson,1999;Chou2016).workingtogethertoachievearewardand

working to avoid the loss of a reward produces higher achievement thanwithin individualistic

efforts(cf.Johnson,&Johnson,1999).ThiscanbebridgedintoChou(2016)’sgamificationOctalysis’

frameworkwithinthefollowingCoreDrives:CoreDrive1:EpicMeaning&Calling,CoreDrive2:

Development&Accomplishment,CoreDrive5:SocialInfluence&RelatednessandCoreDrive8:Loss

&Avoidance.Positiveinterdependencecreatesforcesforresponsibilityandaccountabilitywithin

thegroupwhenindividualspooltogethertheirshareofworkandfacilitatetheworkofothergroup

members (cf. Johnson, & Johnson, 1999). Feelings such as responsibility, increases a person’s

motivationtoperformwell(idem).ThistoocaneffectivelybetiedintotheGamification’sOctalysis

frameworkwithinCoreDrive5:SocialInfluence&Relatedness.

The conditions in which competitionmay fall under the social interdependence theory, which

shouldbeencouragedinorderforittobecomeconstructive,iswhenitisappropriatelystructured

(cf.Sherif,1978;Johnson,&Johnson,2005).Inlateryearsthetheorywasexpandedtoincludethe

conditions under which competition can be constructed within the educational environment.

Constructive competition includes pupil’s effectiveness in completing a task, perceiving one’s

participationinthecompetitionasbeingpersonallyworthwhile,aboveandbeyondwinning(idem),

thereforeleadingtoanincreaseinpupil’sself-confidence,socialsupportandachievement.

This being said, constructive competition becomes meaningful: a) when winning is relatively

unimportant;b)insituationswhereallparticipantshaveareasonablechancetowin;c)thereare

clear,specificandfairrules,proceduresandcriteriaforwinning(Tjos-vold,Johnson,Johnson,&

Sun,2006).AccordingtoChou’s(2016)GamificationOctalysis’framework,theimpliedCoreDrives

include:CoreDrive1:EpicMeaning&Calling,CoreDrive2:Development&Accomplishment,Core

Drive5:SocialInfluence&Relatedness,CoreDrive7:Unpredictability&Curiosity,CoreDrive8:Loss

29

&Avoidance. These cores have been integrated in our classroom practices andwill be further

discussedintheupcomingchapters.

Under Tjos-vold, Johnson, Johnson, & Sun (2006) recommendations, teachers can successfully

enhance the constructiveness of competition by including the fairness of rules, motivation to

compete,theworkingontheperceptionofone’schancesofwinning,whichcanbepositive,and

alsopromotecompetitivefairplay(idem).

Therefore,itisinouropinionthatbyimplementinginclassroomsettings,positiveindependence,

adjoined to constructive competition, can promote interaction, develop social skills, facilitate

positiverelationshipsamongstpupils,increasepupil’sself-esteem,wherebyenhancingcharacter

development.Byalsoprovidingpupilswiththenecessaryinterpersonalandsmallgroupskills,such

asleadership,decision-making,trustbuilding,communicationandconflictmanagementskills(cf.

Johnson,&Johnson,1999),weareformingthebedrockfor21stcenturyskills.

30

PARTII-“UMUNTUNGUMUNTUNGUBUNTU”:

AREFLECTIONOFUBUNTUTHROUGHMEANINGFUL

CLASSROOMPRACTICES

31

“Inthecathedralofthewild,

wegettoseethebestpartsofourselves

reflectedbacktous.”

Varty

Inthepreviouspart,wehavecontemplatedandreflectedupontheavailableliterature:firstly,in

relation to Oral Traditional Storytelling and the cultural and linguistic variant of South African

English;secondly,inconnectionwithGamification’smotivationalOctalysisframework;andfinally,

byexaminingintergroupcompetitioninthe1stCycleCEBteaching-learningenvironment.Inorder

toputforwardtheabove-mentionedaccomplishments,wewillpresentpracticeswithinourM.A.’s

Internship practice, by delineating classroom production and performance in the upcoming

chapters.

Chapter1–ActionResearch ProjectDesign

In thischapter,wewillpresentourstudiesaccording to itsaimsandresearchmethodology,by

takingintoaccounttheschool’sdimension,withitspresidingethosandcharacteristicsaswellas

thewaysinwhichteacherscanorganizethelearningenvironmentsettings.

1.1.Researchmethodology,questionsandaims:analysisoptions

One of the posing challenges of this investigation is to know and to deepen new educational

approachesinEnglishteachinginthe1stBasicCycle(CEB),duetothefactthatnotmanystudiesin

theareaofGamificationhavebeenmade.Thismotivationalcomponent,whichincorporatesthe

addingof gameelements to anon-game situation (Deterding, et. al 2011) serves as a teaching

vesselforthe21stcenturyskills.Also,asabestowingfactortowardspupil’sdevelopment,itisour

intention to target on theUbuntuphilosophywithinAfricanoral tradition storytelling (Mucina,

2011),aswellasavariegatedmindsetofSouthAfricanculturalandlinguisticvarieties(Esteves,&

Hurst,2009).Ultimately,theinterminglingandamalgamatingofpositiveinterdependence,namely

throughcollaborativeandconstructivecompetitionpractices(Johnson.&Johnson,1999),serves

asthebasisforourresearch.Therefore,weproposeadesignofstudy,whichcanbefoundonTable

1.

Inordertoachievetheaboveproposedobjectivesandtobeonanevenkeelwithourresearch

questionsaforementioned,thechosenepistemologicalandmethodologicalapproachisqualitative

since it entails class observation, behaviours and reactions through reference frames. The

combining of different techniques and data analysis instruments culminates in a triangulation

researchmethod. According to Jakob, & Alexander (2001), triangulation serves the purpose of

32

obtaining confirmationof findings through the convergenceof differentperspectives, as it also

plays an important role, not only in deepening and widening one’s understanding but also

supportinginterdisciplinaryresearch(Yeasmin,&Rahman,2012).

Table1-Researchquestions,aims,dataandanalysisoptions

ResearchQuestions Objectives Data AnalysisOptions

Whicharethenewteaching

pedagogiesandapproaches

towardsEnglishlanguageteaching

inthe1stCycleofBasicEducation

thatcanpromoteattitudesbased

onmotivation,pro-activityand

competitiveness?

tolistnewteachingpedagogies

andapproachestowardsEnglish

languageteachingthatcan

promotetheseattitudes.

Scientific

literature;

Questionnaires;

Fieldnotes

Contentanalysis;

Statisticsanalysis

Whicharethecontributing

factors,incollaborativeand

competitiveactivitiesthatcan

helptowardsthedevelopmentof

pro-activepupils?

toascertainwhatways

collaborativeandconstructive

competitionactivitiescanhelpto

contributetowardsthe

developmentofpro-activepupils.

Questionnaires;

Fieldnotes;

Projectwork

Contentanalysis;

Statisticsanalysis

WhichEnglishtextbooks,inthe1st

CycleofBasicEducation,caterfor

gamifiedactivityapproaches,as

wellasproposesanyculturaland

linguisticvarieties,namelySouth

AfricanEnglish?

toanalyzeEnglishtextbooksin

the1ºCEB,whichcaterfor

gamifiedactivityapproaches,as

wellasproposeanyculturaland

linguisticvarieties,essentially

SouthAfricanEnglish.

Textbook

evaluationgrid

Contentanalysis

Whichcreatedandcritically

observedpracticesandresources,

basedonthegamification

pedagogy,contributetowardsthe

fosteringofconstructive

competitiveattitudesamongst

pupilsinthe1stCycleofBasic

Education?

tocreateandcriticallyobserve,

practicesandresourcesbasedon

thegamificationpedagogy.

toanalyzetheircontribution

towardsfosteringconstructive

competitiveattitudesamongst

proactivepupilsinthe1stCycleof

BasicEducation.

Fieldnotes;

Projectwork;

Pupil’sself-

evaluation

Contentanalysis;

Statisticsanalysis

Therefore,itisalsoourintention,andaccordingtoRoldão(2016),tointegratethecomponentsof

differentmodelsinordertobuildcoherenceandgivecontinuityintheformativeprocess.Forthis

weneedtoachievegreaterunderstandinginlightofacontinuouscontextualizedpractice.Weneed

toconsiderthenecessarymechanismsinordertomanagethesepracticeswithqualityandweneed

gooddomainof informationandreferenceknowledgewhichallows individuals tomastercodes

andtoreflectuponandtoquestion,inotherwords,tobeabletomaneuverwithinagivenfieldof

knowledge(idem).

For this to be attained, one cannot depreciate the valueof our initial training, associatedboth

formally or scholarly,with anyother available resource(s), eitherhumanormaterial resources.

Insteadoneshouldstriveinordertoimprovetheirqualityandadequatefunctioninginlightofa

knowledgeable referenced framework, which is indispensable for the exercise of the required

33

competencies of any professional action. Hence, we are required to acknowledge thought, to

scrutinizeaccordingly, toanalyzeas towhyand thereon, furtherourselves into these fields (cf.

Roldão2016).Consequently,thisservesasagroundworkandreasonforthenecessaryabilityto

developknowledgeandcompetencieswithinaprofessionalcontext.

Wearealsotoacknowledgethefollowingaverment“thebestpracticeisagoodtheory”(Lewin,

1952)whichmightalsoimplytheacceptanceofitsopposite:“agoodtheoryonlybecomesrealin

goodpractice(cf.Roldão,2007).ItisthereforeinourbeliefandaccordingtoRoldão(2016)that

beingawareofthisinseparablebinomialcanleadtotheprocessofmakinganyteachereffectively

competent,capableofacting,analyzing,evaluatingandfundamentallychangingtheiraction,which

ultimately leads to constant reflected and renewed production (cf. Schön, 1983, 1987; Roldão,

2016).Thisservesasanindicationofourreasoningandreflectedpracticeswewillascertaininthe

imminentchapters.

Hereon, by also considering the aforementioned information, our practical project’s essential

embodimentlieswithinpupil’sresponsestoquestionnaires,projectandassignmenttaskswhereby

includingpupil’sproduction,self-evaluationsheetsaswellasourcriticalreflectionoffieldnotes.

The data collection tools included also the following: a) questionnaires; b) field notes; c)

projects/worksheets;d)audios/videos.

Inrelationtothepre-questionnaire(Appendix1), inordertounderstandtheobservedproject’s

learner types and their preferred learning styles, it took into account the quality of data and

questiontypesproposedtothepupils.AccordingtoScott(2000),theclarityofthequestionscan

influencethequalityofthedata.Therefore,carefulconsiderationwasgivenwhenformulatingthe

questionnaire, by incorporating visual stimuli during the questioning process. In fact, questions

havetobepertinentandrelevanttothechild’sownexperienceorknowledge,leadingtothefact

thatwhenthisconditionisclear,evenyoungerchildrencanmakeinsightfulrespondents(idem).

O’Kane (2000) also adds that social researchers can play an important role by embracing the

challengeofcreatingspaceforchildrentobelistenedto.Participatorytechniques(O’Kane,2000)

havedemonstratedthattheyattempttonegotiateandpushbackboundaries,thusmakingthem

socialactorsintheirownright.

Thisbeingsaid,apre-questionnairewaspresentedtoourpupils inthefirstfewofweeksofour

project.Inthefirstquestion,pupilshadtoansweriftheypreferworkingaloneandinindividualized

contextsorworkinginpairsorgroups.Thesecondquestionwastounderstandifourpupilsknew

and have used hand heldmobile devices in order to play technological game quizzes, such as

Kahoot!comprehensionexercises.Thethirdquestionwas intendedto improvetheresearchers’

cognizance of pupil’s knowledge of storytelling and reading habits amongst them. The final

questionwas tohelpunderstand inwhatcontextpupilspreferdoingproblemsolvingactivities,

34

either individually or kinesthetically. It too indicates the preference towards the use of more

traditionalmethods, such as pen-held individualworksheets or the resorting to technologically

induceddevices,whichcanbecollaborative.

Inwhatconcernstheanalysisoftextbooksintheprimarylearningsettings,wetookintoaccount

Demir’s(2014)methodologicalperspectivesinrelationtotextbookevaluation,inthecreationof

ourownspecificanalysis instrumentapropostogamifiedactivityapproachestobefoundinthe

selectedtextbooks,aswellasproposedactivitiesonculturalandlinguisticvarieties.

Itisnotourintentiontoperformastrictandverydetailedanalysisofallthechaptersintheavailable

textbooks,ratherfocuswillbegiventothespecifictopics/themesaddressedduringourInternship

practice.

Thefollowingtextbooksweretakenintoconsideration,Smiles4,Inglês1ºCiclo,Let´sRock!4,Inglês

4ºAnoandStars4,Inglês4ºAno,whichareusedatthenearbySchoolClustersintheregionofVila

Nova de Gaia. The corpus of this study lies within the selection of only these three textbooks

primarilybecausetherewasalackoftimeinordertodoamorein-depthanalysisofalltheused

andavailableteachingandpupilstextbooks.

Ontheotherhand,andapartfromthediagnosismadethroughthequestionnairesandthetextbook

analysis,wehavealsoconstructedourowndidacticunitswhichcaterforthestudyofthelinguistic

and cultural varieties of South African English as well as the resorting to different gamified

approaches which may enhance pupil’s linguistic and cultural knowledge. Table 2 offers an

indicationoftheproposedprojectworkanddatacollection,theirdescriptionandvariety.

Theconducteddocumentalanalysiswasasystematicevaluationofinstructionaldocumentswhich

consistedmostlyofourunitplansandpupil’swrittenproduction,suchascollaborativeprojectwork

andself-evaluationworksheets,withtheintentionofidentifyinginstructionalneedsandchallenges

(Chism,1999).InrelationtolinguisticandculturalvarietiesofSouthAfricanEnglishaswellasthe

applicationof thedifferentgamifiedapproaches,evincehasalsoshownthatbyperformingthis

typeofdocumentalanalysismayoffertoolsofdiagnosisandanalysisthatwillsupportavarietyof

transformativeactionsinspecificcontexts(Roldão,2014).

Also tobeconsidered, thedocumentalanalysisofourpupil’sproductionsandconcoctionsmay

serveasameansofateacher’sreflectiveempowermentinthesensethatteachersareabletoseek

knowledgewhich isneededthroughoutthe lessonsandthat itmay inturnbetransformed into

newerpedagogicalknowledge,whichcanbeusefulforwhendealingwithupcomingsituationsand

subsequently,itistheteacher’sresponsibilitytoresolve(cf.Roldão,2017).Ultimately,itimplies

decisionmakingandanadequatesearchandappropriationofknowledge(idem).

35

Table2-Datarelatedtopupil’sproduction

ProjectworkandData

collectionDescription Variety

ProjectTypicalSouth

Africanhomes(FlippedClassroom)

Adevelopedprojectpresentation,aspartofagroupeffort’sWebQuest,in

whichpupilsresearchedandco-constructedknowledgerelatedtotypical

SouthAfricanhomesandpeople.

11

ProjectTownPlanning

(GeniusHour)

Agroupeffort,wherepupilshadtoplan,todevelopandpresenttheirown

idealtown..7

ClassroomQuest

“Revisionquest”

Agroupedgamifiedactivity,wherepupilshadtocompleteacompetitive

quest.Thequestwasdividedintoconsolidation/revisiontasksandcreative

developmenttasks.

22

Pupil’sSelfevaluation1

Worksheetinwhichpupilsevaluatedtheirownlearningbyillustratingand

writingpracticalexamplesofwhattheyhavebeenabletodevelopin

relationtolinguisticandculturalaspectsofthelanguageanditspeople

andalsoinrelationtotheunitasawhole.

22

Project“What’sfor

dinner”(Flippedclassroom)

Theuseofaflippedclassroomtohelpbroadenknowledgeacrossthe

nations,developingculturalawareness.22

ProjectBilingualrecipe

book(GeniusHour)

Pupilsco-constructedarecipebookofPortuguesetraditionaldessert

familyrecipes,whichweretranslatedinEnglishandsharedwiththe

community.

22

ClassroomQuest“Atthe

stokvel”

Agroupedgamifiedactivity,wherepupilshadtocompleteacompetitive

quest.Thequestwasdividedintonumeracytasksandcreative

developmenttasks.

22

Pupil’sSelfevaluation2

Worksheetinwhichpupilsevaluatedtheirown

learningbyillustratingandwritingpracticalexamplesofwhattheyhave

beenabletodevelopinrelationtolinguisticandculturalaspectsofthe

languageanditspeopleandalsoinrelationtotheunitasawhole.

22

Duetothecomplexityofouranalysiscorpuswehaveoptedfordifferentdatacollectiontoolsand

analysisoptions.Ontheonehand,wewilltrytoanalyzetextbooks,takingintoconsiderationCruz

(2015)analysiscategories,whicharerelatedtoculturalandlinguisticvarieties,andChou'sOctalysis

GamificationCorecategories(2016);ontheotherhand,wewilldevelopadocumentanalysis,such

asourunitplans,projectworks/self-assessmentquestionnaires,etc.,whichportraythewaywe

have created and implemented our different sessions during our internship. Thesewill also be

analyzed, bearing in mind Cruz’ cultural and linguistic varieties categories (2015) and Chou's

OctalysisGamificationCores(2016),inordertocontributeforabettercomprehensionofthedata.

Apropos to the documental analysis we have also resorted to field notes, which is the act of

recordingbehaviours,activities,events,andotherfeaturesofobservation(Thomas,2015).Hence,

they can provide, as a supplementary resource, by giving evidence which produces meaning,

36

understandingofsocialsituationsorphenomenabeingstudied(cf.Thomas,2015).Bothdescriptive

andreflectiveinformationwerealsousedwithinourstudies.

Byconsideringourmethodologicaloptions,ourdatacollectinginstruments,ourinternshipschool

settingandourstudygroup,weshouldalsomentionthatourcasestudypresentscharacteristicsof

anAction-ResearchStudy.Thisis,accordingtoFerrance(2000),areflectiveprocessthatallowsfor

disciplinedinquiryanddiscussionofcomponentsoftheresearchwiththeintentionof,assessing

needs,documentingthestepsofinquiry,analyzingdataandmakinginformeddecisionsthatmay

lead to desired outcomes and possible change in future practices (cf. Ferrance, 2000). Hence,

action-researchrequiresourprobesandcriticalquestioningstobealliedbythinkingofalternatives,

togoagainstthe“takingforgranted”orroutine(cf.Figueiredo,Portugal,&Roldão,2017),inorder

forittobecomeimprovedandexpanded(cf.Roldão,2007),inthefurtheranceofuslearningfrom

ourownpractice(cf.Figueiredo,Portugal,&Roldão,2017).

Hereon, in the upcoming chapters we will present, analyze and interpret our results with the

intention of endeavouring in plausible answers to our research questions. Simultaneously, the

proposeddidacticunitswiththeir idiosyncraticmaterialswillbepresented.However, letusfirst

presentourinternshipcontext.

1.2.SchoolDimensionandLearningEnvironment

Firstofall, inorder tocharacterize thegroupofpupils, considerationwasgiven to theschools’

EducationalProjectaswellastheClassCurriculumProject.Accordingtotheschool’sEducational

Project, the school is a Private and Cooperative Establishment, operating within pedagogical

parallelismwithtwoeducationallevels,namelyPre-Schooland1stBasicCycle(CEB),inaccordance

withnormsandpermissionundertheMinistryofEducation’sBoard.Whenitmakesreferenceto

theCurricularOrientationsinpre-primary(OrientaçõesCurricularesdaEducaçãoPré-Escolar),as

wellastothe1stBasicCycle’sProgramme(Programado1ºCiclodoEnsinoBásico),itistheColégio

do Sardão’s intention to: a) provide for intercultural exchange experiences; b) create contact

opportunities with new situations and simultaneously provide for discovery and exploratory

occasions of theworld; c) promote the use of new technological and communicative tools; d)

encourage project development; e) periodically organize exploratory activities which focus on

observation,analysis,researchandresultconstruction.

Hereon,focuswillbegiventotheschool’ssocio-educationalcontext.TheColégiodoSardãohas

two4thyearclassesdenominated4ºAand4ºB.Ourfocusandstudylieswith4ºBwhichhasatotal

of22pupils,presentingaveryevengroupof11boysand11girls.59%ofourpupilsare9yearolds,

32% are 10 year olds and 9% are 11 year olds. This may imply that understanding pupil’s

37

developmentstagesoftheseagesmaybeapowerfultoolforreflectionwhenestablishingcontact

withthegroup.AccordingtostudiespublishedbyStewart(2013,WEB),regardingchildrenbetween

9 – 11 year olds, indicate that physical development starts to already take control towards

adolescence.Byprovidingactive learningexperiences,hands-oneventsandexperiences,where

they are not limited to sitting and listening but instead moving, Arslan’s (2009) research

demonstratesthatitisthebestforthisagegroup.Itwasthereforeourintentiontoputthisinto

practiceduringourInternship.

BycontemplatingthisinformationandactinguponStewart’s(2013)suggestions,wearetherefore

abletoperceiveandhaveanimprovedreflectionwithregardstoourunitplansandgeneratedtasks

forthisparticularagegroup.Toaidinphysicaldevelopment,wewillanalyzetasksthatarevaried

andgiveourpupilsthepossibilitytomoveandinteractbothwiththeteacherandtheirpeers.

ColégiodoSardãooffersawidevarietyofextra-curricularactivitiestotheirpupils,namely,ballet,

swimminglessons,pianolessons,capoeira,chess,golf,football,aMath’sclubandaDigitalclub.It

is stated, within the Educational Project, that the offered extracurricular activities have at its

primarypurposeaformativeoccupationofpupil’sleisuretime.Inlightofourdataanalysis,weare

abletoestablish:17%participateandplayfootballandanotherequaled17%areinvolvedinballet

dancing; 14 % partake in swimming; 6% do other types of dancing; 3% play hockey; 3% play

basketball;3%playtennis;3%dofigureskating;and3%doathletics.Therefore,ourpracticeswill

revealthatcarefulconsiderationintothisissuewasgivenwithregardtotheschool’sEducational

Projectaswellastothefactthatallofourpupilshavebeenexposedtoextracurricularactivities.

Wehavealsoconsideredtheimportanceofunderstandingthedifferentfamilyenvironmentsfrom

whichourpupilsstemfrom,namelyanapprehensionoftheirparents’levelofeducationandhow

thismayaffecttheacademicsupportpupilsmayencounterathome.Inapperceptionofthedata

weareabletoverifythat55%ofourpupil’sparentsholdaTertiaryEducationDegree,whereas18%

holdaMaster’sdegree,followedby2%holdingaPHDDoctorate.Afurther18%haveastandard

HighSchoolqualificationand5%haveaPrimarySchoolEducationcertificate.Accordingtothedata

thereisonlyoneparentwithanunknownqualification.

Bytakingintoaccountalltheaforementionedinformation,wewouldliketoincludeanoteabout

the Pedagogical Pair that were assigned to the Colégio do Sardão in order to undergo their

Internship. It is important to state that they are both foreigners and native speakers of other

languages.BotharefromtheAfricancontinentandhavebeenexposedtodifferentculturesandto

differentlanguages.TheyarenativespeakersoftheEnglishlanguage,havingbeenincontactwith

other cultural and linguistic variants of the English language. Knowing that in the Colégio do

Sardão’s Educational Project, it is part of their mission and intention to promote intercultural

exchangeexperiencesandcreatecontactopportunitiesfornewsituationsandsimultaneouslyto

38

providefordiscoveryandexploratoryoccasionsoftheworld,itisinourbeliefandintentionthat

thefollowingprojectdesignwouldhelptocorroborateandtotie intotheColégio’sEducational

Projectandpurpose.

Chapter2–Presentation,analysisandresultsdiscussion

Byformallycontemplatingtheaforementionedresearchquestionsandthenbyhavingcollected

andorganizedthedata,wewillnowproceedtopresentourinterpretationofthisdatabyfollowing

ourpreviouslydefinedmethodologicaloptions.

Our data analysis follows a chronological ordered sequence by startingwith our questionnaire

analysis and textbook evaluation. This is then followed by pupil’s production and performance

whichisentwinedwithourdirectobservationandsustainedbyourfieldnotes.

2.1Pupil’sknowledgeandconceptualizationsinterpolatedwithin

experience

Thefirstsubordinateddivisionisareflectionofourpupil’sassumptionsandapprehensionsoftheir

temporalfeaturesofunderstandingsandexperiences.Thesepastandpresentempiricismswere

reflectedon,expandedandstrengthenedandultimatelyservedasabasiswhichleadtoanarrival

ofabodyofunderstanding,refiningandanenlargingofourknowledge.

Intermsofourpre-questionnaireanalysis(Appendix1),theresultsofthepre-questionnairehave

givenuswiththefollowingrepresentations:a)15%ofthepupilspreferredworkingalone,whereas

85%preferredworkingwithcolleagues;b)90%of thepupilshavealreadyplayedboardgames,

whereas10%haveplayedKahoot!;c)anequally balanced50%enjoyedstorytelling,while50%

preferredreadingontheirown;d)15%ofthepupilsfavouredsolvingworksheetsontheirown,

whereas85%preferredsolvingtaskswiththeirbody/computer.Thisquestionnairehashelpedus

togatherinformationwhichenlightensusinrelationtothisparticulargroup.

Themajorityofthisgroupprefersworkingcollaboratively.Infact,85%ofourpupilspreferworking

with other colleagues,whereas 15% preferworking alone. Plausibly, and according to school’s

EducationalProject,thehomeroomteacher:a)hasmanagedtopreviouslypromoteaneducation

whichshowssolidaritytowardsothers,startinginparticularfromwithintheinvolvedcommunity

and extending it towards others; b) has instilled the notions of a participative responsibility

amongstthemajorityofthepupils;c)haspreviouslydevelopedthenotionofrespectofandfor

others in relation to their ideas; d) has fostereda commitment towards thebuildingof human

fraternity.

39

It was in our perception that our classroom practices, which are further addressedwithin our

internshipreport,wouldneedtoextendonthenotionsofpupils’awarenessandtheirsenseof

commitmenttowardscollaborationwiththeirpeers.Therefore,inordertofurtherendevourthe

home room teacher’s classroompractices,whereupon thenotionsof respect and collaboration

withothershavealreadybeeninstilledandfurthermore,tofullyrespecttheschool’sEducational

Project,totalconsiderationofthisfactorwastakenintoaccountwhilstdevelopingandelaborating

theparticularunitplansforthisgroup.

Insomuchasoursecondquestion,inwhatconcernsthedifferenttypesofgamesourpupilsliketo

play and, furthermore, in order to understand to what extent hand held mobile devices have

becomeanintegratedpartoftheteacher’sarmoury.Weareabletoascertainthat90%ofthese

pupils have played traditional games, whereas 10% have already encountered with the

technologicalcomprehensionquizknownasKahoot!.

Insightintothiscanpreparethegroundforexperimentationandreflectionthat,byexposingpupils

tothesedevicesandincorporatingasetoftheirfeaturesintotheclassroomwalls,notonlyarewe

abletotakeadvantageofthemostcommonglobaltechnology,whichmayhelppupilsandlearners

understandandevenappreciatethepowerofeverydaytechnologies,whileultimatelyopenupa

pathbetweentheclassroomwallsandtheouterworld(cf.Hockly,&Dudeney,2014).

Hence,it istoourunderstandingthatmobileandothertechnologicallearningmaybeusedasa

resource which can stand alongside a slew of other tools within classroom practices. These

elementswerealsotakenintoaccountduringthepreparationandexecutionofourlessonplans

throughouttheunits.

Ourthirdquestionreportsbacktostorytelling,asawholeandtoourpupilspreferredreadingstyles.

Thisquestionnairehaselucidatedustothefactthatbothstorytelling(50%)andothervarietiesof

readingcontexts(50%),inandoutoftheclassroom,areequallybalancedstrategies.Thismayhelp

toleadustoagreaterunderstandingthatourpupilshavebeenexposedtobothtypesandthat

theyhavealreadysettledintotheirpreferences.

Construingthatstoriesandthemesrepresentholisticapproachestolanguageteachingandlearning

which place a high premiumon children’s involvementwith rich, authentic uses of the foreign

language(Cameron,2001),theinformationprovidedinthisquestionnaireindicatesthatboththe

homeroomteacherandtheirsocialbackgroundhavepreviouslycateredforthisawareness.

Accordingtoourapprehensionandinordertofallinlinewiththiscontinuum,furthercogitation

intostorytellingwasmadewhilstdevelopingandenhancing theunitplans for thesepupils.We

acknowledgethatandaccordingtoGallo(2016),forstorytellingtoconnect inameaningfulway

theymustbeemotive,novelandmemorable.Theyneedtotouchtheheartbeforetheytouchthe

brainbyprovidingforanemotionalconnection.Storiesinform,illuminateandinspirebyconnecting

40

toandwithothers.Thismeaningfulconnectionisnovelbecausetheyteachussomethingnew.They

sparkjoy,fear,surpriseandunexpectedness.Hereon,inspiringpupilstolookattheworldinwhich

theylivein,teachesthemsomethingnew,whichinturn,makesthemmemorable(cf.Gallo,2016;

Duarte,&Cruz,2017).

Thequestionnaire’s lastaddresshelpsustoexamine inwhatwayourpupilsarepredisposedto

problem solving. By falling back on the results, we are able to assume that our pupils favour

kinestheticallyactivitiesoverindividualbasedworksheets,bytakingintoaccountonceagain,the

home room teacher’s approach towards classroom learning aswell as the school’s Educational

Project.Thedocumentstateswithinthat it incentivizestheuseofmultidimensionaleducational

modelswhichcanbroadenandenrichpupils'abilitiesandpotentialities.

Italsoallowsfortheresortingtotheuseofinnovativeandactivemethodologieswhichcancater

fortheestablishingofarelationshipbetweenknowledgeandpupil’sknowinghowtobe,learning

howtolearnandknowinghowtodo.Thisinturnleadstopupil’scapacityforandtowardslearning

autonomyandtoanimprovedenquirybasedlearning.

It is therefore our intention throughout our practices to further reinforce this holistic

multidimensional educational approach, by helping pupils to gather information through

multisensorial sources. It is in our intendment that our pupils can formulate their inherent

interpretationsandsupportthemwithreasonsbydoingsotheycanfurtherbehelpedtodevelop

their critical thinking skills (cf. Duarte, & Cruz, 2017) within multisensory learning settings (cf.

Morin,2017).

2.2.Theinterconnectivityofpupil’sinquisitivenessandopeninguptoother

placesintheworld

Thesecondsubordinateddivisionisourreflectionofpupil’sknowledgeandassumptionsinrelation

totheirinterculturalawareness.Hence,itisthedeepeningofourconsciousnessapropostotheir

discernments. By understanding that intercultural competence is the ability to acknowledge,

respect, tolerate, and integrate cultural differences that qualifies us for enlightened global

citizenship (Chen, 1998), it is therefore an enlarging of our cognizance as towhat intercultural

awarenessmaybringtoprimaryEnglishlearning,whichhasmostintriguedus.

In lightofEuropean standardsandaccording to theEuropeancommission (2016) in the formal

presentation of the 2030 Agenda, it acknowledges global citizenship, cultural diversity and

intercultural dialogue as the overarching principles of sustainable developmentwithin the EU's

neighbourhood,andalsopromotesitsenlargementpolicies.

41

AtaPortuguesemacrolevel,ourMinistryofEducation,infavourofovercominganydemureness

inrelationtoEuropeanbenchmarks,proposeswithintheDispatch14753/2005thedevelopment

andenlargingofproficiency in English amongst the younger generations (cf. Pinho,& Moreira

2012),whichwasconsideredasbeingstrategicinordertofosterskillsandencourageinterestin

English learning froma life-longperspective, as awayof increasing the competitivenessof the

workforceandofthePortugueseeconomy(idem).AccordingtothissameDispatch,consideration

needed to be given that within the 1st Cycle of Basic Education, English learning should be

contemplatedasbeingessentialforthedevelopmentofplurilingualandpluriculturalawareness,

aswellasafundamentalelementofcitizenship(cf.Pinho,&Moreira,2012).

Inamorerecentupdateandfurtheringontothisdispatch,wewouldalsoliketomakemention

that, even thoughour internship practice period has come to an end,more recent Portuguese

macro leveldirectorieshavecome intoeffectwhichmayhelptofurthercementtheColégiodo

Sardão’sEducationalProject’saimsandobjectives,aswellusgiveusadditionalsupportandbasis

forourclassroompracticesandimplementation.

ThenewermacroleveldirectoriesmakereferencetotheprioritiessetoutintheXXIConstitutional

GovernmentProgramfortheareaofeducation(ProgramadoXXIGovernoConstitucional,2015).It

was within this scope that the National Citizenship Education Strategy (ENEC) document was

produced,whichresultedfromanelaboratedandpresentedproposalbytheCitizenshipEducation

WorkingGroup,whichleadtothecreationoftheDispatch6173/2016,of10May.TheENECisa

referencedocumenttobeimplementedinthe2017/2018academicyear,inthepublicandprivate

schools that integrate the Flexibility and Autonomy Project within the Curriculum, within the

Citizenship and Development subject,which is taught in the initial years of each cycle/level of

education.

Thedocumentstatesthattheinclusionofthisareainthecurriculumisjustified,recognizedand

endorsedintheBasicLawoftheEducationalSystem(LeidebasesdoSistemaEducativo,nº49/2005

de30deAgosto)andintheProfileofStudentsExitingCompulsorySchooling(Dispatch6478/2017).

AlsostatingthatitistheSchool’sresponsibilitytoensureadequatepreparationfortheexerciseof

anactiveandenlightenedcitizenship,aswellasofferadequate training for theachievementof

theseobjectivesforSustainableDevelopment(cf.ENEC,2017).

The National Strategy for Citizenship Education document (ENEC, 2017) thus reinforces the

implementation of the curricular component of Citizenship and Development at all levels of

education and teaching. Whereby stating that this educational strategy for citizenship should

respecttheprinciples,valuesandareasofcompetenciesstatedintheProfileofStudentsExiting

Compulsory Schooling (idem). In addition to the recommendations, the strategy proposes that

pupils/studentsinthecurricularcomponentofCitizenshipandDevelopmentshouldlearnthrough

42

themultipleandresponsibleparticipationofall intheconstructionofthemselvesascitizens,as

wellasinfairerandmoreinclusivesocieties.Allispresentedwithintheframeworkofdemocracy

which respects diversity and defends human rights (idem). We therefore consider that these

proposalshelp to reinforceour internshippracticesandbeliefs in theessentialdevelopmentof

plurilingualandpluriculturalawareness(whichwillbefurtherillustratedintheupcomingchapters).

Bytakingintoconsiderationthemacroleveldocuments,wenowneedtodrawourattentiontothe

microlevelwithinourinternshippractices’implementation.Wethereforeneedtoembracethat

thecommongoalofinterculturaltrainingandlearningistoincreasepupils’awarenessofcultural

differences in order to develop their communication skills while lessening the likelihood of

misunderstandingsininterculturalinteractions(cf.Seidel,1981;Chen,1998).Itisalsoexcogitating

thatitisthroughthecognitiveperspectiveininterculturalcommunicationwhichonefostersthe

changing of personal thinking about the environment, i.e., one can achieve this through the

understandingofthedistinctcharacteristicsofourownandothers’cultures(Triandis,1977;Chen,

1998).

Therefore,byunderstandingthatcertaindimensionsofcultureprovideuswithelementstoidentify

howcommunicationdiffersacrossculturesandthatthesedifferentculturesmayalsofavourcertain

formsofprocessingdataaroundus,interculturalcommunicationproblemsmaybeencountered

when we misunderstand such thought patterns (cf. Chen, 1998). For this reason, in order for

interculturalinteractiontobeeffective,wemustfirstlearntheculture’spreferencesforsupporting

its arguments and determining knowledge (idem) so as to be in a position to modify our

communicationpatternsthereon,makingthemcongruentwiththecuesofunfamiliarinteractants

(Hall,1976;Chen,1998).

Achangeofbehaviour,whichisconcurringwithotherpeopleandcultures,iswhathelpsustoreach

mutual understanding and to maintain multicultural coexistence (cf. Chen, 1998). It is this

transformationofbehaviourwhichisrequiredinanEnglishlanguagelearningclassroom,because

interculturalawarenessinvolveschangefromoneframeofreferencetoanotheranditprovides

unlimitedopportunityforcontrastandcomparison(cf.Gladkova,2014).

Hereon,andaccordingtoChen(1998),weareabletoconcedeandprovideforaclearerpictureof:

a)culturalmapping,whichisthedrawingofattentiontotheexistenceandimportanceofcultural

resources;b)culturalthemes,whichisthecreationofanatmospherethatreflectsthepeculiarities

of the culture,whichmight include, stories, food,music, clothing, etc.; c) cultural grammarsor

ethnosyntaxwhich is studying of grammar as a vehicle of culture (Wierzbicka, 1979;Gladkova,

2014).

In this view, it providesuswith for thebroadeningof ourpupil’s knowledge in the sense that,

speakersofaparticular languageshareacertainworld-viewbecausetheir languagedetermines

43

thewaythey‘see’theworld.Speakersofanotherlanguage‘see’theworldthroughtheprismof

thisotherlanguageand,therefore,theirlinguisticviewisdifferent,(cf.Gladkova,2014).Forthis

reason,as teachersweneedtoconcede languageasbeing theconveyerof thisknowledgeand

through language that we can promote and further our pupils’ intercultural awareness and

competencies.

Bytakingallthisintoconsideration,wewereabletoincorporateandverifyourpupil’sintercultural

awarenessandunderstandthebenefitsofourpupils’developingthis21stcenturyskilland/oreven

considerthegapswhichmaybefound.Moreover,itisourobjectivetogainadeeperunderstanding

ofthisknowledgethroughthefollowingdataanalysiswhichwasperformedwithinourclassroom

environment. This analysis included direct classroom observations performed during different

classroomexperiments,ouranecdotalrecords,ourfieldnotesandvideorecordings.

ThefirstclassroomexperimentwasperformedbytheColégio’sEnglishteacher,ourcooperating

supervisor,duringaworkshopwhichwaspresentedtoasmallgroupofPolishteacher’sundergoing

a research programme in collaboration with the Colégio. One of the five day programmed

workshopsincludedthe“Lemonexercise”.

Thisexercisepresentedanexperientialexperienceanditsobjectivewastointroducetheconcept

ofstereotypingandtoillustratehowgeneralizationsinfluenceone’sthinking.Theclasswasdivided

intofivegroupsandeachwasgivenalemon.Theyweretoldthatthislemonwasafriendandwould

nowlivetogetherandbepartoftheirgroup.Atfirst,thepupilshadtospeakaboutthelemonand

discuss its features. Theyalsohad topersonalize their lemonanddecideonaname for it. The

answerswerethenwrittenbythepupilsontheirpiecesofpaper.Thereafter,afewmomentswere

allowedfordebriefing,givingpupil’stheopportunitytoreflectonthemeaningoftheactivityand

tohelptheteacherconfirmthatthereisnomisinterpretationofthetask.

As an observing pedagogical pair and acknowledging the importance of this activity, we

simultaneouslynotedinourteachingjournalsthekeypointsmentionedandwrittendownbythe

groups.Ournotesaidedusduring theactofourqualitative fieldwork to rememberand record

noticeableactivities,eventsandotherimportantfeaturesduringourobservations.

Onceourpupilshaddiscussedandwrittendownthe lemon’s featuresandpersonalized it, they

werehandedanotherfruit:apear.Thegroupswerethentoldthatthepearwasanoutsidertotheir

groupandwantedtolivewiththem.Pupilswereaskedtodiscussanddecideiftheywouldaccept

the pear (the outsider) into the group, in order to jot down their notes and to consider their

reasoning.Yetagain,therewasanotherdebriefingperiodwhereeachgroupvoicedtheiroptions

andchoiceswhetherornottheywouldacceptthepearintothegroup.

Uponobservation,asthegroupsdebriefedintheirmotherlanguage,wenotedthatthreegroups

wouldacceptthepearintotheircommunity,statingthatrespectandacceptanceofothers“can

44

help the community become stronger”, that “we can learn more things from others” and

“difference is good”. Whereas, two groups would not accept the pear by presenting the

justifications,that“thepearwouldstealfromthecommunity”and“wedon’thaveenoughspace

forothers”5.

Wewerequiteintriguedonthisissueandfurtherquestionedourselvesonthisreasoning.Having

previouslycontemplatedontheschools’EducationalProjectandtheClass’CurriculumProjectand

furthermoreconsideringEuropeanbenchmarks,whichformthebasisofourmacroandmicrolevels

thatupholdtheDispatch14753/2005asbeingessential forthedevelopmentofplurilingualand

pluriculturalawareness,aswellasafundamentalelementofcitizenship(Pinho,&Moreira2012),

wewerenowfacedwiththeapparentproblemofstereotyping,non-acceptanceandexclusionof

others.

Wefurtherpostulatedonanotherhypothesiswhileconsideringouranecdotalrecords,whichare

shortwrittenaccountsdescribingthebehaviourofindividualsinagivensituation(Schmalz,1951)

andanynarrationofeventswhichmaybesignificantabouthis/herpersonality(cf.Randall,1936).

Considering that our pupils were randomly grouped for this experiential experience and were

proposedtoperformagameliketaskandexperiment,couldtherebeanyrelationshipbetweenthe

differenttypesofgameplayers,accordingtoBartle’s taxonomyofplayertypesandthegroup’s

acceptanceor not of an “outsider”? For this to occur,weneeded to further reflect onBartle’s

taxonomyandbroadenourresearchfrommereanecdotalrecordstoasemi-structuredinterview

withtheirhomeroomteacher,withtheobjectiveofexploringperspectivesonaparticularideaor

situation6(cf.BoyceandNeale,2006).

During theobservationprocess,wewereable toverifydifferent typesofgrouppersona,pupils

intermingling within the group(s), strong opinioned individuals having an apparent influence

amongsttheirpeers.ThisledustotryandcharacterizeeachgroupindividualaccordingtoBartle’s

taxonomyofplayergames,whichcanbecorrelatedwithineducation, inorderforustoreacha

bettercognizanceinrelationtotheseindividuals,withwhattheywant,howtheyactandhowthey

interact(cf.Marczewski,2013).

InagamelikesituationandinGamification,Bartle’staxonomyofplayertypesisclassifiedaccording

to their preferred actionswithin a game (Bartle, 1996). There are different kinds of play style

interestsandplayersfall intooneoffourcategories:Killers,Achievers,ExplorersandSocializers.

5Thesecommentsweretranslatedfromourteachingjournalsandanecdotalrecords.

6It isnotourobjective togo furtheron theanalysisof this interview,as it served thepurpose tobetter

understandthegroupofstudentsandtoenhancetheanalysiswehavealreadypresentedinthisreport.

45

Thesecharacteristictypesofferpotentiallyveryusefulinformationforteachersdesigninggamified

experiences(idem).

ThefourtypeplayerstheorizedinBartle,whichislaterextendedtoKyatric(2013)andChou(2016),

canbedescribedasthefollowing:

1. Achieverstrytomastereverythingwithinthegametheywillstrivetogainrewards,recognition

and prestige (Chou, 2016). They present themselves as being highly competitive and enjoy

beatingdifficultchallengeswhethertheyaresetbythegameorbythemselves(Kyatric,2013).

Achieversactontheworld(Bartle,2003).

2. Explorerswant to explore all the contentof theworldbut aren’t as focusedonovercoming

challenges(Chou,2016).Theyfocusonthefinerdetailsofthegamemechanicsandoftenhave

better know-how in relation to the game, its short-cuts and its glitches. They thrive on

discoveringmore(Kyatric,2013).Explorersinteractwiththeworld(Bartle,2003).

3. Socializers interact with each other, build companionship and engage others. They are

individualswhoareattractedtothesocialaspectsofagame,ratherthanthegamestrategy

itself(Chou,2016).Theyspreadknowledgeandahumanfeelandareinvolvedinthecommunity

aspectofthegame/task(Kyatric,2013).Socializersinteractwithotherplayers(Bartle,2003).

4. Killersstrivetoreachthetop,takegloryinbeatingdownthecompetition,baskintheirvictories

andliveforthecompetitiveelementsofthegame(Chou,2016).Theyprovoke,causedramaand

imposethemselvesoverothers(Kyatric,2013).Killersactonotherplayers(Bartle,2003).

Hereon,havingbeenconfrontedwiththisexperientialclassroomexperiment,knownastheLemon

experiment,whichisaimedattheintegrationofmulticulturalissuesrelatedtointerpersonaltopics

(Daradirek,1994),weweremadetohypothesizethattheremightbearelationshipbetweenthe

groups’acceptanceornotof the“outsider”andBartle’splayertypes.Byconsideringtheplayer

type’scharacteristicsandbyconferringthesewithouranecdotalnotesduringtheexperiment,we

alsoproposedtodeepentheseperspectivesbyconductingasemi-structuredinterviewwiththe

homeroomteacher,whohadabroadercognizanceofthegroups’characteristicsandwasableto

confirmourobservationsofthedifferentplayertypesduringtheexperiment.Fromourclassroom

observationandthereafterverifiedduringthehomeroomteacher’sinterview,ofthe22pupilsin

theclass,7werecharacterizedasbeingAchievers,6wereExplorers,6wereSocializersand3were

Killers.

Duringourinternshippractice,theseplayertypepreferencesweretakenintoconsideration.When

planning for and implementing communicative, collaborative, critical and creactical thinking

activities,weconsideredthegroupdynamicsandbalancefoundwithintheAcceptingGroupsofthe

Lemon experiment (see Appendixes). Hence, by tilting towards Socializers during game/task

designingandplanning, it removesall gameplayandcentresoncommunication (Bartle,1996).

46

Socializersinthegame,attractnewones,whichcanberegardedasbeingpositive.Itcanbedeemed

asbeingrathercompellingineducationandlearningbecauseSocializerspromotecommunication,

whichinturnencouragesproblemsolving,criticalandcreacticalthinking(Ohler,2013),thesebeing

partof themuchneeded21st century skill competencies tobedevelopedwithin the classroom

(Bartle,2005;Kenneth,2012).

When planning for and implementing competitive based tasks, as can be found within our

ClassroomQuest (inAppendix4) andby also referring to the classroom implementationof the

digitallyenhancedplatforms,PlickersandKahoot!,wecanunderstandthattheybothincorporate

the gamification model in a clear way, because they not only check for the understanding of

knowledge throughmultiple choice questions and give all pupils the chance to participate and

engageinlearning,theyalsooffermorechallenginglearningopportunitiesandhelptoreviewthe

foundationalknowledgeofasubject(cf.Duarte&Cruz,2017).Theyalsocaterforallthenecessary

21stcenturyskills,suchas:communication,collaboration,criticalthinkingandevencompetition.

Therefore,weconsideredthegroupdynamicsfoundwithinthenon-acceptinggroupsoftheLemon

experiment,byconsequentlyfocusingonplayersthatexertcompetitiveforcesandactionsamongst

themselves,suchasAchieverandKillerplayertypes, whenplanningandpreparingforcompetitive

basedtypetasksinordertoascertainthewayscollaborativeandconstructivecompetitiveactivities

canhelptocontributetowardsthedevelopmentofpro-activepupils.

Whenthistypeofgroupdynamicsisappliedinclassroomcompetitiveinstances,itnotonlyprovides

foremotionallychargedandengagingactivities,itoffersasenseofurgency,athrill,arushanda

changeofclassroompaceanddynamics.Italsoproposesasenseofachievementbecauseitappeals

tocertaingamelikeplayers.Therefore,competitive-typeactivitiescanalsohelptopromoteand

enhanceparticipation,motivation,aswellasenhancepupil’sengagement(Bartle,2005;Kenneth,

2012).

Also,asashortnote,wewouldliketomakereferencethat,whenconsideringthefourtypeplayers,

itispossiblethatindividualscanalsoshowcharacteristicsofanotherplayertypeinadditiontotheir

dominant primary style (Bartle, 2005). Therefore, close attentionwas paid during all proposed

activitiesandnonotableplayerimbalancesorachangeinplayercharacteristicswereaccounted

for.Wemightpresumethatanytiltsfromonepredominantplayertypetowardsanotherwerenot

observedduetothefactthatallproposedtaskswereshort-basedactivitiesandwerenotextended

forverylongperiodsoftime(ascanbeseeninourAppendixes2,4and6).

We can also consider that it can be through the effective change in group dynamics and a

combinationofdifferentplayertypeswhenperformingdifferenttypesoftasks(cf.Bartle,2005;

Kenneth,2012)thatcanhelptoincorporatetheessential21stcenturyskillssuchascommunication,

47

collaboration, critical and creactical thinking, aswell as encourage social and cultural cohesion,

whichcanbefoundbyapplyingthesuggestedgroupinteractions,aswehavealreadystated.

2.3.Teachingmaterials–areflexiveapproachoftoolsthatgobeyond

mirroredprojectionsintofutureenlightenment

By conceding that the textbook is an almost universal element of ELT teaching (Hutchinson,&

Torres1992;Waltermann,&Forel,2015),thethirdsubordinateddivisionisareflectionofhowand

whenany gamified activity approaches, aswell as cultural and linguistic varieties, coming from

withinourtextbookanalysis,maybesubsumedandverified.Weareabletoalsoacquiescethatby

performing a textbook analysis may have a positive impact on both the future teacher’s

professionaldevelopmentand,inturn,leadtopupil’sEnglishlanguagelearning’sameliorationand

advancement(idem).

Aspreviouslymentioned,itisnotourintentiontoperformaveryrigorousordetailedanalysisof

all the chapters in the available textbooks, instead our locus will be placed on the specific

topics/themescontemplatedduringourinternshippractice.

Asareminder,thefollowingtextbooksweretakenintoconsideration,Smiles4Inglês1ºCiclo,Let´s

Rock! 4 Inglês 4º Ano and Stars 4 Inglês 4º Ano. Smiles 4 is the chosen textbook used at our

internshiptrainingcentre,whereas,theotheradoptedtextbooksLet´sRock!4andStars4areused

intheneighbouringSchoolClustersinVilaNovadeGaiaandtwoadditionalSchoolClustersinthe

cityofOPorto,whichalsopresentthemselvesasinternshiptrainingcenters,aswehavestatedin

thepreviouschapter.

Table3isapresentationofthechosentextbooksthatweresubjectedtoouranalysis.Leadingon

toourtextbookanalysis,weaffirmedthisdataafterhavingpreviouslyconfirmedtheselectedand

adoptedtextbooks,byaccessingtothisdataontheSchoolClusters’homeormoodlepages.

Table3-Analyzedtextbooksandtheirformalcharacteristics

Title Authors Edition/Year Otherresources

Smiles(4ºano)Inglês

1.ºCiclo

JennyDooley;

VirgíniaEvansLeirilivro;

ExpressPublishing,2015ActivityBook;PictureDictionary;VocabularyandGrammar;EBook;

Festivitiesbrochure.

Let’sRock!4Inglês4.º

ano

ClaúdiaReginaAbreu;VanessaReis

Esteves.PortoEditora,2016 Workbook;PictureDictionary;GrammarBook;Arts&Craftscardboard

samples;Festivitiesworksheets.

Stars4Inglês4ºAno CarlosLindade;SofiaBotelho;Tony

Lucas.ArealEditores,2016 ActivityNotebook;MP3Files;e-Manual.

48

WeareabletoestablishthatthetextbookLet’sRock!4hasthelargestpercentage,60%interms

ofusage. This textbookwas adopted in the SchoolClustersofVilaNovadeGaia, namely,Gaia

Nascente, (the closest School Cluster to our internship training centre), the Schools Clusters of

AntónioSérgio,VilaD’EsteandInfanteD.Henrique inOPorto.Smiles4,theadaptedtextbookat

ourinternshiptrainingcentre,holds20%intermsofusage,beingtheonlyschooltohaveadopted

thistextbookwithinourdataanalysis.Stars4istheadaptedtextbookatAntónioNobre’sSchool

Cluster,alsoholding20%withregardstousage.

During our preliminary and initial observations7, wewere able to verify that all textbooks are

structuredandlaidoutinverysimilarpatterns.Wecannotconfirmanytypeofactivity(ies)which

involve(s)creativeorcollaborativetasksinanyoftheanalyzedtextbooks.Therefore,wewouldlike

tomakereflectedproposals,inlightofourowninternshippractice,oftasksandactivitieswhich

may aid in the inclusion of these essential 21st century skills into the classroom. These can be

confirmedinourunitplans(seeAppendixes2,4and7),activities/tasksinordertoaskpupils,both

individuallyorasagroupeffort,toexplainthroughdrawings,toencouragepupilstoimagineand

pretendtobe, tohavethemexpresswhat theycanrememberbyusing theirbody/gestures, to

substitutelexicalitemswithotheritemsorcombinations,andsoforth.

Thesemotivationalenhancerscouldalsobesuggestedbyintroducinggamifiedtasksandactivities

such as storytelling (Duarte,& Cruz, 2017).Other tools, such as the use ofmindmaps, can be

enhancerstowardsthedevelopmentofcriticalthinkingandadvocatespupils’creativeamelioration

(idem).Hereon,weareaidinginthemanifestationofemotionallydrivengamificationelementsin

theclassroombyconsideringpupil’slanguageacquisitionandpersonalenrichment.This,inturn,

serves for the furtherencouragingofcollaborativeandsocial learningthat is instigated insmall

burstsofcompetitiveinstances.Thesesuggestionsandresourceswererevealedinourclassroom

activitiesduringourinternshippracticeandmaybeverifiedinourAppendixes2,4and7.

Subsequenttotheseobservations,ourinitialquest,uponenteringtheworldoftextbookanalysis,

wastoverifyifanygamifiedtaskswereproposedandadheredtowithintheunits.

Table4makesreferencetotheseobservedactivities.Inconsonancewiththefollowingtable,we

areabletoexaminethatthetextbookSmiles4catersforsixgame-basedtasks ineachunitand

presentsasinglegamifiedtaskineachunit.Inthetextbook,Let’sRock4,wewereabletofindfive

game-basedtasks in thetwoanalyzedunitsandonlyonegamifiedtask isproposed in theunit,

“Let’sgoaroundourcity”.Whereas,inStars4,weareabletoascertainintheunit“Foodisgreat”,

7Werecallthatwehaveanalyzedtextbooks,takingintoconsiderationCruz(2015)analysiscategories,whicharerelated

toculturalandlinguisticvarieties,andChou'sOctalysisGamificationCorecategories(2016).

49

threeproposedgame-basedtasksandtwosuggestedgamifiedtasks.Intheunit“Wherewelive”

weareabletoverifytwogame-basedtasksandonegamifiedtask.

AccordingtoMarczewski(2015),gameshavedefinedgoalsandrulesandtheyhavetheintention

ofenhancingthelearningexperience(Isaacs,2015),whereaswecanunderstandgamificationas

addinggameelementstoanongamesituation(Deterding,2011).Inclassroomgamification,wecan

apply,according toMarczewski (2015), “gamedesignmetaphors”whicharedefinedas lessons,

elements and strategies applied to non-entertainment contexts, in other words, the language

classroom. The game elements, for example, are formed and understood as being a set of

experientialbuildingblocksinwhichthedesigner,beingtheteacherorthepupil,canpullapartand

rebuildtheirprojectsinaccordancewiththeirneeds(cf.Marczewski,2015).

Table4-Proposedgames/gamifiedtasksfoundinthetextbooks

Gamesand

Gamified

tasks Smiles4 Let’sRock!4 Stars4

Units

UNIT2Myhomeandmy

neighbourhood

UNIT3Foodisgreat!

UNIT4Let’seat

UNIT5Let’sgo

aroundourcity

UNIT3Foodisgreat

UNIT4Wherewe

live

Games

Vocabulary

guessinggame

pg26,pg44Thisis…game

pg27Memorygame

pg29Actionmime

guessinggame

pg30Let’splaypaired

guessinggame

pg32Let’splay

vocabularyrevision

game

pg35

Writeandreveal

vocabularygame

pg41Pronunciation/

categorizinggame

pg43Vocabulary

guessinggamepg44“ISpy”guessing

game

pg45“Chinese

Whispers”game

pg46Discoverthe

missingword

game

pg50

Vocabularyguessing

game

pg62“Fourinarow”

game

pg64“Memorychain”

game

pg65“Spellinggame”

pg68“Tic-tac-toe”game

pg75

“Where’sRocky?”

game

pg79“Pointto”game

pg80Matching/associati

onwordgame

pg82“Battlefields”

game

pg82

“Rockysays”game

pg85

Playandsaydice

game

pg44Two-minutewriting

game

pg47

RevisionWordBingo

pg48

Wordchaingame

pg56Mimegame

pg58“ISpy”game

pg60

Gamified

tasks

Colourguessgroup

competitivegame

pg31

Vocabulary

revisiongroup

competitivegame

pg44

Consolidation

groupcompetitive

game

pg81;pg118-119

“Energy,Growth,

Health”CLILgroup

competitivegame

pg47

“WhisperChain”

Gamegroup

competitivegame

pg48

“Thenineword

game”paired

competitiveagainst

group

pg62

By way of explanation, the gamified tasks presented in the textbooks may seemingly have

incorporatedelements,suchascompetitivevocabularyrevisiongames,whichgivethepupilsan

equalchanceofwinningpointsandrewardsandcollectingthesepointsonavisualsystemknown

asaleaderboard,ultimatelyleadingtopupils’engagementandmotivation(cf.Marczewski,2015).

However,weneedtoconsiderthatGamificationisnotthepracticewhichdealswithareaswhere

entertainmentisatitsprimaryfunction,aswemayfindingames,instead,itisthetransferofgame

elements, beyond its traditional field, into the creation of a game with non-entertainment

50

objectives, that integrates elements into existing non-entertainment platforms, such as the

languageclassroom(cf.Chou,2015;Cruz,&Orange,2016).

Uponfurtherreflectionanddeliberationinrelationtoourtheoreticalstudiesandinput,areweare

lefttoquestionthetextbooks’authors’knowledgeofthedifferencesbetweengame-basedtasks

andgamifiedtasks.We,therefore,needtoadmitthatwhenincorporatinggamebasedtasksand

activitiesintheclassroom,theyshouldbewell-designedexperienceswhichcanbeconnectedand

aidincriticalthinkingandproblemsolving(cf.Gee.2013).

Having acknowledged this information, at an adjacent level of our quest in terms of textbook

analysis,itwasalsotoverifytheculturalandlinguisticvarietiesincludedintheunits.Ouranalysis

is therefore subdivided into the cultural varieties and the linguistic varieties found within the

textbooks.

Wehavedecidedtocaterforthisbreakdownbypresentingtwodistinctinformativetables,onefor

theculturalvarietiesandanotherforthelinguisticvarieties.Theselectedcontentunitswerethose

thatweresuggestedforcompletionbyourcooperatingsupervisorduringourInternshippractice.

Table 5 makes reference to the cultural variety tasks that can be found within the analyzed

textbooks.Duringourexploratoryanalysisofthetwochaptersineachtextbook,wecanperceive

thatthetextbookLet’sRock4presentsanalmostequalquantityvariationoftaskandactivities,in

comparisontothetwoothertextbooks,Smiles4andStars4.Wecanfindtworeferencesregarding

Society,onereferencerelatedtoGeographyandtworeferencesassociatedtoArtsinLet’sRock4.

Table5-Proposedculturaltasksinthetextbooks

Cultural

varietiesSmiles4 Let’sRock!4 Stars4

Units UNIT2Myhomeandmy

neighbourhood

UNIT3Foodis

great!UNIT4Let’seat

UNIT5Let’sgo

aroundourcity

UNIT3Foodis

great

UNIT4Where

welive

Society

“Foodindifferent

countries”

pg50

“MainEnglish

Speaking

Countries”

pg72

“MainEnglish

Speaking

Countries”Poster

pg86

“Schoollunchesall

overtheworld”

pg45

“Adreamhouse”

pg59

Geography

Country/Worldmap

pg50

Capitals

pg50

“WhereRocky

lives”

pg78

Countriesand

Capitals–Lisbon

pg61

History

Arts

“OurWorld-foodin

differentcountries”

pg50

“Different

Traditional

Breakfasts”

pg72

“Housesaround

theworld”

pg86

“Schoollunchesall

overtheworld”

pg45

“Adreamhouse”

pg59

51

InFigure2wemayfindexamplesofreferencesfoundinLet’sRock4.Theintendedtasksincludea

teacher’sshowandtellactivitywheretheinitialtaskissolelycontrolledbytheteacher.

Figure2-ActivitiesonTraditionalBreakfasts/HousesAroundtheWorld

Inthesecondtaskchildrenare invitedtorepeatthetonguetwistersandtheEnglishrhymeand

thenthinkaboutanythattheymightalreadyknow.

Stars4alsopresentsanequalquantityvariationoftasksandactivitiesfrombothanalyzedchapters.

We can find two references regarding Society, one reference related to Geography and two

referencesassociatedtoArts(seeFigure3).

In these examples, we may find listening and reading exercises on the topics, including some

matchingpicturewithtexttasks.

Figure3-ActivitiesonschoolLunches/DreamHouses

52

In these examples, we may find listening and reading exercises on the topics, including some

matchingpicturewithtexttasks.

InSmiles4wecanfindaratherunequalquantityvariationoftasksandactivitieswhencompared

totheothertwotextbooks,Let’sRock4andStars4.Onlyinonechapter,“FoodisGreat”,arewe

abletoascertainasinglereferenceregardingSocietycategory,onereferencerelatedtoGeography

andonereferenceassociatedtoArts.ThefollowingimageisanexamplefoundinSmiles4.

Figure4-OurWorldActivity

Theproposedtasks found inthe“Food isgreat”chapter, includesateacher’sdialoguewiththe

pupilsaboutthecountriesthatarepertainedtointhetexts.Theteachercanresorttoaworldmap

orusepreviouslypreparedprintoutsasareferenceguide.

Having acknowledged the cultural varieties and their proposed tasks according to the English

CurricularGoals,wewerealsoableto,atacoterminouslevel,verifythelinguisticvarietiesincluded

in the textbooks. Table 6makes reference to these linguistic varieties. In contemplationof the

lexicalitemsfoundinthethreeanalyzedtextbooks,weareabletoperceivethattheyallpavethe

way for the introductionofbothAmerican (AmE)andBritishEnglish (BrE).Wehavenoted that

Smiles4resortsmoretoAmericanEnglish,whereas,Let’sRock4andStars4,focusmoreonBritish

English.

ThevarietiesofBrEandAmEareimportantastheytypicallyperformthefunctionoftargetvarieties

fornon-nativespeakerslearningEnglishinaclassroomsetting(Siemund,etal.,2012).However,

thesetwoEnglishesdifferintermsofpronunciation,grammarandvocabulary(idem).Wecanalso

assumethatthetextbooksauthors’choiceofusingonevarietyindetrimentoftheotherdoesnot

implythatoneisaninferiororasuperioralternativeinrelationtotheother.Thetruthtothematter

is thatno languageorregionalvariety is inherentlybetterorworse, theyare justdifferent.The

53

answerwouldbetopointoutthesedifferencesastheyarenotsonumerousastooverloadpupils

(cf.Maxwell&Clandfield,2013).

Table6-Proposedlinguistictasksinthetextbooks

Linguistic

varieties Smiles4 Let’sRock!4 Stars4

LexicalItems

UNIT2Myhomeandmy

neighbourhood

UNIT3Foodisgreat!

UNIT4Let’seat

UNIT5Let’sgoaroundourcity

UNIT3Foodisgreat UNIT4Wherewelive

sofa(Am)pg26

livingroom(Am)pg30

baker’s(Br)pg35

supermarket(Br)pg35

chips(Br)pg40

sausage(Am)

pg44

biscuit(Br)pg44

dinner(Am)

pg48

snack(Am)pg48

cola(Br)

pg48

yogurt(Am)pg48

canteen(Br)pg70

flat(Br)pg76

townhall(Br)pg77

firestation(Br)pg76

shoppingcentre(Br)pg78

sportscentre(Am)pg78

attic(Br)pg79

toilet(Br)pg79

livingroom(Am)pg79

crisps(Am)pg42

garden(Br)pg54

study(Br)pg55

bathroom(Br)pg55

rug(Am)pg60

cupboard(Br)pg64

Pronunciation

Soundsspot/u/

pg29Soundsspot/k/

and/s/

pg43

Tonguetwisters

pg72 Sounds/i/

pg45

Tonguetwister

pg45

Sounds/r/

pg59

Tonguetwister

pg59

Expressions

“I’mkeepingmy

fingerscrossed”

pg80

“Let’splayhide

andseek”

pg82

“Yummy,yummy

formytummy”

pg84

Grammar

“What’syour

favourite…?”

pg41

“I’vegot…”

pg44

“Myfavourite…”

pg73“Hasgot/hasn’t

got…”

pg87

Intonationand

stress

Needlesstosay,wecannotfallinlinewiththeteachingofculturebeingtaughtaslinguisticsplus

culture (Bryam,1998),wherepupilsactivitiesareconcentratedontheacquisitionofvocabulary

andthegeneralstructureofthelanguage(Bryam&Fleming,1998;Frimberger,2009).Thisinvolves

mostlypassivereceptiveactivities,whereinformationthatisselectedandprovidedbythetextbook

authorsis,inturn,containedintheirrespectiveteachingmaterial.

Ourtextbookevaluation,inrelationtotheculturalvarieties,wasaimedattheculturalandlinguistic

contentwhichwasselectedbythetextbookauthorsandthosewhichwereomitted,inorderforus

togainalargercognizanceinrelationtothiscontent.Therefore,bybearinginmind21stcentury

skills,namelycriticalculturalawarenessandcommunicationskills,weconsequently,wereimpelled

tointroducetheSouthAfricancultureandlinguisticvarietywithinourtargetlessons.

54

Theupcomingchapterswilltacklethedocumentalanalysisofsomeactivitiesofourunitplanswhich

demonstrate our enlarged cognizance in relation to classroom proposals in which incorporate

gamified practices and cultural and linguistic varieties are attained to. Both self-assessment

questionnairesresultsandsomepupil’sprojectswillalsobecriticallyanalyzed.

2.4.“MyHomeisAfrica”–UbuntuStorytellingintheTeaching-Learning

Process

“Asindividuals,wearenotfullyhuman.

Itisonlythroughdeephumaninteraction,

meaningfulrelationshipsand

extraordinaryexperiences

thatweareabletomanifestourgreatestselves”

Eze

Inourfirstdidacticalunit(Appendix2)focuswasgiventotopicsrelatedtohome,animalsandparts

of the town.Thesethemeswereexploredthroughattractiveandauthenticmaterialsaswellas

significantdidacticresources,whichgaveourpupilstheopportunitytoworkonthecultureand

linguisticvariantsofSouthAfricanEnglishduringthreeblocksof45minutesessionseach.

This chapter essentially focuses on the before reading process preceding storytelling, by

demonstrating the importancewe give in preparing pupils with a sturdy bedrock prior to oral

traditionalstorytelling.

Priortothesesessions,aninterculturalactivityrelatedtothetopichadpreviouslybeenpresented

byresortingtoaFlippedClassroomstrategy,wherepupilshadtocollectivelyresearch8for,during

classtime,ontheirhandheldmobiledevices,traditionalvillagesandhomesinSouthAfrica.The

mainpurposeofthisactivitywasto introducethefeelingofstrangeness (Bryam,1997), tohelp

promotepupil’sculturalawarenessinrelationtothemselvesandtoothersaroundtheworld.

ThisFlippedClassroomactivity cancountfordifferentActionablePracticeResources,aspreviously

suggestedinourtheoreticalframework.AccordingtoChou(2016),thesepracticesandstrategies

canfallunderthemotivationalCoreDriveknownas,CoreDrive3:EmpowermentofCreativity&

Feedback.ThisFlippedClassroomstrategyhelpstocreateonboundingcreativityexperiences(Chou,

2016,)byofferingpupilsmoreautonomyandmorecontrolovertheirowncreativeprocesses.

In order for our pupils to be able to contemplate and further verify any differences between

themselves and others, we also resorted to a video conference with pupils from Woodlands

InternationalSchool,inBoksburg,SouthAfrica.KnowingthatthroughvideoconferencingandWeb

2.0fosterstheonlinemobility(Cruz,&Melo,2004)ofEuropeancitizens,weofferedourpupilsthe

8Thepupils’findings,fromthiscollaboratedprojectdevelopmenttask,culminatedinaslideshowpresentationthatwas

presentedatourAfternoonTeaparty,whichwasextendedtoparentsandfamily,aswellastoalltheotherpupilsinthe

school.

55

possibility of engaging in virtual encounters, which promote both intercultural communicative

(Byram,1997)andplurilingualcompetences(AraújoeSá,&Melo,2004).Wewereabletoascertain,

accordingtoCruz&Medeiros(2006),thatearlylanguagelearningalsoallowsfortheexpansionof

pupils’horizons,bycontactingwithdifferentlanguagesandcultures,bydevelopingaconsciousness

oftheother,andbyexposingthemtolinguisticandculturaldiversity.

Figure5-VideoconferencewithpupilsinWoodlandsInternationalSchool

Itwastooourpupils’astonishmentandsurprisethatthechildreninSouthAfricadon’talllivein

roundhouses,aswewereabletoseeintheimagesofAfricanhomespresentedintheanalyzed

textbooks,suchasinLet’sRock4onpage86andinStars4onpage59.ThepupilsatWoodlands

InternationalSchool,wereequallysurprised,gaspedandcommented,“Wow,yourhouseissobig!”

whentheysawourpupils’photosoftheirhomes.Therefore,theSouthAfricanchildrenwerealso

abletoacknowledgethesedifferencesinrelationtotheirownhomes.Demonstratingthattheuse

of this Interculturalactivityhasworkedbothways, ithascreated thesame impactondifferent

culturedchildren.Thisimpactisthefeelingofstrangeness(Bryam,1997),whichhelpstopromote

pupil’sculturalawarenessinrelationtothemselvesandtoothersaroundtheworld.

It iswithinourbelief that this significant interactionhelped to increase formative collaborative

practicesbetweenourpupilsandothersandbetweenourselvesandtheteachersinSouthAfrica9,

enriching our pupils’ knowledge because they were instantly connected to another classroom,

wherebyputtingafaceongeographicallydistantcommunitiesandcultures(Fields,2015).

This videoconference activity can also account for different Actionable Practice Resources, as

previouslysuggested inour theoretical framework,whichaccording toChou (2016), falls in line

withCoreDrive3:EmpowermentofCreativity&Feedback.Furtherattentioncanalsobegiventhat

9TheseexchangeinitiativescontinuedalmosttotheendoftheSouthAfricanacademicyear,inearlyDecember,

culminatinginaChristmaswishletterandsurpriseboxfilledwithoriginalculturalartifactssentfromourschool’s

pupils.

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thesepracticescancreatesettingswherepupilsareengaged,challenged,andtransformed(Muir,

2017).

In thisunit, pupilswerealso introduced to theoral tradition story called “Where StoriesCome

From”(Appendix3),whichisourownadaptationofatraditionalZulufolktalethatoriginallyinfers

aclearlife’slessonandvaluesthroughouttheentirestory,implyingthatnothingisachievedinlife

withouthardworkandeffort.Itisunderstoodthatashumanswecanalllearnfromthistraditional

Africanoralfolktale,thateverythingisachievedbypushingourselvestothelimit.Ithasbeenour

intentiontotransmitthisstory’sidealeventhoughitisnotexplicitinthestoryitself.

Thisoraltraditionalstorywasadaptedtowardsourneeds inthesensethat,thisstoryhasbeen

passed down from generation to generation, and it has no written framework and it is told

subjectively(Tuwe,2016).Thereon,servingasarichandperennialreservoirthroughwhichyoung

learnerscanacquirenotonlyliteracyskills,butalsocognitive, linguisticandsocialskills.“Where

Stories Come From” was linguistically adapted by us for primary classroom needs, taking into

considerationothe2014EnglishCurricularGoals.

Wehavealso focusedourprojecton theconceptof “Ubuntu” storytelling,which is centredon

people or humanity (Mandela, 1994) and recognizes the relational interconnectedness of all

elementsandbeingsonearth(Mucina,2011).ItistotheunderstandingthatUbuntu’sIndigenous

knowledge may adjoin multiple and collective origins as well as contribute towards the

collaborative dimensions of knowledge with the intention of aiding in the interpretation and

analysisofsocialreality(cf.Dei,2000).

WebelievethattheultimategoaloftheintegrationofIndigenousknowledge,foundin“Ubuntu”

storytelling, and by having intertwined it within the learning environment, is to affirm a

collaborativedimensionofknowledge.Furthermore,byaddressingthediversityinstories,events,

experiencesandideas,theycanformthebuildingblocksforhumandevelopment(cf.Dei,2000;

Mucina,2011).

Adjacent to “Ubuntu” storytelling, we found it rather befitting to deliberate on strategies that

wouldembraceculturallyrichcontents.Therefore,asitcanbeseeninAnnexe2,wepaidspecial

attentiontoandheavilyreliedonauthenticlearningmaterial(Minskey,1987),i.e.,realia(Berwald,

1987).Byusing“realia”(seeFigure6,foranexample),onecatersforkinestheticlearningwhichis

thetypeoflearningthatpupilswillmosteffectivelyacquire(Kharb,2013),primarilybecausethey

willhaveahands-onexperience(Arslan,2009).Theunexpectednessofpupilshavingtosuddenly

interactwithrealobjectscanteachmotorandcognitiveskills,whilealsokeepingpupilsontheir

toes,andfurthermore,alsogeneratingexcitement.

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AsdifferentActionablePracticeResources,aspreviouslyindicatedinourtheoreticalframework,

Chou(2016)accountsforthesepracticesinCoreDrive5:Social Influence&Relatedness, inCore

Drive6:Scarcity&ImpatienceandinCoreDrive7:Unpredictability&Curiosity.

Figure6-Classroomrealiaduringstorytelling

Asapre-readingactivity,wepurposefully introducedatraditionalZuluchantandmelodyinthis

interculturallessonplan.ThisisduetothefactthatacrosstheAfricancontinent,thetraditionof

music is ancient, rich and diverse. Traditionalmusic and chants were historically passed down

aurally fromgeneration togenerationand frequently reliesonpercussion instrumentsof every

varietyandothertone-producinginstruments.

Africanoraltraditionalmusicnotonlyportraysmoralsandinstructionsinproperconduct,italso

teacheshistoricalandculturallessons.Furthermore,itenablespupilstopracticestressandrhythm

intheclassroom,whichhelpswiththeircognitivedevelopment,asthebrainfocusesonrecognizing

patternsandconnectingthesepatternsovertimeaidingforphonologicaldevelopment(Gardner,

1985).

Afterhavingacquirednewly learnt vocabularyand havingbeenpresented toa traditional Zulu

chant, as well as having actively participated in kinaesthetic activities, pupils interactively

participated in “Where stories come from”10storytelling activity. A data projector and a digital

10ThistraditionalZulufolktaleoriginallyinfersaclearlife’slessonthroughouttheentirestory.Itimpliesthatnothingis

achievedinlifewithouthardworkandeffort.MotherManzandaba,themaincharacterofthestory,findsherown

storiestotellherchildrenthroughthefruitsofherowneffort.ThisisclearlyshownwhenMotherManzandabaandherhusbandFatherZenzeleneedstoriestotelltheirchildren,sothattheywouldnotbecomebored.MotherManzandabalooksaroundherownvillage,desperatelylookingforaremotelyentertainingstorytotell.Afterfindingnone,she

decidesthatshemustsearchtheentireEarthforstoriesuntilshefindssome.Sheleavesthecomfortofhervillageand

alongthewayshemeetsupwithvariousanimals.Shefindsarabbit,amonkeyandotheranimals.Aftercountlessof

conversationsovernumerousdays,shealmostgivesuphopeofeverfindingstories.However,athermomentof

weakness,shediscoversaturtlethatiswillingtotakehertotheLandoftheSeaPeople.InthisLand,sheisaskedto

bringbacksomethingfromherworldinexchangeoftheirgift.Uponreturnandbecauseofheruntiringdrivetofind

stories,shereceivesamagicalshellthattellsherastoryeverytimesheliftsittoherear.

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platform,Calaméo,wasusedfortheclasstolistento/readthestoryasawhole-classactivity.To

helpensuretotalphysicalresponse(TPR),pupil’sinvolvement,thedevelopmentoflisteningskills

andassessmentofthepupils,theyneededtomimeandgestureastheyidentifiedandheardthe

pre-taughtvocabulary. Inordertohelpdevelopmotivation,participationandunderstandingwe

askedconvenient‘cliff-hanger'questions(cf.Duarte&Cruz,2017).Theseareconceptchecktype

questionsandinclude,recollectingknowledgeandfactsbyfocusingonquestions,suchas“who?”,

“why?”,“when?”,“how?”,“where?”andaskingforsolutionstoproblemsbyapplyingknowledge

andfacts,suchas“whataretheygoingtodonext,whatwouldyousay/do?”(cf.Ellison,2010).By

resortingtothesepredictionskillscanhelptocontributetowardspupil’sengagement(Duarte&

Cruz,2017).

ThisoraltraditionstorytellingactivitycanalsoaccountforadifferentActionablePracticeResource,

aspreviouslyproposedinourtheoreticalframework,inaccordancewithChou(2016)becauseit

falls in line with Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning & Calling, with Core Drive 2: Development &

Accomplishment,withCoreDrive3:EmpowermentofCreativity&Feedback,toCoreDrive5:Social

Influence&Relatedness.

After completing the interactive storytelling, in order to evaluate pupil’s understanding and

comprehension,weused another digital platform in the classroom (seeAppendix 2 for further

details).WeresortedtoPlickers(seeFigure7),whichisasimpletoolthathelpsteacher’scollect

real-timeformativeassessmentdatawithouttheneedforpupils’technologicalorhandheldmobile

devices(Duarte&Cruz,2017).

Figure7-Comprehensionexerciseson“Plickers”

Webelievethatthisdigitalresourceisaneffectiveclassroomtool,whichcancatalyzecuriosityfrom

an inert learner, as it increases theirpotential skill andconceptacquisition (cf.Utendorf,2013;

Duarte&Cruz,2017).Hereupon,gameassumptionsaretakenintotheclassroom,leadingtothe

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stimulusandtheintegrationofexperience,criticalanalysisandreflectionintheteaching-learning

process(idem).

Usingdigitalplatforms,hencetheintertwiningoftechnologywithoraltraditionalstorytelling,can

also account as an Actionable Practice Resource, as previously stated by Chou (2016), we can

encounterCoreDrive 2:Development&Accomplishment,which is an internal drive formaking

progress,developingskills,achievingmasteryandultimatelyovercomingchallenges.Itiswithinthis

CoreDrivethatmostofthePBLscanbefound(idem).Itisanenthusiasmgeneratorandleadstoa

commitment towards learningnew skills.Moreover,wearealsoable to acknowledge theCore

Drive,CoreDrive7:Unpredictability&CuriosityisfoundwithinthisActionablePracticeResource.

Itisthis“unpredictability”thatcanbefeltwhenresortingtoanengagingdigitalplatform,suchas

Plickers.Itimpliespupilsarecompelledtobeconstantlyengagedbecausetheydonotknowwhat

willhappennext.

Ourpupils,havingbeenenrichedwithtraditionalstorytellingwerefurtherculturallyenlightened

when theywerepresentedwith slideshowaboutanold-fashionedvillage inSouthAfrica called

“Pilgrim’sRest”inordertoshowthestructure,housingandbuildingsinanoldendayminingtown.

Pupilswerethenchallengedtoupdateandmodernizethistown.Thiswasacollaborativeeffort

activity,inwhichtheywouldhavetothinkofanameanddecideonthenecessaryandimportant

placesintheirtown.Thereafter,theydrewatownplan,takingontheroleastownplannersormini

architects(Figure8).

Figure8-CollaborativeTownPlanning

The town planning activity is also accountable as Actionable Practice Resources, as previously

proposed,inaccordancewithChou(2016).Inthisparticulargroupeffort,weareabletoascertain

atleastsixortheeightmotivationalCoreDrives.BystandingalongCoreDrive5:SocialInfluence&

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Relatedness,whichis,recognizingthatbeingwithotherscollectivelycanbeintrinsicallymotivating.

ItaddsmorefuntoCoreDrive3:EmpowermentofCreativityandtoCoreDrive7:Unpredictability

& Curiosity, which is expressed when pupils are engaged in a creative process where they

repeatedlyworktowardshands-onproblemsolving(Salen,2009)byfiguringoutnewthingsand

tryingoutdifferentcombinations(cf.Chou2016). ItmakesCoreDrive1:EpicMeaning&Calling

moremeaningfulbecausetheyareengagedinsomethingbiggerthanthemselvesandthattheyare

doing something greater than themselves. Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment feels

morelikeafeatbecauseitisanenthusiasmgeneratorandleadstoacommitmenttowardslearning

newskills(cf.idem).

Theupcomingchapterleadsusfurtherintoourpraxisbydemonstratingourenlargedapprehension

and appreciation in relation to the implementation of a gamification pedagogy (Foncubierta&

Rodríguez,2015)andtheintegrationofexperienceswherepupilshavefulfillmentopportunities.

2.5.“Ineveryrevisiontobedone,thereisalwaysanelementoffun”–

ClassroomQuestintheTeaching-LearningProcess

Aswecanseefromtheanalysisofthisunit(Appendix4),focuswasgiventorevisionwork.During

this unit, our cooperating teacher had asked us to focus on exercises taken from our pupils’

textbook, Smiles 4. These were therefore presented, in this particular lesson, as consolidating

activities because, throughout our unit plan, the pupils encountered all lexical items, language

chunks,aswellasimplicitgrammarstructures.

Ourmainpurposeforthisparticularlessonwasnottodorevisionandconsolidationworkwithour

pupilsbyresortingsolelytothetextbook.Insteadwewantedourpupilstobeabletoexperiencea

neweranddifferentexperiencebyhavingthemparticipateinaClassroomRevisionQuest,almost

likegoingonaScavengerHunt,withintheclassroomwalls.Inthisway,wewereabletomotivate

pupilstoprepareforclasses,emphasizetheimportanceoftheclassroomasasourceoflearning,

encouragemorewidespreadparticipationindiscussionanddevelopskillsinargument(Armstrong,

1978).ThisQuestwaspreparedonthenotionthatgamescreateengagement–anecessityforany

learningexperience(Gogos,2012)-andthatGamificationistheprocessofadaptinganexperience

likepurchasingbread,masteringahandwritingrecognitionprogramorlearningmathwithgame-

likeelements (Arnold, 2014).We recall gamification is not aboutdeveloping full-ongames,but

rather it’s about using gaming attributes to drive engagement, strengthen skills, or behavior

changes (Utendorf, 2013). In fact, pupils throughout the lesson worked in teams in order to

completedifferenttasks.Astheyprogressedtheyearnedpointsontheleaderboard.

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TheClassroomRevisionQuest(seeFigure9)involvedcompletingeightdifferenttypesoftasksat

eightdifferentcircuitbases in the room.Thequestwasdivided into twodistinctparts: revision

basedtasksandcreativitybasedtasks.Asagroup11,pupilswouldhavetopassfromonecircuitbase

intheroom,afterhavingcompletedaparticulartask,toanothercircuitbaseafterastopwatched

timeperiod.Eachcircuitbaseboxwasareferencedanddifferentpartofthetown,forexample,

thebankbox,therestaurantbox,etc.Twoenvelopes,onewhiteandtheotherbrown,couldbe

foundinalternativeboxes.Inthewhiteenvelope,pupilscouldfindthetask’sinstructions.Theyhad

tocompletethepreviouslyselectedtextbookexercisesandthentheyhadtochecktheiranswers

foundinthebrownenvelopebeforeadvancingtotheleaderboard.Inthealternateboxesourpupils

couldfinddifferentthecreativedevelopmenttaskstocomplete.Inotherwords,intheboxes1,3,

5,7pupilscouldfindrevisionandconsolidationtaskstocomplete.Intheboxes2,4,6,8pupilshad

tocompletethecreativedevelopmenttasks.Eachroundofthecircuitbaselastedforfourminutes,

whichwastimedandcontrolledbytheteacher.

Havingcompletedthetask,thepupilswouldputupontheleaderboard(seeFigure11)acompletion

checkmarker, andmove on to the next circuit base pointwhere a new task activitywould be

completedwithinthesametimelimit.Thequestfinishedwhenthepupilscompletedalltheeight

circuitbases.

Figure9-ClassroomQuestcircuitbases

ByhavingmadethisClassroomRevisionQuestcompetitive,itbroughtbacktheelementsoffunand

exploration,analmostaddedurgencyoptimism (McGonigal,2012), to learningandwhatmight

occuristhatpupilsmayevenforgetthattheyarelearning,becausepupilsareactivelyinvolvedin

11Thepupilsweredividedintosevengroupsofthreepupilseachandtheyweregivenacolouredheadbandwhich

servedasagroupidentifier(theReds,theBlues,theGreens,theYellows,theOranges,theBrownsandthePurples).

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the learning process. By adding a leaderboard also helped to show pupils where they rank, it

showedthemwheretheystandinrelationtotheirpeersanditsverypresenceelicitedthedesire

toplay.Itservedasapowerfulmotivatortocontinue.Therefore,itfosteredengagementingame

playandevenservedasabasisforarewardinitself.

Ourpupilsplayedaroleintheirrevisionandultimatecoursedesignbecausetheyweregivenalevel

ofempowermentandownershipbyhavingactivitieswhich involvedcollaboratedcreativetasks.

Effectiveteachingimpliestheinvolvementofpupilsintheirownlearningprocess.Inthisway,the

material is farmore likelytostickwiththemaftertheclassand, inthefuture, thereforehaving

becomemeaningfullearning.

ThisClassroomRevisionQuestplayedacrucialrole inhelpingparticipantstobuildrelationships,

andtofeelequalbypromotingcollaborationamongstthem(seeFigure10).Aspupilsaresocial

beings,itisveryimportanttofindeveryopportunitytoletthemworktogether,notonlybecause

itencouragesthespeakingandlisteningskillsdevelopment,butalsobecauseitteachesthemto

achievetheirgoalstogether(Cruz,2016).

ThetasksusedinthisClassroomRevisionQuestcanbeviewedasexamplesofanalogicgamification,

because they have game elements,mechanics and components. They provide for competition,

collaboration,problemsolvingandcriticalthinkingskills,communicationandchallenge(seeFigure

10).

Figure10-PupilsonTask

Atthisstagewewouldalsoliketorefertothatduringthistaskwedeliberatelygroupedourpupils

accordingtoBartle’sPlayerTaxonomy,aspreviouslymentioned,andinconsonancewithourprior

observations made during the “Lemon Experiment”. According to these apprehensions and

findings,wehavepurposefullygroupedourpupilsinordertounderstandwhatcouldbeanoptimal

settingandtoobservetheeffectsofcompetitionandcreativedevelopmentwithinthistypeoftask.

Weconsequentlygroupedourpupilsintothrees,accordingtoourpreviousanecdotalandteaching

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notesand inconsonancewith theirplayer typecharacteristics.Wepurposefully teamedup the

playerswhopresented“Achievers”and“Killers”characteristics,which,inrelationtothefigure11,

weretheOrangesteamandalsotheBrownsteam.Aswecanfindinthesamefigurebelow,both

groupswereinaleadingposition,havingcompletedthetasksquicklyandthengiventhechanceto

putuptheirLeaderboardbadgeuponcompletion.

Figure11-ClassroomQuestLeaderboard

Wealsoconscientiouslyteameduptheplayerswhopresentedotherplayertypecharacteristics,

suchasupon“Socializers”and“Explorers”alongsidethe“Achievers”and/or“Killers”.Thesewere

thePurples,theRedsandalsotheYellowsteams,aswemayobserveinthefigure11.

KnowingthatAchieverstrytomastereverythingwithinthegame,theywillstrivetogainrewards,

recognitionandprestige(Chou,2016),theypresentthemselvesasbeinghighlycompetitiveand

enjoy beating difficult challengeswhether they are set by the game or by themselves (Kyatric,

2013).Killers strive to reach the top, take glory inbeatingdown the competition, bask in their

victories and live for the competitive elements of the game (Chou, 2016). We therefore,

purposefullyteamedupthesenaturalcompetitorswithother“Socializers”and“Explorers”team

membersinorderobservetheeffectsofcompetitiononourpupils’creativedevelopment(Bartle,

2005;Kenneth,2012).

Hence,we can understand the positivity of creating competitive dominated activities, at lower

levels of language learning, such as in this particular case study. These competitive dominated

activitiesnotonlyhelptoprovideforemotionallychargedandengagingactivities,theyalsooffera

senseofurgency,athrill,arushandachangeofclassroompaceanddynamics.Moreover,they

proposeandpromotea senseofpupils’ achievementbecause theyappeal to certaingame like

players(idem).

Furthermore, competitive-type activities can alsohelp to encourage andenhanceparticipation,

motivation, as well as strengthens pupil’s engagement, which ultimately stimulates the

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developmentoftheircreativity.FurthercognizanceisalsogiventoBaer(2010)whenhestatesthat,

at low to intermediate level, intergroup rivalry may weld groups together, thereby fostering

collaborationandthustheircreativity.Therefore,weneedtocontemplateonthesuggestionthat

the effects of intergroup competition on creativity in closed groups will be positive up to

intermediatelevels,leavingustounderstandthat,competitiveengagingactivitiesnotonlyhelpto

encouragecollaboration,butcanalsobepositively introducedwithin theclassroomwallsatan

earlylearningstage(cf.Baer,et.al,2010).

Helpingustodelvefurtherinourunderstanding,ourClassroomRevisionQuestwasfinalizedwith

aself-assessmentquestionnaire(seeAppendix5)wherepupilsansweredby:a)usingthethumbs

up/thumbsdownstrategy;b)givingexamplesofwhattheyhavelearnt;c)drawingapictureoftheir

town;d)listingtheproblemsintheirtownandhowtheycouldsolvethem.

With this self-assessment questionnaire,wewere able to verify our pupils’ likes anddislikes in

relationtothelessons.WeareabletoverifythemajorityofourpupilspreferredtheClassroom

Revision Quest (Graph 1). This represented 41% of our pupils having a greater predisposition

towardsthesetypesofactivities.TheFlippedClassroomresearchanduseoftechnologicaldevices

cameinat20%ofourpupil’spreferences.Storytellingwasfollowedcloselybehindwithamargin

of18%.Subsequenttothis,wehaveCreativeTownPlanningwitha15%predispositionand,finally,

activitieswhichinvolvedsingingandchantingoccupied6%ofourpupils’preferences.

Graph1-Self-assessmentlikesanddislikesI

Byreflectingfurtherbackonourpupils’initialquestionnaireanalysis,atthetime,wewereableto

ascertain that our pupils had already encountered and delved in traditional games; yet there

seemedtobeverylittleexposuretotechnologicaldevicesortechnologyasameansandresource

intheclassroom.Thereisalsoanemergenceinrelationtoanalogicgamificationthatappearsbeas

stimulating and motivating because it involves kinesthetically-related problem solving and

creativitytasks.Weareabletoaffirmthatthismultisensorylearningcancaterfordifferentpupil’s

learningneedsbyprovidingthemwithmultiplewaysof learningandofferingthemachanceof

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succeeding(cf.Morin,2017)and,therefore,alsogivingthemtheopportunityofgainingsomething

throughexperience(cf.Duarte&Cruz,2017).

Hence,weareabletoincludethisClassroomRevisionQuestasbeingaveryaccountableActionable

PracticeResource,aspreviouslyproposed inourtheoreticalframework.Weareabletoascertain

alloftheeightmotivationalCoreDrivesinChou’s(2016)OctalysisFramework.Inourview,with

the inclusion of all key cores in thisClassroomRevisionQuest,CoreDrive 5: Social Influence&

Relatedness iswhereweunderstandthe importanceofcollectiveness isat itsmainvirtue.Core

Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment is the enthusiasm generator and Core Drive 3:

EmpowermentofCreativitydevelopsasenseofempowermentwhilepupilsarecreativeandsee

immediateresults.CoreDrive4:Ownership&Possessioniswhenpupilshavecontroloverprocesses

andprojects.CoreDrive7:Unpredictability&Curiosityincludesexperiencesthatareuncertainand

involve chance. Core Drive 6: Scarcity & Impatience is the wanting of something which is

immediatelyunattainable.CoreDrive8:Loss&Avoidanceistheavoidanceofsomethingnegative

fromhappening.AlltheseCoreDrivesarethereaftersuccessfullymergedintoCoreDrive1:Epic

Meaning & Calling, where pupils believe that they are engaged in something bigger than

themselvesandthattheyaredoingsomethinggreaterthanthemselves(idem).

OurClassroomRevisionQuest,hereon,resultsinasetofdidacticstrategiesthatbringsindividual

strengths together. It implies thepreservingand improvingofapositive classroomculture that

supports and encourages the development of talent and skills, and simultaneously, increases

competitivepotentialbecauseitpoolstogetherallstrengthsinacollaborativeway(Herger,2014).

Therefore, after having presented and critically analysed theClassroom RevisionQuestwe can

understandhowaccountableandvaliditisasanActionablePracticeResource.Ithasimprovedour

understanding and deepened our cognizance in relation to the balancing of study and practice

withinengagingapproaches.

It is also within our understanding these tasks hold the essential creative, collaborative, and

communicative skills which are very much appreciated within a 21st century transformative

classroom.

Theupcomingchapterleadsusfurtherintoourpraxisbydemonstratingourenlargedapprehension

andappreciationinrelationtotheculturalandlinguisticvarietieswhichembracetheintegration

ofalltheessential21stcenturyskills.

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2.6.“Wearewhatweeat.WeareUbuntu”–SouthAfricanEnglish

languagevarietyintheTeaching-LearningProcess

During the implementation of our final didactical unit, pupils focused on furthering their

intercultural and language awareness, by bolstering the South African English variety’s

distinctiveness inrelationtootherbetterknownEnglishes,namelyBrEandAmE. Thisunitwas

plannedandinitiallyfocusesonthepre,whileandafterreadingprocess,asawholethatproceeds

to oral traditional storytelling. Demonstrating the incorporation of, not only the South African

cultural life but also its linguistic variety, by essentially coring into the targeted lexicon and

pronunciationand,thereon,coupledwithoraltraditionalstorytelling.The“Ubuntu”storytelling,

further lead our pupils into collective problem solving and creativity development through the

meansofcommunication.

Secondly,wehaveintertwinedgamifiedtasks,namelythroughtechnologicalresources,whereby

resortingtoaFlippedClassroomstrategyandthenacomprehensionquiz,usingKahoot!,Laterwe

implementedanotheranalogicalgamifiedtask,byperforminga“Stokvel”Quest.Adjacenttothis

wehaveincorporatedcertainSouthAfricanculturalconceptstothesegamifiedtasks,whichcan

contributetowardsthefurtherdevelopmentoflife-longlearningskills.

BycontinuouslypromotingtheSouthAfricanculturalanditslinguisticvarieties,weintroducedthe

different South African food lexicon and made a comparative study between this variety and

standard English, BrE and AmE. It is in our congizance that standard Englishmight be defined,

according toCrystal (2003), as the varietywhich is usedas thenormof communicationby the

communities’leadinginstitutionssuchasitsgovernment,lawcourtsandmedia.Itisthereforethe

varietywhichislikelytobethemostdisseminatedamongthepublic.

WhenreferringtoSouthAfricanlexicon,itisunderstoodthatvocabularygoesasfarastoreflecta

country’speopleandculture(Esteves,&Hurst,2009).InSouthAfrica,itisperhapsinvocabulary

thatweseethegreatestdivergencebetweenthedifferentvarietiesofEnglishasafirstlanguage

(Barber,2000).ThereasonforthisdivergenceinlexiconwasduetothefactthattheEnglishsettlers

tothiscolonyfeltanurgentneedtoadaptandevencreatenewEnglishlanguagewordsaccordingly.

Therefore,givingrisetonewlexiconandmanyloansfromnativeandindigenouslanguagesspoken

in the country. Although, South African English is spicedwith variouswords and phrases from

Afrikaans,IsiZulu,ChewaandNamatomentionjustafew(Esteves,&Hurst,2009),itisAfrikaans

thathasprovidedtheSouthAfricanEnglishlanguagewithanumberofsignificantcontributions(cf.

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Elmes,2001),whereabouthalfthewordsinthenationallexiconhaveoriginatedfromAfrikaans

(idem)12.

Duringourunitplan,we thereforedecided to take this lexicon into consideration. Theprimary

objectivewasnotforthepupilstoknowthislexiconforstudypurposesratheritwastohelpdevelop

their awareness and knowledge of other types and forms of the English vocabulary, becoming

awareofthenuancesandmeaningsofalanguageispartoflanguagelearning.Bydevelopingand

increasingpupils’languageawareness,theyarebetterabletounderstand,appreciateandusethe

language.

Languageawarenessblendsnotonly,contentaboutlanguage,languageskill,attitudinaleducation

and metacognitive opportunities, it also allows pupils to reflect on the process of language

acquisition,learningandlanguageuse.Itisalsounderstoodasbeingakeyaspectofcreatingpupil-

centeredclassrooms(Bilash,&Tulasiewicz,1995).Therefore,itiswithinourbeliefthatallfourof

theseaspectsoflanguageawarenessneedtobeintegratedintotheexistingsubjectareas,asthey

assisttheteacherinpresentingmaterialaccordingtopupil’sreadiness(cf.idem).

Therefore,ourcarefulplanningandpracticestookintoconsiderationthatpupilscanlearnconcepts

insecondlanguageacquisitionthroughtheexaminationoftheirownlanguage’sstructureanduse,

essentiallythroughitssimilaritiesordifferences.

Inordertointroducethetopic,pupilsheardanAfrikaanstraditionalsongaboutaverycommon

SouthAfricandish knownaspotjiekos13. Theywere subsequently introduced todifferent South

African food,by resorting toaPowerPointdisplayandpreviouslyprepared flaschcards.As they

visualizedandheardthenewlexicalitemtheywereaskedtorepeat.Thereafter,theycompleted

avocabulary/pictureassociationworksheetandaSouthAfricanfoodvocabularyvs.Englishfood

vocabularycomparativeassociationworksheet(seeAppendix7forfurtherdetails).

12Itisknownthatduetotheclimateanduniquefoods,AfrikaanswordshaveenteredintotheEnglishlanguageand

everydayuse.Biltong,atypeofdriedmeatismuchadoredbySouthAfricans,asarefrikkadels,whicharemore

commonlyknownasmeatballs.Boerewors,aspicyfarmertypesausageusuallymadefrombeef,lambandstrongherbs

orsosaties,betterknownaskebabsonastick,whicharealsoadefinitefavourite.Thewarmclimateofteninvitesall

inhabitantstomakeabraai,abarbecue,wheretheybraaibraaivleis,themeatcookedonthebarbecueandmealiescommonlydenominatedasmaizeorcorn,allaccompaniedbypap,aporridgemadefrommealies.Itcanalsobeaccompaniedwithgeelrys,ricetintedwithaturmericorbetterpronounced/ˈtjuːmərɪk/spicegivingitacharacteristic

yellowcolourandrefinedtaste.SlapchipsorwhatonecallsFrenchfriesorchipsarestickpotatoeswhicharesloppilydeepfatfried.

AnothermustonthetableisPotjiekos,arichmeatpotstewcookedinathree-leggedcast-ironpotoverafire,thisis

oneofthecountry’smosttraditionaldishes.Otherdelicaciesmightincludethetraditionalmelktert,amilkcustardlike

tart,orevenaverytypicalsetofdoughnuttwists,deepfriedandthensoakedinsyrup,thesebeinglocallyknownas

koeksisters.Therearealsobeskuitorrusks,ahard,driedbiscuitortwicebakedbread,perfecttoserveatbreakfastorduringanafternoonsnack.MostofthesemealsareaccompaniedbythefamousRooibostea,theredbushteaastheEnglishmightdenominateitwithaverycharacteristicredtarnishingcolour.SouthAfricannaartjiesanorangecolouredcitrusfruitaresimilartotangerinesandarealocallygrownfruit. 13Thevideowiththesongcanbewatchedhere:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs9vErkLLeY&feature=youtu.be.

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Therefore,byinitiallyresortingtoflashcardsasvisualcues,inorderforourpupilstoseeandhear

thedifferencesandbyintentionallycreatingparallelsbetweenstandardizedEnglishandtheSouth

African variety,we thereon proposed a spaghetti stringworksheet (see Appendix 7 for further

details).Theseauthenticmaterialshelpedtocreateparallelsthatencouragedourpupilstonotice

andquestiontherelatednessofthesevariations.

ThisparalleltaskcanalsoaccountasanActionablePracticeResource,aspreviouslystatedbyChou

(2016).Infact,wecanencountertheCoreDrive7:Unpredictability&Curiositywhichinvolvesthe

creation of suspense andmystery. It generates excitement, leads to anticipation,while adding

suspense and curiosity towards what will happen next. It is the Core Drive that can very

compellinglyinspireCoreDrive1:EpicMeaning&Calling,canstirupCoreDrive3:Empowerment

ofCreativity&FeedbackandcanimprovethevalueofCoreDrive4:OwnershipandPossession(cf.

idem).

Followingontothistaskwefelturgedtoopenlydiscusswhatfoodwenormallyeatfordinnerin

ourhomes,consideringwhoweeatourfoodwithandwhereweeatit.Ourpupilswerethengiven

agivenaworksheetentitled“What’s fordinner?”. Itwasexplainedthatonthisworksheet (see

Appendix7) therewasa video link14that theywouldneed towatchandwith thehelpof their

parentstheywouldcompletetheworksheetfornextlesson.Inthisway,wehavenotonlyinvited

ourpupils’parentsintoourclassroom,byofferingthemtheopportunitytodiscoverandenquire

themselvesand their childrenon this video’s content,butwehavealso implementedaFlipped

Classroomstrategywithinthisunitplan(Moore,2016).

Wewerethenabletointhenextlessonconfirmourpupils’understandingoftheFlippedClassroom

task by resorting to a Kahoot! (see Figure 12). We recall that this digital platform is used for

formative assessment, to monitor pupils’ progress towards learning objectives, while aiding in

identifying strengths and weaknesses and offering more challenging and engaging learning

opportunities.Furthermore,ithelpsinreviewingthefoundationalknowledgeofasubject(cf.Valle,

2015;Duarte&Cruz,2017).

The Flipped Classroom strategy and the resorting to digital platforms, such as Kahoot!, that

incorporates thegamificationmodel forcomprehensionquizzes,canalsoaccountasActionable

PracticeResources,aspreviouslystatedbyChou(2016).WeencounterCoreDrive2:Development

&Accomplishment,which is the internal drive formaking progress, developing skills, achieving

masteryandultimatelyovercomingchallenges,aswellasCoreDrive3:EmpowermentofCreativity

&Feedback,wherepupilscanseetheirresults,receivefeedbackand,thereon,adjustaccordingly.

14Thevideocanbefoundhere:https://community.eflclassroom.com/video/whats-for-dinner.

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Figure12-Kahoot!Activity

WealsofindCoreDrive5:SocialInfluence&RelatednessbecauseboththeFlippedClassroomtask,

includedthefamilyandparentswhoofferedmoralandemotionalsupport,aswellastheKahoot!

comprehensionquizwascompletedinsmallgroups.CoreDrive7:Unpredictability&Curiosity,not

onlycreatessuspenseandmystery,itisalsoacuriositygeneratorbecausetheyaretheexperiences

thatareuncertainandinvolvechance.

Continuingtheanalysisofourdidacticplan,weonceagainacquaintourselveswithoraltradition

“Ubuntu”storytelling.Theoraltradition“Ubuntu”storythatwehavechosenforthisdidacticunit

wastheXhosa(aBantuethnictribefromSouthernAfrica)storycalled“FishBones”15(seeAppendix

6).Thisstorywaslinguisticallyadaptedbyusforprimaryclassroomneeds.Wehaveacknowledged

the2014EnglishCurricularGoals (MetasCurriculares), in relation toListening,Reading, Spoken

Production,SpokenInteraction,Writing,InterculturalDomainandLexisandGrammardomains.We

havetakenthisoraltraditionstoryandhaveincorporatedalltheEnglishCurricularGoals’Reference

Domains in order to create lesson plans according to these edicts. We have been able to,

synchronously,interlacediversedidacticstrategieswhichcanaidpupilsincommunicatingacross

culturesandperspectivesbyamelioratingtraditionaloralstorytelling(seeAppendix7).

15“FishBones”isanoraltraditionstoryaboutalittlegirlcalled“Nondwe”andherdogCheba.Ittalksaboutthe

hardshipsthatshehastogothroughafterhermother’sdeathandherfather’sremarriagetoaveryunkindstepmother

andherdaughter,Deliwe.Thelittlegirlisforcedtobecomeacattlecarer,arathernon-prestigiousanddemeaningtask

intheXhosaculturebecauseXhosagirlsarehousecarersandXhosaboysarenaturalherdersandcattlecarers.Nondwe

appearstobetrappedinherstepmother’sunkindwaysandinturnbecomesratherfrailandveryundernourished.As

oneofherdailytaskssheneedstotakehercattletotheriverinorderforthemtodrink,itisherethatshebefriendsa

fishwhokindlybringsherandherdogfoodtoeat.Overtimeshegraduallybecomesstrongerandfeelsempowered

enoughtorejectherstepsister’sleft-overfood.Muchtoherstepmother’spuzzlementandanger,Nondweisfollowed

totheriver,byDeliwe,whodiscoversthatthefoodsourceiscomingdirectlyfromafish.Asaviolenttwistoffate,the

stepmotherdemandsthatherhusbandbringsherfishfordinner,creatinggreatdespairandsadnessinNondwe.She

triestosavethefishbyleavingitasimplewarningofitsfate,onlytobeleftrestassuredthatthediscardedfishbones

wouldbehersalvation.

Atwistinthestoryfollows.Noneofthevillagersareabletopickupthediscardedfishbonesthatwerediscoveredin

themieliefieldbythechief’sson.Theperplexedchiefdemandsthatallvillagersshouldtrytosolvethemysteryand

thereonofferstoacceptthegirlwhoisabletopickupthebonesintohisroyalfamily.Allvillagegirlsarecalleduponbut

nonearesuccessfulenoughtopickupthebones.Nondwe’sgrandmothertellsthechiefofhergrandchild’sexistence

andthechiefcallsonhertocomeandsolvethemystery.Toeveryone’ssurprise,itisNondwewhocanpickupthe

bonesandbydoingso,provesherworthiness.Arewardisreceived,thefish’spromiseisfulfilled,Nondwewillneverbe

hungryagain.

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Wewouldalsoliketostatethatwhileplanningforthisparticularstory(seeAppendixes6and7)an

immediateconnectionwithanotherwell-knownfairytalewasmadeasweencounteredthisoral

traditional story. Upon reading this story found in Greaves (2006) we immediately made a

connectiontofactthattherewasveryasimilaroutlinetheGrimmBrothers’well-knownfairytale

Cinderella.ThisEuropeanversionwasfirstpublishedin1812whichledustoreflectuponthisalittle

further.We soondiscovered that another very similar version alreadyexisted in anevenmore

distantlandanddynasty,thisbeingChina,withYeXian.Studieshaveshownthatthisisoneofthe

oldest known variants of Cinderella. It was first published in the 9th-century compilation

MiscellaneousMorselsfromYouYang.Wecansaythatduringthe“FishBones”story,wedidask

ourpupilsiftheyknewofanothersimilarstoryandwithaknotinourthroatsourpupilsresponded

“PareceahistóriadaCinderela”.

Adjacentwiththis,wewerealsoabletoascertainthatourpupilsweregiventheopportunityto

voice their opinions during storytelling because provision was made for the offering of an

environment which would contribute towards their creative thinking potentials. The sense of

creativityanditsencouragementwastakenintoaccountduringtheentirestorytellingprocess.By

encouragingpupil’screativity,allowsthemtoexpresswhattheyhavelearntintheirownway(Cruz,

2015;Cruz,&Orange,2016),thereon,theyarecreatingtheirownrealitiesandgivingtheirown

solutionstoproblems.

Furtheringon to this,weprovidedourpupilswithaMindMap,which is a techniquebasedon

memory,creativity,comprehensionandunderstanding.Whenapupilusesamindmap,hence,our

storymap,theyareusingtheirbraininthewaytheirbrainwasdesignedtobeused,ithelpsthem

inalllearningandcognitiveskills(Buzan,1996;Harmer,2004).

Knowingthatthe introductionofthestorymap isastrategywhichhelpspupilstoorganizeand

helpstolearntheelementsofthestory,wethereforehadourpupilsfocusontheidentificationof

the characters, the setting, the problem and ultimately, the solution. In Figure 13,we can see

examplesofthestorymapworksheetsthepupilshadtofillin.

Focuswasthengiventoproblemsolvingandcriticalreflectiveactivities.Webelievethattheseskills

canbefosteredbyusingauthenticmaterial,whichmayposeandinducepupils intoquestioning

andsolvingproblem-situations(Duarte&Cruz,2017;Cruz,&Orange,2016).Thestorymap,which

waspresentedbytheteacherandexpandedbythepupil,mayalsobecomethestartingpointof

paragraph writing on the intended and explored topic, as it served as a scaffold for written

production.

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Figure13-StoryMapExamples

Afterhavingcompletedtheproblem-solvingstorymap,wethengaveourpupilsthechancetothink

about“Nondwe”andthe“chief’sson’s”weddingfromthe“FishandBones”story.Thepupilswere

toldthattheywouldberesponsibleforpreparingtheweddingcelebrationsand,forthis,theycould

choosethecreativetaskthattheycouldbetteridentifythemselveswith.Therefore,wecateredfor

our pupil’s sense of empowerment by giving them the possibility of choice, increasing their

autonomyandincreasingandfurtherdevelopingtheirresponsibility.Pupilscouldchooseonetask

amongthefollowing:a)makeaninvitation;b)inventamenu;c)designadessert;d)designagift;

e)designaphotoframewithNondweandthechief’sson(seeFigure14,forexamples).

“Ubuntu” storytelling, storymapsandproblemsolvingand, furthermore, creativedevelopment

tasks,canalsoaccountasActionablePracticeResources,aspreviouslystatedbyChou(2016).We

canencounter:CoreDrive1:EpicMeaning&Calling,whichintroducesthenoveltyofstorytelling

intheclassroom;CoreDrive2:Development&Accomplishmentthatwithholdstheessentialkey,

which is a sense of growth and accomplishment while targeting in on goals; Core Drive 3:

Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback, which lies at the heart of these Actionable Practice

Resources.

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Figure14-Collaborativeandcreativedevelopmenttasks

Apartfromhavingextendedtheirknowledgeandculturalawarenessfurtherandhavingworked

towardsthedevelopmentofourpupil’ssenseofcreativity,thisunit’sproposedtasksalsoincluded

anumeracyquest,inwhichagamifiedlearningapproachwasimplemented.

Ourpupilswereintroducedtheconceptofa“Stokvel”16,whichisaSouthAfricansavingsscheme

wheremembers contribute fixed sums ofmoney to a central fund on a weekly, fortnightly or

monthlybasis.Itwasourintentiontohelpdevelopinourpupilsasenseofmoneyvalueandhelp

themtolearnbydoing(Dewey,2004).Pupilshadto“work”, inthenumeracyquest, inorderto

receivepaymentfortheirdues.Intheirgroups,theywerethenpromptedtocontributetowards

theStokvelbycollaborativelydecidinghowmuchmoneytheywouldkeepandhowmuchmoney

wouldputasideinordertosetuptheirsavingsscheme.Thereafter,withtheirearnings,theywere

propelledtosetupabudgetandmanagetheirmoneyaccordingly inorderforthemtogofood

shoppingatourclassroomgreengrocers.

The Stokvel Numeracy Quest was structured in the same way as our previously mentioned

Classroom Revision Quest, whereby following the same gamemechanics and instructions. The

fundamental difference was that the circuit basis represented different types of fruit and

vegetables and the proposed tasks incorporated numeracy activities and creative development

worksheets.

During the quest, pupils were using the language authentically. This Stokvel Numeracy Quest

presented alternate problem-solving numeracy tasks and creative development challenges.

Furthermore,theywerecollaborativelydecidingontheirfutureoptionsintermsoftheirmoney

savingsandbudget.

16ThenameStokveloriginatedfromtheterm“stockfairs”,astherotatingcattleauctionsofEnglishsettlersinthe

EasternCapeduringtheearly19thcentury.

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Aseachgroupcompletedaparticularcircuitbaseandplacedtheircheckmarkontheleaderboard,

theywerealsoindividuallygivenamoneychocolatecoin,asasignofpaymentfortheirdues.Itwas

withthesecoinsthattheywouldhavetodecidehowmuchmoneytheywouldkeepfortheirlater

spending at our classroom greengrocers and how much money they would like to put away,

towardstheirsavingsintheStokvel.ThesemoneycoinswerethenkeptinourStokvelbox,which

symbolizedabank.

At the end of the six circuit bases, our pupils, with their savings were then invited to our

greengrocers. It was here that they would buy their fruit and vegetables with their money’s

earnings.Inorderforthemtobuy,theywouldneedtodecide,whattheywantedandneededto

buy,whatmoneytheyhadavailableamongstthemselvesandhowmuchtheycouldspend,inorder

to negotiate with the greengrocers. This role-playing activity (Figure 15) helped our pupils to

authenticallyusethelanguageandtheywerecollaborativelysolvingproblems.

Figure15-Atthegreengrocers

Thislearningbydoingtaskhelpedourpupilsinthedevelopmentoftheir21stcenturyskillsinthe

sensethatnotonlyweretheycollaborativelydecidingontheiroptionsintermsoftheirspending

andsavings,theywerealsodevelopingtheircriticalthinkingskillsfurther.Theywerealsoenlarging

theircommunicativeskillsbyauthenticallyandrealisticallyusingandapplyingthelanguage.

Wewouldalsoliketoaddthatduringthistaskwepurposefullygroupedourpupilsaccordingto

Bartle’sPlayerTaxonomyandtoourobservationspreviouslymadewithinthe“LemonExperiment”.

In consonancewith these apprehensions and findings,we decided to implement,whatwe can

deem as being an ideal group setting for this Stokvel NumeracyQuest. Itwas our intention to

understand the effects of pupil’s collaborativeness, acceptance of others, and problem-solving

abilitywithinthissocialtask.

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ItisthereforewithinourcognizancethatthisStokvelNumeracyQuestismostcertainlyaccountable

asanActionablePracticeResource,aspreviouslyproposed inourtheoreticalframework.Weare

able toonceagainascertainallof theeightmotivationalCoreDrives inChou’s (2016)Octalysis

Framework.Onceagain, inourperspective,thekeycore inthisStokvelNumeracyQuest isCore

Drive 5: Social Influence & Relatedness, as they were able to recognize the importance of its

collaborative plentitude. We have been able to establish the Core Drive 2: Development &

AccomplishmentaswellastheessentialCoreDrive3:EmpowermentofCreativity.Bothrepresent

enthusiasticallygenerateddriventaskswhichaidinthedevelopmentofskillsandmastery,thereon,

leadingtotheirempowermentandlearningtransformations.

TheStokvelNumeracyQuestengagedourpupilsintheCoreDrive4:Ownership&Possessionwhich

gave our pupils control over processes and projects and involved them in Core Drive 7:

Unpredictability&Curiosity.Itfurthermoreofferedthechanceforthemtofeasiblyreachseemingly

unattainable endeavors found in Core Drive 6: Scarcity & Impatience. Moreover, this is

amalgamated with a refusal to give up and admit that achievements up to this point can be

acquiescedasbeinguseless,asinCoreDrive8:Loss&Avoidance.

Ultimately,itistheconglomeratingoftheseCoreDrivesthatleadourpupilstowardsanepicwin

found in a transformative classroom. It is having the notion that our pupils being engaged in

something bigger than themselves can ultimately lead to pupils doing something greater than

themselves.Thisiswhatwestriveforina21stcenturytransformativeclassroom.ItistheCoreDrive

1:EpicMeaning&CallingthatiscoalescedwithalltheotherCoreDrivesthatcanencouragethe

developmentof21stcenturyskillsandcompetencies.TheStokvelNumeracyQuest is, therefore,

accordingtoourperception,ahighlyaccountableandvalidActionablePracticeResource.

Hereonafter,we finalizedthese taskswithaself-assessmentquestionnaire (Appendix8)where

pupilsansweredby:a)usingthethumbsup/thumbsdownstrategy;b)givingexamplesofwhatthey

havelearnt;andc)drewapictureoftheirfavouritemeal.

Withthisself-assessmentquestionnaire,wewereabletoverifywhatourpupilshadlikedandhad

learnt best during the lessons. Here we took into account their preferences and verified their

constructedknowledgewithregardstothelinguisticandculturalvarietiesofSouthAfricanEnglish.

We therefore focused our analysis on the second subdivided question, focusing on vocabulary

related to theunit topic (food).Weare able to verify thatwithin this group that71%notonly

identifythestandardEnglishvarietyoffoodlexisbutalsotheSouthAfricanEnglishvariety,whereas

29%havebeenabletoidentifysolelytheso-calledstandardvarieties.

Furthermore,with this self-assessment questionnairewewere able to verify and focus on this

samplegroup’sresponsestowardswhattheylikedanddislikedduringthisdidacticunit.

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Graph2-Self-assessmentlikesanddislikesII

Accordingtothegraph2,weareabletoestablishthatthemajorityofthesepupilspreferredthe

Stokvel Numeracy Quest. This represented more than half of our pupils having a greater

predispositiontowardsthesetypesofactivities.StorytellingandtheFlippedClassroom,withitsuse

oftechnologicaldevices,followedwithanequalmarginof20%oftheirpreferences.Role-playing

accountedfor13%,whereaslexicalacquisitionwasfavouredby8%ofthesampledpupils.

Understandingthattheidentificationofalanguageandlanguagelearningisnotbasedonlinguistic

criteriaalone(Komorowska,&Krajka,2016),suchasinshortclassroomlexicalinputtasks,butit

also includes the knowledge of other cultures, which provides the learners with the ability to

respond adequately to problems arising from cultural differences between the participants in

international communication (cf.Gnutzmann,& Intemann, 2005).We can therefore apprehend

thatourpupilswereabletoacknowledgetheSouthAfrican languagevarietyduringtheStokvel

NumeracyQuestbecausetheywerenotnecessarilyfocusingonthelexicalitems,insteadtheywere

usingthelanguagenaturally,communicatively,collaboratively,and,furthermore,experientially.

Moreover,wecanunderstandthatwiththeaidofauthenticculturalandlinguisticvarietymoments,

suchastheStokvelQuest,UbuntustorytellingandtheFlippedClassroom,weenabled21stcentury

learners of English to understand a variety of different accents and lexis. Pupils have been

predisposedtoeffectivelycommunicatewithmostspeakersofEnglishbecauseofapriorexposition

tothesevarietiesandanaddedawarenesshaspurposefullybeencreatedforthem(cf.Bieswanger,

2008).

Hereon,wehave analyzed our pupils’ representations and productions and acknowledged that

thesehavehelpedustofurtherourreflectionandleadustothecreationofknowledge(Roldão,

2004).Moreover,wehaveunderstoodthatthereisthe“knowing”thatresultsfrominvolvement

that ismade from pure experience (Freire, 1998) and that, in a secondmoment, inwhich our

reasoningworks by virtue ofmethodological rigor,we have endowed upon ourselves to come

closertotheobject.Thereon,itisbythedistancingofourselvesthatleadsustoitsobjectification

thathasofferedusanotherkindofknowing,anditisthisdistancedexactitudethathasgivenusa

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securedmarginfromthefirstkindofknowing(cf.idem)thathasenabledustopresentourfinal

considerationsinrelationtothisstudy.

Wearetherefore,intheupcomingchapter,abletopresenthowwehaveendeavouredourselves

intoseekingplausibleanswerstoourinitialquestions,byidentifyingitsvirtuesandconstraintsand

byaligningourselveswithattainable(re)apprehensions.

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FINALCONSIDERATIONS:OVERVIEWS,LIMITATIONSAND

RECOMMENDATIONSFORFUTURESTUDIES

78

ThisstudyaimedtoknowandtodeepenneweducationalapproachesinEnglishlanguageteaching

inthe1stBasicCycle(CEB),throughthemediumof“Ubuntu”oraltraditionstorytelling,aswellas

avariegatedmindsetofSouthAfricanculturalandlinguisticvarieties,whichwereintertwinedwith

Gamificationasateachingapproach.Herein,andasthebasisforourresearch,wefocusedonthe

interminglingandamalgamatingofpositive interdependence,namely throughcollaborativeand

constructive competition practices that can serve as a vessel for pupils’ 21st century skill

development.

Wewillthereforetakeamomenttofocusontheplausibleanswerstoourinitialquestionswhich

canbeevokedasthefollowing:

A. WhicharethenewteachingpedagogiesandapproachestowardsEnglishlanguageteachingin

the1stCycleofBasicEducationthatcanpromoteattitudesbasedonmotivation,pro-activityand

competitiveness?

B. Which are the contributing factors, in collaborative and competitive activities that can help

towardsthedevelopmentofpro-activepupils?

C. Which English textbooks, in the 1st Cycle of Basic Education, cater for gamified activity

approaches, as well as proposes any cultural and linguistic varieties, namely South African

English?

D. Which created and critically observed practices and resources, based on the Gamification

pedagogy, contribute towards the fostering of constructive competitive attitudes amongst

pupilsinthe1stCycleofBasicEducation?

For an overview of these four questions, it was first necessary to define and construe certain

concepts,approachesandstrategies.ThiswasattainedbywayofliteraturereviewinPartIofour

InternshipReport.Credencewasgiventhatbyacknowledgingthesepedagogicalapproachesand

strategies,educatorsareabletoencouragethenecessarydevelopmentof21stCenturyskillswhen

introducedatearlystageoflearning.

Thecontextualenvironmentofthis InternshipReport,foundinPart II, integrated“Ubuntu”oral

traditionstorytelling, presentintheliteratureofMucina(2011),asameansoftransformationand

ofaccommodatingdiversitytofostersocialcohesionandsustainabledevelopment(Battiste,2005;

Themane,etal.2011),coupledwithSouthAfricanculturalandlinguisticvarieties(Esteves,&Hurst,

2009), as well as resorting to the integration of an experiential communicative approach

(Fernández-Corbacho,2014)formedpartofthethisInternshipReport’sfundamentalfocus.

The application of the contextual environment of Gamification integrated learning was also

addressed, while taking into account certain gamified strategies and its elements according to

Foncubierta,&Rodríguez(2015).Thesewerecontemplatedwiththeprimalpurposeofachieving

educational intendment which may result in significant and easily recalled experiences.

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Consequently, showing thatwith support and guidance, onemay encourage dialogue, develop

culturalawarenessandexpeditepupil’scognitiveandaffectiveengagement.

We also encountered Chou’s (2016) Gamification’s Octalysis Framework, which served as a

motivationalbackdroptowardstheimplementationofseveralGamificationdesignsandpractices

withintheclassroomwalls.Furthermore,wewereenlightenedbyBartle’sPlayerTypesandtheir

effectongroupdynamicsthatcanmotivatedifferentkindsof21stcenturyskillsdevelopmentwithin

the classroom. This ultimately culminated in an enlargement of our cognizance on how

competitiveness,fosteredingamifiedtaskscanbefavourabletoPrimaryEnglishlearning.

Hereonafter,inorderforustoaddressourfirstquestion,regardingthenewteachingpedagogies

andapproachesthatcanpromoteattitudesbasedonmotivation,pro-activityandcompetitiveness,

wewereabletoestablishthefollowing. Itwasthroughourobservationandunderstandingand

reflectionthat:a)classroompraxispromotesawarenessofotherculturescanprovidelearnerswith

theabilitytorespondadequatelytoproblemsarisingfromculturaldifferences;b)“Ubuntu”oral

traditionalstoriescanhelpprovideacontextformeaningfullearning;c)anenlargedpredisposition

tocommunicateduetoapriorexpositiontoculturalandlinguisticvarietiescanalsobetackled;d)

Web2.0 applications for collaborative learning, namely through theuseof aFlipped classroom

strategy, digital platform questionnaires and a classroom/”stokvel” quests, can serve as the

springboard for critical thinking; e) creative and (hyper)sensory tasks help to develop critical

reflection,collaboration,communication,creativityandcompetition.

Withregardstooursecondquestion,onthecontributingfactors,incollaborativeandcompetitive

activitiesthatcanhelptowardsthedevelopmentofpro-activepupilswehavebeenabletopresent,

according to the P21 (2009), it is beheld that 21st century education is the bedrock of

competitivenessandthatpupilswillencountercompetitiveenvironments.Therefore, byexposing

pupilstotheseenvironments,earlyintheireducationalcareer,itisdeemedasbeingpossiblethat

pupilswillbebetterpreparedtohandlecompetitioninlateryears(cf.Hanna,2014).

Hereon,weareable to indicate the contributingdevelopmental factors include:a) competition

tasksshouldbegearedtowardsthebetteringonone’sperformanceratherthanagainstanother,

by effectively encouraging collaborative learning; b) competitionplays a role in thedesignof a

technologicallysupportedlearningenvironment,itisaknowledgeandcomprehensionfacilitator

thatprovidesadditionalinsightandmotivatespupilstolearn(Chang,Chuang,&Ho.2013);c)by

encounteringandblendinglearningfacilitators,suchastechnologysupportedenvironments with

traditionalvisualcommunication(Lester,&King2009),pupilslearninamultitudeofenticingand

differentways;d)intergroupcompetitionintroducescompetitionasamotivator (Hanna,2014);e)

it increasesinvolvementandclassroomengagementaswellasencouragesinteractivityamongst

pupilsinanefforttoperformwellwithinthecompetition;e) itservesas anadrenalinerushand

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addsasenseofurgency(McGonigal,2012)totheeffort,creatingpiqueexcitementwhichresults

inincreasedfocusandmotivationduringachallenge;g)stimulatescreativityofclosedgroupsat

lowertointermediatelevelsoflearning (Baer,2010;f)lowtointermediatelevel,intergrouprivalry

mayweldgroupstogether,therebyfosteringcollaboration(Baer,2010).

In light of our third question regarding the English textbooks,whether they cater for gamified

activityapproaches,andtheirpredispositiontowardsanyculturalandlinguisticvarieties,namely

South African English, we can acknowledge the following. In terms of any gamified activity

approacheswehavebeenabletoverify:a)textbooksseeminglycaterforcompetitivevocabulary

revisiongames,however,Gamificationisnotthepracticewhichdealswithareasofentertainment,

asingames,insteaditisthetransferringofgameelements,suchasrewardsandpointsintothe

creation of a task/activitywith non-entertainment objectives; b) the textbook authors propose

“gametime”whichserveasapparentgap/timefillers, therefore,notallowing forpupils togain

metacognitive and metalinguistic skills, which form part of the essential learning and building

blocks;c)theteachertakesontheroleasthearbiterandcoordinatoraccordingtothegame’srules,

forcingustoexpostulateontheroleoftheteacher,aswellastheplaceinthistypeofclassroom

onpupils’autonomousemancipation.

Wewouldthereforeneedtoconsidertheuseoftextbookswithintheclassroomwalls.Inorderto

effectively promote gamified tasks, these should cater for other 21st century learning and

innovationskills,suchascreativityandinnovation,criticalthinkingandproblemsolving,aswellas

communicationandcollaboration.IncorrelationtothisandaccordingtoNicholson(2012),when

thenon-game context is a skillwith real-life benefits, such as learning tobuy foodat the local

market,thenGamificationcanbeeffective.

In relation to the textbooks’predisposition towardsanyculturaland linguisticvarieties,namely

SouthAfricanEnglish,wehavebeenabletoverify:a)theteachingofcultureistaughtaslinguistics

plus culture, as activities are concentrated on the acquisition of vocabulary and the general

structureofthelanguage;b)noneofthetextbookscaterfortasksthatencompassintheirentirety

allthereferencedomainsfoundintheEnglishCurricularGoals;c)learnersarecompelledtoaccept

theculturalnormofBrEandAmEvarieties,thereforepossiblyhardeningtheexistingstereotyped

representationswithinthisgroupandconsequentlyleadingtothecreationofculturalineptitudes.

Therefore,bypurposefullymovingourpupilsawayfromtheseimagesandrepresentations,andby

explicitly avoidingmisinformation or stereotyping that could lead to future prejudice in pupils’

relationshipswithacultureorlinguisticvarieties,wewereimpelledtointroducetheSouthAfrican

cultureandlinguisticvarietywithinourtargetlessonsinordertoenableourpupils,as21stcentury

learners of English, to have an improved knowledge and awareness of other cultures and to

81

understandavarietyofdifferentaccentsandlexis,whichmakepartoftheEnglishculturalrichness

asaninternationallanguage.

Ourfourthandfinalquestionaddressesthecreatedandcriticallyobservedpracticesandresources,

basedontheGamificationpedagogywhichcancontributetowardsthefosteringofconstructive

competitiveattitudesamongstpupils.

We believe that it is necessary to involve our pupils inmultisensory taskswith real, authentic

classroomtasksandprojectsthat:a)canengagepupilsintocooperativestrategies,therebymaking

them responsible for their learning; b) are able to prepense authentic use of language with

meaningfulandstimulatingactivities;c)expeditefurther interestandarechallenging;d)offera

rangeandvarietyof activities that consider thegroups’different learning styles; e)provide for

senseofsecurityandbelongingnessbygivingconstantrecognitionofachievements.

Subsequently,bytakingintoaccounttheabove-mentionedinformation,weareabletoperceive

that the gamified activity approaches that helped to foster constructive competitive attitudes,

whichtookplaceduringourclassroompraxiswereasfollows:a)researchactivitiesandinformation

processing through the use of Web 2.0 application and tools, such as Plickers and Kahoot!

comprehension quizzes; b) Classroom Quests that integrate game elements, mechanics, and

frameworksintonon-gamesituationsandscenarios(Wang,&Bryan,2014);c)theintroductionto

Leaderboards, which show pupils where they rank and its very presence elicits the desire to

participate; d)FlippedClassroom,which is notonly a communicative tool that promotes group

learningwhile enhancing collaboration, but it can also lead to effective intergroup competition

beingintroducedasamotivator;f)Ubuntustorytelling,whichwasintroducedthroughthecultural

andlinguisticvarietiesofSouthAfricanEnglishandcanexpeditecreativedevelopment,whichwas

initiatedbyintergroupcompetition.

Additionally,theproposedclassroomtasksthathelpedtofosterconstructivecompetitiveattitudes

werealsoapproachedinprojectwork,whichpresentedaninterdisciplinarynaturethatinterlaced

differentcurricularareasofknowledgeandwasenrichedwith(hyper)sensorystrategies(Cruz,&

Orange,2016;Cruz,2015).Thisaidedinthestimulationandthedevelopmentofdifferenttypesof

skills,suchascollaboration,communication,criticalthinkingandcreativity,whichareconsidered

atthebedrockof21stcenturyeducation(cf.Duarte,&Cruz2017).

Hence, according to our cognizance and understanding, the use of these competitively-based

taskswithinaclassroomenvironmentcanbebeneficialtopupils’performanceinthesensethat

it isaneffectivemotivator towardssuccessas itgearspupilsbeyondtheclassroomwalls (cf.

Hannes, 2014). Pupils are able to develop the necessary skills to deal with competition

constructively,which is impelledbya senseofurgency (McGonigal,2011)andhasshort-term

productivitybursts(Chou,2016).Inotherwords,thecompetitivenatureofsocietyshouldnotbe

82

fearedbutratherexpected(Hanna,2014).Therefore,inourcommendation,learninghowtodeal

withcompetition,aswehavesuggestedthroughoutthisInternshipReport,shouldbenotedasthe

buildingofacruciallifeskillwhichcanbedevelopedearlyinourpupils’academiclives.

Bytakingintoaccountalltheabovementioned,wewouldalsoneedtostatethatitisimportantto

reflecton thearising issues,problemsand limitationswe feltat theoutsetand throughoutour

actionresearch.Weareabletopresentthefollowinglimitations:a)pupilsandlearnerswerenot

able to develop their knowledge at the same pace as this depends on their own interests and

motivations;b)thechronologicalshortcomingtofurtherexpandandmaturepupils’knowledgeof

theSouthAfricanculturalandlinguisticvarietysoastodevelopbeyondthenormofstereotyped

“Englishes”;c)recurrentobservingpraxiswhichcoulddeepenourcognizanceinrelationtoBartle’s

PlayerTypegroupsettings;d)theneedforfurtherdevelopingpracticesinordertoimproveour

apprehensionsinrelationtoChou’s(2016)Octalysisframework.

Needlesstosay,ithasbeenwithinthischronologicalframework’sflawsandfrailtiesthatwehave

beenabletoarticulatetheaxiomsthatexplainthereasonas towhywedowhatwedoandto

recognizethatitiswithinourparticipationthatwearetransformative.Wehave,therefore,been

abletoeffectivelyandconstructivelyreformulateourcritiques,judgmentsandappraisals.

Coming to a closure on this Internship Report, certain questions have raised in which we are

compelledtochallengeourselvesandotherstofurtherinquireandresearchonthesequeriesand

issues.

Firstly,byacknowledgingthatUbuntustorytellingandIndigenousknowledgemayadjoinmultiple

andcollectiveoriginsaswellascontributetowardsthecollaborativedimensionsofunderstanding,

with the intention of aiding interpretation and analysis of social reality (cf. Dei, 2000), we are

compelled to tease out the extent to which cultural knowledge can further promote inclusive

learninginmulticulturalandplurilingualenvironments.

Our second arising issue is related to textbooks, in light of our overall analysis,wewouldurge

authorsanduserstoconsidertasksandactivitieswhichmayaidintheinclusionofalltheessential

21stcenturyskillsintotheclassroom.Thesuggestedgame-basedtasks,asitiswithintextbooks,can

beseenasbeingquitefrivolousbecausetheydonotcaterforpupilsinthegainingofmetacognitive

andmetalinguisticskills (Gee,2013),whichformpartof theessentialbuildingblockswithinthe

languageclassroom.

Furthermore, by acknowledging that language and culture are widely accepted as being

inseparable,wecannotfall inlinewiththeteachingofcultureasbeingtaughtaslinguisticsplus

culture (Bryam, 1998), where pupils activities are concentrated solely on the acquisition of

vocabularyandthegeneralstructureofthelanguage(Frimberger,2009),aswehavebeenableto

observewithinouranalysis.

83

Wewouldthereforeproposeanimprovementonpassivereceptiveactivities,andimpeltheauthors

anduserstomoveourpupilsawayfromstereotypedimagesandrepresentations,knowingthat

thesemightcreateculturalineptitudes.Subsequently,thisleadsustoexposetheirredundancyand

replicationofpasterrors,andchallengesthosewhoarewillingtobreakawayfromatraditional

continuumwithintheclassroomwalls.

After having empirically applied the very scarce theoretical information available in relation to

Bartle’sPlayerTypeswithinEducationandtheclassroomwalls,wearemotivationallyimpelledto

suggest furtherstudies in lightof theplayer typegroupingsandtheircombinations, inorder to

ascertainthattheseaggregationscaneffectivelycreatecohesionandsustainability inclassroom

dynamics.

Finally,withregardstoChou’s(2016)Gamification’sOctalysisFramework,itwouldbeinteresting

toseemorecasestudiesandpracticalexamples.Encouragingandmonitoringoftheeffectsofthe

Octalysis and Gamification as a didactical approach for the future is also required. Therefore,

further contribution towards Actionable Practices can enable us to develop and enhance this

approach.

“kalikokhankanyama,

tiliawirintiwanthu”17

ChewaProverb

17“Whenyouareonyourownyouareasgoodasananimalofthewild;whentherearetwoofyou,youforma

community).”

84

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