Unfortunately, racism is still currently a factor across Europe. That is why it is extremely important that secondary schools seek to inform and educate young people on the positive role that a multinational community has on society. However, often teachers do not feel that they have the knowledge or the tools to allow them to introduce this topic into their classroom effectively. CitizenSchool is a serious game that enables teachers to conduct classroom discussions relating to refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in a neutral and unbiased manner. CitizenSchool presents pupils with a set of questions regarding their opinion toward refugees, asylum seekers and migrants and then provides teachers with a set a set of facts to help drive classroom discussion around the questions that were answered by the pupils. The game also allows teachers and their pupils to compare their answers against the answers of other classes that have previously played the game. Importantly, no individual pupil’s results or other details are captured by the game. This ensures that teachers and their pupils can engage with the game confident that their privacy will be protected.

Senior Lecturer in Computing, Derek O’Reilly commented that;

The event was well attended by representatives from across the county with 40% of attendees being from the North of Ireland. At the launch, guests got the opportunity to enjoy a walk-through of the game, before playing it and discussing the benefits of introducing CitizenSchool to their classroom.”

 CitizenSchool is a collaboration of three non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and three third level colleges. The three NGOs are Le Partenariat (France), Studio Globo (Belgium) and Stedenband Haarlem-Mutare (Netherlands). The three third level colleges are Dundalk Institute of Technology, Artesis - Plantijn Hogeschool Antwerpen (Belgium) and ISPGaya - Instituto Superior Politécnico (Portugal). The three NGOs are expert in the area of multi-culturalism and refugee integration. They used their expert knowledge to provide content for the game. Dundalk Institute of Technology and their BSc (Hons) in Computing in Games Development students took on the lead role in designing and developing the game.

Secondary school teachers can play the game with their pupils for free. The game can be played by following the “Game” link on the CitizenSchool website.

School of Informatics & Creative Arts

BSc (Hons) in Computing in Games Developement

CitizenSchool