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Poland puts computer game “This War of Mine” on school reading list

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Re: Poland puts computer game “This War of Mine” on school reading list

#41

Post by dubcanada »

nix23 wrote: post #27
dubcanada wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment sound better if you where not implying I did not read the article (because I did multiple times). "It doesn't make sense to compare the qualities of This War of Mine, educational or otherwise, to those of Math Blaster. The fact that it's on a "reading list" should be the first clue. It really is a pretty interesting decision." Is much better. People take away different things from articles all the time.

How many times you had to read the article to understand it?

Ouch...

Obviously going to ignore the rather aggressive undertone. I clearly missed something in the article so I reread it. There is nothing wrong with that.

My comment was in reference to the guidelines, which clearly state

> Please don't comment on whether someone read an article. "Did you even read the article? It mentions that" can be shortened to "The article mentions that."

Re: Poland puts computer game “This War of Mine” on school reading list

#43

Post by nix23 »

dubcanada wrote: post #41
nix23 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many times you had to read the article to understand it?

Ouch... Obviously going to ignore the rather aggressive undertone. I clearly missed something in the article so I reread it. There is nothing wrong with that. My comment was in reference to the guidelines, which clearly state > Please don't comment on whether someone read an article. "Did you even read the article? It mentions that" can be shortened to "The article mentions that."

That's why the question...2 Times? 3 Times more? I mean its not Peace and War or Dr Schiwago ;)

Re: Poland puts computer game “This War of Mine” on school reading list

#44

Post by Minor49er »

zaksoup wrote: post #26
mamon wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the GP, but I think that there are many such titles, that's why schools in Poland have mandatory reading lists :) You cannot understand culture and tradition without reading some classics,starting with Bible, Homer's Illiad, or Shakespeare. And of course in Poland we mostly focus on Polish writers. You know, before journalism was invented novels served pretty much the same purpose as newspaper reports - there are…

Not to start a flame war over book choice but forcing kids to read the Bible, Homer's Iliad, and Shakespeare are probably what is causing such marked disinterest in the first place. There are so many interesting and valuable works of writing, fiction and non-fiction, that can captivate and entertain modern children that aren't unapproachable tomes translated from ancient, dead languages, or written in Iambic Pentamet…

The Bible, Homer's Iliad, and Shakespeare's works are some of the most important ones in Western culture. I wouldn't say they're unapproachable at all. They may be more difficult to read than a modern teen fiction novel, but they contain archetypes and language patterns that were foundational for works that came afterward.

Thinking about it now, Beowulf should be added to this list. That's another great way to teach students about the evolution of the English language.

Re: Poland puts computer game “This War of Mine” on school reading list

#45

Post by dubcanada »

avindroth wrote: post #20
dubcanada wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is an educational game, if it was something else it wouldn't have been on the list. Just because it's not classified as an education game does not mean it isn't teaching. The article clear says "“Of course, games are already being used in education for teaching maths, chemistry, and developing cognitive abilities, but I don’t think we’ve ever encountered a game being officially included in the educational system o…

‘educational’ as in math blasters, so this war of mine is not ‘educational’ given that stream of thought u could also argue civ v or skyrim or any other game is an educational game. why, you are learning something while playing league, right? it’s pedantic to claim this war of mine is educational when it was clearly meant for a general gaming audience. that is why it being on a reading list is significant. you should…

Fair point.

I guess I strayed away from my original point, that this reads more like an advertisement for the game than a revolutionary teaching tool.

But I digress.

Re: Poland puts computer game “This War of Mine” on school reading list

#46

Post by Akronymus »

zaksoup wrote: post #26
mamon wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the GP, but I think that there are many such titles, that's why schools in Poland have mandatory reading lists :) You cannot understand culture and tradition without reading some classics,starting with Bible, Homer's Illiad, or Shakespeare. And of course in Poland we mostly focus on Polish writers. You know, before journalism was invented novels served pretty much the same purpose as newspaper reports - there are…

Not to start a flame war over book choice but forcing kids to read the Bible, Homer's Iliad, and Shakespeare are probably what is causing such marked disinterest in the first place. There are so many interesting and valuable works of writing, fiction and non-fiction, that can captivate and entertain modern children that aren't unapproachable tomes translated from ancient, dead languages, or written in Iambic Pentamet…

I can certainly second the sentiment that having to read such titles results in hating reading.

When in grades 3-5 I read about 100 (Admittedly easy) books per year on average. After that we had to read books for school and it almost instantly caused me to drop my yearly amount of books to 10 AT MOST. Now that I am out of school I read a lot more again.

BTW: Shakespeare wrote plays, not books. So why force children to read it instead of watching it?

Re: Poland puts computer game “This War of Mine” on school reading list

#47

Post by scohesc »

dubcanada wrote: post #2

I fail to see why this is news. I had games we played 20 years ago in school which taught me tons of stuff, math blasters for example. Putting a game on a school reading list when there is already 100's of games on there, is not really news. Kind of just seems like a ad than anything else.

I think it's a bit different because the games that were put on your childhood computers are designed specifically for children to learn early years skills (mathematics, history, etc.) while something like "This War of Mine" is developed for a wide audience and has now been co-opted into an education system to teach children about refugees, etc.

Re: Poland puts computer game “This War of Mine” on school reading list

#48

Post by cyberdrunk »

q3k wrote: post #39
caymanjim wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where and when did you go to school such that you were given a Bible to read? I started school in the US in the 1970s and never saw or heard anything more religious than the Pledge of Allegiance or a Christmas decoration.

Poland has mandatory Bible reading/analysis at primary school level (4th-6th grade). [1] [1] - “Biblia: stworzenie świata i człowieka oraz wybrane przypowieści ewangeliczne, w tym o siewcy, o talentach, o pannach roztropnych, o miłosiernym Samarytaninie” ( https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/download.xsp/WDU2017000035... )

Yep, I also remember reading and analysing the Hiob story.

Re: Poland puts computer game “This War of Mine” on school reading list

#49

Post by cyberdrunk »

zaksoup wrote: post #26
mamon wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the GP, but I think that there are many such titles, that's why schools in Poland have mandatory reading lists :) You cannot understand culture and tradition without reading some classics,starting with Bible, Homer's Illiad, or Shakespeare. And of course in Poland we mostly focus on Polish writers. You know, before journalism was invented novels served pretty much the same purpose as newspaper reports - there are…

Not to start a flame war over book choice but forcing kids to read the Bible, Homer's Iliad, and Shakespeare are probably what is causing such marked disinterest in the first place. There are so many interesting and valuable works of writing, fiction and non-fiction, that can captivate and entertain modern children that aren't unapproachable tomes translated from ancient, dead languages, or written in Iambic Pentamet…

> Not to start a flame war over book choice but forcing kids to read the Bible, Homer's Iliad, and Shakespeare are probably what is causing such marked disinterest in the first place. There are so many interesting and valuable works of writing, fiction and non-fiction, that can captivate and entertain modern children that aren't unapproachable tomes translated from ancient, dead languages, or written in Iambic Pentameter.

The idea of mandatory novels isn't to entertain and captivate. It is to bring young people into the culture that they will live in, and it's done by studying the culture's roots. Having said that, I felt like a TON of that stuff just flew over my head when I was in school - I mean, literary experts discuss the meaning of for example Mickiewicz's work to this day, and I, a child/teen with no frame of reference, am supposed to get some of it? It would require highly talented teachers to pull this off.

Re: Poland puts computer game “This War of Mine” on school reading list

#50

Post by ceceron »

simon1573 wrote: post #11
ceceron wrote: post #10

Interesting move. Sadly kids nowadays (at least in Poland, where I live) don't like reading books and tend to skip even very important titles. This may be a good way to bring some interest in the history via a genuinely entertaining medium.

What do you consider very important titles?

I would say that non-fiction books, giving a view on the past errors in the human history, should be considered very important titles. "A World Apart" by Herling Grudzinski was the most important book on the lecture list when I was in high school. I'm happy to see that "Conversations with an Executioner" has been included in the list recently. Humanity tends to forget the bad times far too easily...

Other than that, I believe it is important to know the roots of the modern culture and society, and classic literature from authors like Dostoevsky, Mickiewicz, Conrad, Prus, Bulgakov, Shakespeare, Orwell, Hemmingway, Schulz, Twain, Huxley and many many others. I've met all of them in my school years and I'm thankful for that.

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