Dissensus and becoming(s) through gameplay with Minecraft in the primary classroom

Abstract

The research question that underpinned this study is, what happens to the learning dynamic in the primary classroom when a commercial off the shelf game (such as Minecraft) is introduced to learning experiences without specific training given to their teachers? The study took place in primary 6 and primary 7 classrooms in schools in Dundee and aimed to explore what would happen were the game Minecraft brought into the classroom experience as the tool to help meet a design brief to redesign the city’s waterfront. It was noted that the cultural phenomenon of Minecraft, and its associated semiotic domains (Gee, 2003) and affinity spaces (Salen & Zimmerman, 2003), was such that many of the children were potentially highly skilled in this game, more so than their teachers. In view of this, a deliberate decision not to offer any training to the teachers in how to use Minecraft was central to the methodology of the study. The teacher’s contribution to the study was anticipated to lie in their leading of the other curricular related aspects of the design brief.

The study took place over a period of six months and data was collected in the form of a pupil questionnaire (n=168) along with semi-structured interviews with six groups of children from six of the schools from the study, and two groups of teachers from nine of these schools.

The results of the study have proven to be interesting and have been analysed through a theoretical framework of dissensus (Rancière, 1995; 1999) and becoming (Deleuze, 1994). Main findings included how the children were very keen to discuss how the folding and unfolding of their classroom experience of the Minecraft study allowed them the opportunity to be seen by their teachers as people whose capabilities and talents were beyond what they felt the school allowed them to be or framed them as. There was also evidence of how the study created a state of flux that led to the deterritorialization (Deleuze & Guattari, 1983) of the established power structures of the classroom. This allowed the children and their teachers to become more than they were prior to the study; with enhanced learning cultures and a shift in the teacher/children dynamic being reported as a common outcome.

The study challenges us to reflect on our possible lack of awareness and understanding of the wider digital cultures that children situate themselves in and if indeed, they have the potential to be accommodated in the experience of school and our pedagogy, so that we get it right for every child in terms of them becoming their best holistic self.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Dundee
Supervisor	Jane Fenton (Supervisor), Tim Kelly (Supervisor) & Duncan Mercieca (Supervisor)