Like a scene from The Matrix, many modern educational systems resemble factories, churning out standardized students through a rigid curriculum of rote memorization and standardized tests¹. This Edu-Matrix, while efficient in producing predictable outcomes, often stifles creativity², critical thinking, and intrinsic motivation³.

1. Superficially changing terms⁴ from “homework” to “quest” does not inspire creativity or spark an ounce of joy in students.
2. Students get bored of “playing” Kahoot every week once they realise it is just another test…

So... Isn’t gamification just a buzzword for getting students to complete more garbage tasks?

“But wait,” you might say. “Isn’t playing games like Minecraft or Monopoly a kind of “good gamification?” No. Learning that is facilitated by a game⁶ is generally known as (digital) game-based learning.

However, whatever you think gamification is, there is probably someone who has the same thought as you. Gamification seems to be a catch-all term for ANYTHING that involves something to do with games or a game “feeling.” 

It’s important to define gamification and game-based learning as separate approaches in order to pull game-based learning out and away from the behaviourist, controlling approach of gamification. These distinct approaches view games and learning in unique ways that lead to unique outcomes. Here’s a simple way to think about it:

As we wrote in 2022 though:

GBL is not a guaranteed cure for […] garbage tasks because GBL does not prescribe an approach, method, or technique for teaching; only the tools. A game or ludic activity […] could be used in a behaviorist, exploitative, constructivist, or transformational way depending on the teacher’s pedagogical alignment.

(York et al, 2022)

In other words, although game-based learning is a step in the right direction out of the gamification Matirx, it does not have a pedagogical or ideological backbone. We can do better.

In our ludic pedagogy workshop, we go one step further and introduce a ludic approach to teaching, which goes FAR beyond just having students play games. We augment game-based learning with playful, humanistic, frugal materials. Thus:

Gamification 💊→ Game-based learning 💊→ Ludic pedagogy

The Dark Side of Gamification

• False Sense of Accomplishment: Gamification relies on extrinsic motivators to drive engagement, like points and badges, or public leaderboards which name and shame students at the bottom of the class. While these can be effective in the short term, they can create a dependence on external rewards and a distorted sense of accomplishment.
• Limited Creativity and Critical Thinking: Gamified systems often prioritize achieving specific goals within fixed rules, leaving little room for creative exploration and critical thinking. This can lead to a culture of conformity and a reluctance to question or challenge the status quo. 
• Manipulation and Control: Gamification can be used to manipulate users into spending more time and money, or to engage in activities that are not in their best interests. This is particularly concerning when used in educational settings, where students’ intrinsic motivation and learning outcomes can be negatively affected.

Towards a Ludic Pedagogy

Just as Neo sought to escape the Matrix, we must strive to break free from the Edu-Matrix of gamification and embrace a ludic pedagogy. 

Ludic what? 🤔

As a simple shorthand, we consider ludic teaching as:

“being playful” 

This is a simple concept, yet profound, as it connects to objects and actions, purpose, society, and politics. Our definition of ludic as being playful contains a duality of ludic objects and the ludic in you.

Ludic objects (playful beings)	Ludic in you (your playful practices)
playful beings or what we may call ludic objects such as games, toys, roleplays, puzzles, and other items that were designed to be played with.	the playful attitude that people bring to activities (or in other words, the “ludic in you”).

Again, in our workshop, we introduce myriad ways of using ludic objects and ways in which you can leverage the ludic in you. Additionally, James has written about a simple framing device that gives students the SPACE they need to develop and grow. As a preview, see James’s recent zine: 

[itch.io link here]

Breaking Free from the Gamification-Matrix

The transition from controlling gamification techniques to a ludic pedagogy requires a shift in mindset and practice. In the spirit of the Matrix movies, take a pedagogy red pill and pull you and your colleagues out of the gamification mindset:

Teacher concerns	Redpill solutions	Bluepill solutions
I want students to engage with the tasks I give them.	Change the tasks themselves to be more meaningful and relevant to the students’ lives (York, 20237). Experiment with pedagogy (Spano et al., 20218). Ask questions to students (Postman & Weingartner, 19699). Try something new. Fail fast, but try again. Iterate.	Gamification
Learning how to teach is hard and expensive.	Listen to more Pedagodzilla10 and related podcasts. Read inspiring work from progressive educational outlets like the Human Restoration Project11. Join teacher-focused Facebook groups and Discord servers. Read articles from open-access journals12.
I don’t have any choice in what I teach.	Push back against institutional policyholders. Redpill others in your institution to help you in your fight for change. Innovate covertly in your classroom and then show positive results.

Would you like to learn more? 

We have spoken on two seperate podcasts about gamification, game-based learning and a ludic approach to teaching. Enjoy in your favourite podcast app!

References (inline)

1. Schneider, J., & Hutt, E. L. (2023). Off the mark: How grades, ratings, and rankings undermine learning (but don’t have to). Harvard University Press. ↩︎
2. Robinson, K. (2006). Out of our minds: Learning to be creative. Capstone Publ. ↩︎
3. Kohn, A. (1999). Punished by rewards: The trouble with gold stars, incentive plans, A’s, praise, and other bribes. Houghton Mifflin Co. ↩︎
4. Macmillan Education ELT. (2020). Effective Gamification [Advancing Learning Webinar]. YouTube. Retrieved December 14, 2023, from https://youtu.be/YZvoBJBoLUg. ↩︎
5. Brandt, R. (1995). Punished by Rewards? A Conversation with Alfie Kohn. Educational Leadership, 53(1), 6. [link] ↩︎
6. Whitton, N. (2012). Games-Based Learning. In N. M. Seel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning (pp. 1337–1340). Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_437 ↩︎
7. York, J. (2023). Engaging with the world: Applying connected learning in a university language learning context. Foreign Language Annals, flan.12691. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12691 ↩︎
8. Spano. F., York, J., deHaan, J., Bard, R. (2021). One game, many approaches: How teachers can use a single game with any teaching methodology. Ludic Language Pedagogy, 3, 153-195. https://doi.org/10.55853/llp_v3Pg8 ↩︎
9. Teaching as a Subversive Activity – Neil Postman, Charles Weingartner https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/79681.Teaching_as_a_Subversive_Activity ↩︎
10. https://www.pedagodzilla.com/ ↩︎
11. https://www.humanrestorationproject.org/ ↩︎
12. Why not start with the Ludic Language Pedagogy journal https://llpjournal.org/ ↩︎