Living with Ideas #4

Response to L.S. Vygotsky's Mind in Society

I'm an active member in the game studies community, primarily via email lists. A colleague has invited me to synthesize my essays for this class for publication in a relevant newsletter. So I'm taking time to "think with my fingers" about Vygotsky, in anticipation of the third essay for class, and that eventual synthesis.

My first exposure to Vygotsky was learning an abbreviated version of his spiffy Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in my preservice teaching preparation program. I didn't know he was also very interested in play. For me, the most interesting chapter of _Mind in Society_ is "The Role of Play in Development," although I find inspiring ideas throughout the book.

I share Vygotsky's concern that current assessment isn't adequately probing students' capabilities. (p. 88) This is worrisome, because the nature of the assessments we use has a significant impact on the nature of instruction. While we should test students to verify the effectiveness of our teaching, formative assessment is far more useful for helping a specific student. A teacher needs to stay just ahead of a student, providing appropriate and engaging educational challenges. As Vygotsky says, "learning which is oriented toward developmental levels that have already been reached is ineffective from the viewpoint of the child's overall development." (p. 89)

The ZPD is a powerful idea for guiding instruction. It's merits are not unlike those of a Socratic dialog or a good computer game. Game players value games that promote "playing in the zone," a state of Platonic ecstasy in which challenges are just barely surmountable, building in difficulty without halting the flow of gameplay and success. Vygotsky (like Skinner) believes that optimal instruction keeps the learner challenged and successful, and he'd agree that the zone of "playing in the zone" is the ZPD in a different hat.

Children (and adults) who play games eagerly seek successively-greater challenges. Vygotsky provides a compelling framework for motivation in play. He sees a tension between desires and possibilities. Children want excitement, responsibility, challenge, and growth. Children (and adults) want to live interesting stories. They are hemmed in by reality, which prevents them from flying like a superhero, or even driving in car chase. Vygotsky explains that through play, a child "enters an imaginary, illusory world in which the unrealizable desires can be realized." (p. 93) Computer games offer such illusory worlds. The best computer games are symbiotic with the player's imagination, inviting the player to customize her character and engage in a somewhat-unique story.

Multiplayer role-playing games have been described as computer-mediated consensual hallucinations, a form of rule-bound participatory theater. Vygotsky doesn't speak directly about stories, but the subtext is there. When he writes that "it is only in movement that a body shows what it is" (p. 65), he echoes Aristotle's famous directive that "plot is character." Stories have plots, plots have suspense, and suspense is tension and conflict between characters, motivations, and opportunities. Vygotsky says that "play continually creates demands on the child to act against immediate impulses." (p. 99) When Vygotsky describes play, he's describing a prototype of role-playing (e.g. "Let's play sisters." p. 94). The consensual rules become channels for desires which can't be realized in the "real" world. (p 99) Success in the game becomes meaningful and thrilling because it's achieved within the limits of the rules. It's cathartic, because "in play, an action replaces another action just as an object replaces another object." (p. 101)

In a game, rules dictate such replacement. Different groups of role-players vary in their fondness for rules. Some role-players prefer a few rules with loose interpretations (e.g. MUSHs), while others prefer encyclopedic rule sets to govern every aspect of play (e.g. MUDs). At one end of the spectrum is the dreaded and mocked "rules lawyer," who continually drags other players down from their imagined co-story and back to the trivia of how much a quiver of arrows weighs. Likewise, a good computer game balances necessary rules with fast-moving gameplay. For example, few players relish inventory management, so most computer games take liberties with equipment. (e.g. The same suit of chainmail armor will fit a towering half-orc or a squat dwarf.) Rules have definite but limited value. "Simply running around without purpose or rules is boring and does not appeal to children." (p. 103) Rules give purpose, but must be implemented with a continual, critical eye to gameplay and flow.

The main reasons to teach using games is the remarkable engagement students demonstrate with games. "A child's greatest self-control occurs in play." (p. 99) Because they combine the appetizing thrill of play with the general hypnotic power of interactive technology, computer games can be compelling learning objects.

Vygotsky says that "in play, things lose their determining force." (p. 96) He talks about the substitution of symbolic meaning. "Action according to rules begins to be determined by ideas and not by objects themselves." (p. 97) Computer games make extensive use of symbols and other abstractions, and players master the symbolic lexicon and grammar to master the game. I believe more meaningful content can be swapped in, while preserving compelling gameplay. Games can be powerful aids to thinking, especially games built on sophisticated simulations. Vygotsky's forbidden colors experiment is a protype of educational technology. The experiment probes children's ability to use external aids in a thinking task. (p. 42) Games can teach students how to use technology to enhance their capacity for thinking and problem solving. For example, a sophisticated simulation affords multiple strategies and solutions. Students can test hypotheses and use the results to justify their thinking. The simulation is the color cards. The justification is the forbidden colors game. "If one changes the tools of thinking available to a child, his mind will have a radically different structure." (p. 126)

Play is a critical component for "serious" thinking. Vygotsky believes play fosters imagination. As we get older, we may not act out our fantasies, yet "imagination... is play without action." (p. 93) I seek entertainment that challenges my creativity and imagination. These playful abilities are very valuable in my professional challenges. Empathy, leadership, and problem solving all require some creativity and imagination. My wife and I have observed that in general, gamers are more creative and able to suspend disbelief. We're able to play a belief game. (Elbow, 1986) We're less judgemental and more accepting of unusual ideas, alternative lifestyles, subcultures, and counter-cultures.

Games are becoming a valuable tool for "serious" professions. Role-playing and real-world simulations are used in police training, disaster management, and the military. Vygotsky would say this is how it should be. Play must gave way to work, while work should preserve the advantages of play. I used to coach competitive high school speech. One of my students just started college, and he's very excited by the possibilities of competing on the college circuit. He's also very politically aware. So I'm encouraging him to "play" at real speech. In other words, now that he's a good speaker, he should be speaking in civic and legislative forums.

I'm interested in using multiplayer computer games to teach leadership and group dynamics. I'm especially interested in team skills and structures that foster divergent, creative thinking, while staying focused on a convergent task. Vygotsky offers a lot of inspiration and guidance for my work.