AT IS FAIR PLAY K-12?

In the demo version of  FAIR PLAY K-12, the player takes on the perspective of Makayla Johnson or Jaylen Brown, Black students in the K-12 educational sys tem. Players experience situations of racial bias in third, seventh and eleventh grades and decide how to respond to each bias experience as it occurs. As Makayla or Jaylen the road to graduation involves navigating the K-12 world; as a Black student, bias can steer you off of a successful path.

CONTENT OF THE GAME

FAIR PLAY K-12  represents a true to life simulation of the complex social world for a student in the K-12 educational system. As Jaylen or Makayla, you will navigate a typical day in third, seventh and eleventh grades. In addition to recreating the K-12 experience, FAIR PLAY K-12  presents real-life examples of bias concepts such as microaggressions, color blind racial attitudes, tokenism and others. This e-computer based experience involves taking on the challenges of a K-12 student of color through learning about and experiencing the biases they commonly face during their school experience.

FAIR PLAY WORKSHOPS TO ADDRESS BIAS

Funding from an Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment grant (2017-2019) provides the opportunity to learn about and identify biases within  FAIR PLAY K-12 ; complementary workshops help participants address and counteract these biases in K-12 educational settings.

RESEARCH SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF FAIR PLAY

Although most people have personal values that oppose prejudice, we all grow up in a culture replete with stereotypes and biased representations of members of minority groups. These stereotypes are learned at a young age, and create automatic bias that can affect our behavior, even when our conscious values oppose bias (Devine, 1989). 

Becoming aware of our potential to behave in unintentionally biased ways is the first step to overcoming these implicit biases. If we are aware that we may have unintentionally activated bias, we can be mindful of situations in which this bias can occur, and make sure we behave in ways that are consistent with our personal values that oppose prejudice (Carnes et al., 2012, 2015; Devine et al., 2012). 

Members of stigmatized groups frequently report microaggressions — commonplace daily indignities that are often unintentional, but nevertheless have negative effects on those targeted by them (Sue et al., 2007). Even if the perpetrator of a microaggression has no ill intentions, the effect on the target can be devastating, especially given that these microaggressions are so common, and they add up, leading to increased anxiety and even depression (Cox et al., 2012). 

In the K-12 educational experience, black and Latino students are more likely to experience race-based social stress from sources of discrimination and stereotype threat. Discrimination from teachers is “related to lower grades, less academic motivation… and less persistence when encountering an academic challenge.” The anxiety surrounding the stereotype of academic inferiority undermines students performing academic tasks (Levy et al., 2016). 

Using  FAIR PLAY K-12  as a learning tool provides the opportunity to see the school experience through the eyes of a Black student, while the complementary workshop highlights many of the obstacles that can prevent minorities from excelling in K-12 education. The workshop increases awareness about different types of microaggressions and teaches techniques for overcoming them within oneself and addressing them in others. This workshop can help us all in our goals to reduce unintentional biases within ourselves and promote excellence in people of all backgrounds. 

FAIR PLAY K-12  is based on principles drawn from research and other published works. Some of the key arguments for its approach are on our  RESOURCES PAGE, along with other papers, resources and texts to learn more about these topics.