The Christmas Party

The Christmas party is a fun, contemporary, light-hearted game which I created as a means to do a more relaxing sequence around holiday time. The purpose of the game was to discuss Christmas and explore relationships between people and conflict management.

You can hear student Louana's reflection on the experience in this video

At the Christmas party at the magazine Vogue, the situation is tense as change in the direction could mean that people might lose their position or even their jobs. In the meanwhile, a group of famous journalists and bloggers is invited to do a series of documentaries on the magazine. How will people go through this conflicted time of the year?

The purpose of the game is centered around social skills: discussion, interactions, conflict management. It was created as a gateway into more serious roleplaying, and to get students to practice their English skills for a sustained period of time.

The game played in 4 hours, two hours preparation and two hours play-time. It can be played by a flexible number of players, from 12 to 30

The first two hours are dedicated to the game preparation:

- character distribution and preparation, creation of personal interactions

- workshop on cultural expectations and roles, small scenes performed in small groups

The game itself is played in 1h30/2h. In the first part, the students are invited to practice their English and just socialize. In the second part, brutal changes to the magazines' ownership are announced, and they have to react to the new situation in the most effective way for their character.

The objective of the game is to reinforce group unity and self-confidence among students, which appear more willing to participate and engage in conversation. It also challenges their sense of conflict resolution. As all characters are written as gender-neutral, it also enables students of all genders and enthnicity to step into position role and challenge common representations.

They then have to write a feedback according to their character's point of view, which works effectively to promote imagination and collaboration, as they are requested to check details of the story with the other participants. This process, the participatory storytelling, is a means to promote their expression and creativity. It is again a very light game which doesn't have much of a pedagogical content, but which I use as a ground tool to promote the habit of the practice and what constitutes, in my opinion, better learning habits and ways for the student to interact with their lessons and between themselves.