Abstract:

The present paper critically analyzes the partial results already obtained with a research–in-action in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with teens attended by the NGO 'PROJETO RODA VIVA', situated inside a slum in the Tijuca's District, northern part of Rio de Janeiro.This research takes the view that when gaming, players are free to choose their own path for conflict resolution, which alleviates individualistic tendencies and enables other players to identify and socialize with them if the game is used as a tool for social aggregation, where all players respect their adversaries, don't cheat and victory is not the only purpose. That said, proposes game activities which not only enable the development of reasoning skills, but also the capacity of using prose narrative to explain one's own train of thought. The project uses electronic games as the meeting's focal points aiming for: the insertion of their users into the informatized world; the opportunity to validate a psycho-pedagogical methodology that optimizes the act of playing, allowing players to make better use of their thought structures; the development of cognitive competencies and skills which will help them to learn the formal knowledge which was denied for them by the precarious conditions of their basic education. The proposal is developed by the means of weekly 2 hours meetings where the teens work in small gaming projects used to help them get used with the digital culture. Every meeting has three successive moments: first, an individual activity to allow the teenager to get a closer relationship with the computer; second, a group discussion where the teenagers say what and how they've done on the first phase; and third, a record made in a Word document by the teenagers about their performance in the game, being allowed to use explicative drawings, schemes, writing etc. Whenever necessary, there would be a partnership between teacher and teenagers in respect to the usage of the equipment or planning the game strategies. Every procedure done in each meeting has as objectives not only the development of the desire to learn, but specially the expansion of the teenager's worldview. Regarding the choice of games, they must follow criteria previously determined by the researcher's group – not being violent games, nor one that breaks social norms, nor games that center solely on manual dexterity and skill. The teenagers may suggest new games different from those chosen by the researchers, as long as they follow the criteria above. the aforementioned criteria. The critical analysis of the partial results of the proposal shows that the harmony of the group has been improved, and the attention span of each adolescent is shown to be greater when compared to their other normal school chores, which raises the hypothesis that this is consequence of the interest generated by the game. There are already indications that cooperation happens spontaneously during game. Also, the implemented idea of accompanying a group's performance (instead of checking scores individually) shows to be one of the most important factors for group cohesion, because the teenagers start to consider themselves part of a team that has a task to accomplish. We can already see some development with their oral argumentation skills since the first meetings, although they are still functional illiterate, with a giant discrepancy between their level of schooling (1st Grade elementary school) and their age (11 to 14 years).

Keywords:

Games, digital inclusion, reflexive thought.