A Very British Education: British Game Designers and the Influence of Schooling on Game Design

Project Code: BGD&E- 40044953

Project Description:

This project draws together the analysis of British games (both analogue and digital) and British education through a close study of select modern (post-1970) games, the evolving curriculum in UK schools, and interviews with British game designers about their experiences in education.

It is motivated by the following questions: How has arts and humanities education in Britain changed since 1970, and what has this meant for ‘British’ games and the British games industry? What evidence can we see of the impact of high school and university arts and humanities education in particular on the themes, content and representation that takes place in modern British games? And (how) do game makers understand the impact of their education on their design choices and practices?

Anticipated Findings:

Sociology establishes an early link between play, games and learning (Caillois 1961; Huizinga 1955) in human development. The link between education and games is well established in terms of the ‘value’ of ‘educational’ games or ‘serious’ games. However, the transmission of cultural values in the reverse is not explored in the literature. Therefore, this project is genuinely novel in articulating the link between games, play and education with a specifically British scope including content of curriculum, the structure of schooling in Britain such as class, schooling and work (Willis 1977) and tacit knowledge realised in the ‘hidden curriculum’ (Dewey 1916; Friere 1972) and especially its impact on equity in education and how this percolates into the values, ethos and career trajectories of British game developers.

Therefore, this project will identify a unique, unexplored link between education and games development in the UK.  Anchored in an evaluation of the intersection between industrial policy and education and how the former increasingly drove the latter, the project explores how game development came to be a significant part of the – arguably successful – UK’s transition to a post-industrial society. Through an historical and empirical template complemented by the supervisory teams’ broad and deep expertise in Media, Cultural Studies, History, Education and Sociology, the project will ultimately aim to provide insight into how education can best serve game development in the second quarter of the 21st century.

Contact (and Director of Studies for this project): Dr Charlotte Stevens, charlotte.stevens@bcu.ac.uk

How to apply

To apply for this project, visit the 'How to Apply' section on the Media and Cultural Studies PhD course page.