Exploring Young People's Civic Identities through Gamification: A Case Study of Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian Adolescents Playing a Social Simulation Game

Abstract

This article is based on a case study where groups of Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian young people played a simulation game that stimulated collective deliberation on social issues. The game has been designed to provoke students to deliberate and to reflect on social problems relating to issues of citizenship and democracy. The analysis of the discussions, based on playing the simulation game, suggests that Nordic young people have a strong civic identity: they were ready to voice their opinion and they had the knowledge and skills to feel comfortable when expressing their ideas. The message of the study differs considerably from the more pessimistic view of Nordic young people's civic skills in large-scale international surveys. A qualitative approach seems to provide a deeper view on young people's skills in deliberative argumentation and the issues they want to contribute to and influence, painting a more positive picture of these future decision makers' level of engagement.