A Game-Centred Approach to Development Education: Games, Groups and RRA

Games are group activities that involve learning plus acquisition of skills and competence, building of trust and co-operation, and fun. A game-centred appraoch to development is important because: (i) the reductionist foundation of scientific methods are inadequate for understanding complex livelihood systems; (ii) complexity must be understood explicitly; (iii) the subjectivity of all actors, including investigators, must be recognised. RRA techniques are appropriate to meeting these needs. Games create the conditions that encourage group work, foster efficiency and increase the likelihood of the formatin of sustainable groups and institutions. The order of the book is: a discussion of reductionism, elements of complexity, subjectivity, creating conditions for interdisciplinarity, RRA (principles, techniques and groups), and various types of game. The latter, final, section suggests guidelines for trainers and animators, together with procedures for the conduct of some group processes, analytical and role-paying games.