Teachers’ Pedagogical Approaches to Teaching with Minecraft

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to explore teachers’ different pedagogical approaches to teaching the “sandbox” digital game Minecraft as a part of L1 primary education. The empirical data for the paper is based on a series of design interventions with a Minecraft curriculum in three different classes (two 1st grades and one 2nd grade) at three different Danish schools, which involved video observations of the teaching and interviews with the participating teachers. The project is financed by The Danish Ministry of Education (2013-2015) and is part of a larger project on “ICT in the Innovative School”, which aims to develop students’ 21st century skills. Drawing on theoretical work on professional practice (Schön, 1983), frame theory (Goffman, 1974), and Dialogic Self Theory (Ligorio, 2010), the paper aims to describe and understand how the teachers’ positioned themselves through redesign and enactment of the Minecraft curriculum. In order to achieve this aim, the paper introduces a general model for understanding teachers’ educational use of games, which describe the dynamic interplay between curricular concepts, game texts, game practices, and learning activities. Based on empirical analysis of teachers’ I-positions to the Minecraft curriculum, the paper identifies three different pedagogical approaches, which are described as execution, improvisation, and transformation.