Siberian Federal University

Ivan Drobyshev, School of Economics, Management and Environmental Studies, SibFU

History of organizational activity games in Siberian Federal University traces back to mid-eighties. Although the OAG method was already known and used (however, not widespread, especially in higher education), some of these games were conducted as an experiment on whether it was possible to solve educational problems with the help of it. As we mentioned earlier, the “classic” OAGs were meant to create a collaborative environment that helps developing solutions to real-world problem situations in professional area. In those years, a huge discussion had been taking place in both academic and educational communities about new challenges that transitional economy (at the time of Perestroika in the USSR) and industry set for higher education. At 1986, the game named “Forms and means of professional training a new type of specialists in a modern university” organized at the university (Krasnoyarsk State University at that time) was one of the ways to address these issues. The other game of the same year set the educational professionalism of junior faculty staff as the main topic.

Other games had more field-specific topics. Several OAGs were dedicated to the advancing and applying the theory of Davydov and Elconin about developing education in practice. One of major results of these games was an idea that developing school environment required not only specific professional training of teachers, but also intensive everyday collaboration of a teaching staff and educational psychologists. It was presumed, that a school needed this approach it in order to take into account general and individual peculiarities of students (e.g. current competences and capabilities) and to plan specific learning activities accordingly. Also, this theory led to the idea of specific training for educational psychologists. That became a topic of series of games in 1985-1988, during which a project of the Faculty of Psychology in the university was developed. In 1988 first students enrolled for the “Developmental Psychology” program.

So, due to the fact that the Faculty and its “ideology” were born during organizational activity games, since then the format of these games has been used on a regular basis. The format was adapted to meet educational goals. The focus was deliberately shifted from real-world industry and production problems to the topic of professional self-determination of students. The vast majority of the students were yesterday high school graduates and had no professional background and, therefore, no solid grounds for real professional self-determination. So, all students went through two games as participants: during their first and second years of college. The game for first-year students set an aim to clarify their educational intentions (if there were any) and to help them set preliminary goals for their educational. The game for second-year students was traditionally (and informally) called “Building the Faculty of Psychology”. It was intended to address several questions. Do these junior students have the grounds to undertake responsible activities in academic environment? Do they have intentions and resources to take part in professional community? Can we (game organizers) perform a game action that can reveal or provide these resources to them? These questions clearly show that each game with students had both diagnostic and developing functions. Every game provided qualitative data on current students (although, sometimes it was hard to formalize the data), so the faculty staff, who also participated, after reflection and discussions on the game process and outcomes, could evaluate the efficiency of educational process. Does it meet the objectives of the Faculty? Is there a demand (from practice, professional community, labor markets) to reconsider the objectives and the way educational process is organized and carried out?

Nowadays, the Faculty of Psychology does not provide these games for students. The idea of Organizational games with students resides in School of Economics, Management and Environmental Studies. First year master’s students take a course called “Techniques of Self-Determination and Self-Development Under Conditions of Uncertainty”. The way the problem of self-determination is raised and brought to one’s concern by the course is surely not expressed in any textbook (at least, in Russian textbooks). The course itself is conducted as the organizational game with master’s students, and the thematic topic of each game is planned to create the mentioned conditions of uncertainty. The following communication and interaction among students altogether with the game masters is managed in the way, that main steps of the game display one of possible techniques to make the uncertain situation more clear and defined. The way of the game organization is a pattern to overcome this uncertainty.

There is a game for a specific master’s program called “Conflict management”. Master’s students participate in organizational game, which basically has the same objectives as the games of the Faculty of Psychology mentioned earlier. Who are students enrolled for the program? What are their intentions for the education? What aims are they pursuing by enrolling? Are they their driven by interests and needs of professional or personal nature? How can the program contribute to them, and how can they contribute to both the program and a school of thought (called Psychology of Constructive Conflict) that lies at the core? How should the educational process and interactions (both educational and professional) between students and the faculty be conducted? These questions, of course, cannot be answered within one game, and other steps are to be taken to make them clearer. However, the game is a start for all the parties to work on these questions, and the means to adjust this partly informal approach with formal academic schedule.