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English teachers divided on use of video games – research

More than half of Australian high school English teachers believe digital games are a legitimate text type to use in their teaching programs, but just 15 per cent have done so, Australian Catholic University research shows.

The research, led by Associate Professor Amanda Gutierrez, has revealed the division that exists among Australian English teachers when it comes to using video games in the classroom.

Associate Professor Gutierrez and colleagues Professor Kathy Mills, Associate Professor Laura Scholes, and Dr Luke Rowe have written a piece for The Conversation about their research, which involved 201 English teachers from across the nation.

In their piece, they point out the need for clearer curriculum guidelines about the use of digital games in teaching programs, including listing them as an example of a multimodal text, as well as the need for more professional development for educators.

As they also explain, with gaming featuring in so prominently in many young people’s lives, it is important that students are taught to think critically when engaging with all types of texts.

Read the piece first published in The Conversation: 60% of Australian English teachers think video games are a ‘legitimate’ text to study. But only 15% have used one (theconversation.com)

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