2. ACCORD MOOC
LESSON 3
The use of Serious Games in the school context:
ACCORD games for Teacher-pupils inter-ethnic and
intercultural interactions
3. Introduction
In this lesson, the ACCORD Game for Teacher-pupils inter-ethnic
and intercultural interactions will be described.
➢ in Unit 1 it will be proposed the psychological modelling which
has driven the development of ACCORD Game, starting from the
integration and operationalization of two main dimensions:
multicultural personality (Lesson 1) and conflict management
styles (Lesson 2).
➢Therefore, in Unit 2, the ACCORD Game will be described in
depth, highlighting its main characteristics and providing
instructions for its use.
5. Rationale of ACCORD Project
The ACCORD project provides an innovative interactive virtual tool
specifically developed on the basis of findings from research on the five
dimensions of Multicultural Personality (i.e. Cultural Empathy, Open-
mindedness, Social Initiative, Emotional Stability, Flexibility) (Lesson 1)
and on the five conflict management styles (i.e. Integrating, Obliging,
Dominating, Avoiding, Compromising) (Lesson 2).
The development of the psychological model underpinning the ACCORD
Game started from the consideration that promoting the reflection and
the awareness concerning the appropriateness of the five conflict
management styles to handle intercultural conflicts would, in turn, trigger
and stimulate the awareness and the expression of multicultural
personality characteristics that have been considered as relevant for the
intercultural effectiveness.
Therefore, considering both the relevance of possessing specific
personality characteristics (i.e., Multicultural Personality dimensions) for
teachers and educators to efficiently dealing with the actual increasingly
multi-ethnic school context and their need of efficiently managing
conflictual situations in the interactions with culturally different students,
the ACCORD project moves from the interest in connecting these two key
dimensions in secondary school teachers and educators.
6. ACCORD National Survey
AIMS
The ACCORD project aims to create constructive interactive virtual learning environments
organised in role playing scenarios, addressing intercultural diversity in order to:
• promote secondary school teachers awareness of the appropriateness of the five
conflict management styles to handle intercultural conflicts as well as the awareness of
the significant role played by multicultural personality characteristics;
• support them to effectively manage intercultural conflicts which may arise in the school
and in classes;
• promote effectiveness in teachers-pupils intercultural interactions and the inclusion of
culturally diverse students.
Thus, we have been firstly interested in understanding whether there were significant
correlations between multicultural personality dimensions and the individuals’ styles of
handling conflicts in secondary school teachers and educators, to provide meaningful
indications regarding which area and aspects the ROLE PLAYING LEARNING
SCENARIOS should be focused.
Therefore, within ACCORD project, a national survey was conducted across the five
European project partner countries (Italy, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Germany) in
order to gain insight regarding teachers’ multicultural personality and conflict
management styles.
7. Multicultural Personality Factors
Individual competence as successfully
operating in a new cultural environment,
feeling of psychological well-being in
multicultural environment, and interest
in and ability to deal with individuals
from a different cultural background
(Van der Zee et al., 2000).
Conflict Management Styles
General and consistent orientation
toward the other party and the
conflict issues, manifest in observable
behaviours that form a pattern and
share common characteristics over
time (Kuhn & Poole, 2000; Rahim,
1983)
CULTURAL EMPATHY
OPEN-MINDEDNESSS
SOCIAL INITIATIVE
EMOTIONAL STABILITY
FLEXIBILITY
INTEGRATING
DOMINATING
OBLIGING
AVOIDING
COMPROMISING
ACCORD National Survey:
two key dimensions
8. ACCORD National Survey:
Methodology
A questionnaire was submitted online to secondary school teachers.
It consisted of:
oopen and closed-ended questions to collect Socio-demographic
characteristics (Gender; Age; Country; Working Experience);
ospecific information on the work context (i.e., Geographical Location
of Institution; Working Position; Percentage of Students with
immigrant background in Classroom; Participation to Intercultural
Trainings);
othe Multicultural Personality Questionnaire Short-Form (MPQ-SF;
Van der Zee, Van Oudenhoven, Ponterotto, & Fietzer, 2013);
othe Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II (ROCI-II, Form B;
Rahim, 1983; 2001).
Overall 589 subjects agreed to be enrolled in the study.
Statistical Analyses: data were analysed using Pearson’s Correlations.
9. Results:
correlations between Multicultural Personality dimensions
and Conflict Management Styles
DIMENSIONS OF
MULTICULTURAL
PERSONALITY
INCREASED LEVELS OF: DECREASED LEVELS OF:
Cultural Empathy
Integrating, Obliging and
Compromising styles
Dominating style
Open-Mindedness
Integrating, Obliging and
Compromising styles
-
Social Initiative
Integrating, Obliging and
Compromising styles
Avoiding style
Emotional Stability Integrating style
Obliging and Dominating
styles
Flexibility -
Dominating and
Avoiding styles
Findings from Person’s correlations analysis (Pearson’s r) highlighted significant
correlations between Multicultural Personality dimensions and the different
Conflict Management styles.
13. EMOTIONAL
STABILITY
PERSONALITY
DIMENSION
INTEGRATING
STYLE
OBLIGING
STYLE
DOMINATING
STYLE
Connection between Emotional Stability
Personality dimension and adopted Conflict
Management styles
Note. No significant connections between Emotional Stability personality
dimension and both Compromising and Avoiding styles were found.
h
increasing presence of this Multicultural
Personality dimension
increasing adoption of this conflict
management style
decreasing adoption of this conflict
management style
15. Conclusions
In conclusion, both the statistically significant associations between traits of the
multicultural personality and styles of intercultural conflict management, and the
specific quality of the emerged correlations supported the building of the
interactive role-playing game developed in the ACCORD project.
In order to build the game, these results were integrated with those emerging
from the focus groups with the teachers of the 5 partner countries.
17. ACCORD implementation of the
model of handling conflict
In this unit will be described the way the psychological model of handling
conflict underpinning is implemented in the ACCORD game, that is the process
followed to create and identify meaningful learning game scenarios.
As we have highlighted in lesson 2 within ACCORD effective conflict resolution
has been identified as crucial skill for constructively managing conflicts and
regulating interactions in intercultural conflicting situations that may occur in
class.
The specific idea of handling conflicts embraced within ACCORD is based on a
concept of negotiation related to effective communication processes (assertive
model), which mainly concern our way of communicating and the awareness of
how we are perceived and understood by others.
The basic assumption is that effective conflict resolution is a competence that
can be effectively discovered, learnt, improved and developed through
dedicated training and personal customised development programmes.
18. Introduction
The project consortium organized focus groups across the five
partner countries (i.e. Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy and
Spain), in order to:
• gather information, feeling and thoughts regarding teachers’
perspectives on intercultural conflict management within
teacher-pupil interactions
• understand teachers' level of training and experience
intercultural conflict and negotiation dynamics
• elicit teachers’ training needs, and attitudes towards ICT and
game-based learning
Interestingly, focus group discussions allowed to understand
at a deeper level than we could access with the national surveys,
the existence of a connection between the styles of conflict
management and the dimensions of the multicultural personality.
19. Focus groups
Teachers were presented five possible scenarios evoking intercultural
conflict situations within teacher-pupil interactions.
The five scenarios have been selected among nine initially proposed
scenarios, according to the underpinning theoretical foundation, and
the suitability of their narrative to be transferred into the ENACT game,
i.e., they allow to include all five possible styles of conflict
management.
The focus group discussions, along with a number of identified set
questions and the administration of the emotional scale, allowed to:
• Understand teachers’ perspectives on whether they consider the
conflict scenarios proposed as intercultural or not
• Explore possible feelings and thoughts experienced if they were
teachers and pupils involved in the discussed scenarios
• Investigate ways teachers manage intercultural conflicts, and attempt
to reduce dysfunctional conflict outcomes
• Explore the feasibility of the proposed intercultural conflict scenarios
to the different and specific teachers’ educational contexts across the
five European countries
20. Focus group informing the
ACCORD role-playing scenarios
In summary, in addition to the information gathered
through the national surveys (MPQ-SF and ROCI II) the
conduction of the focus groups have offered
the opportunity, at a deeper level to
• seek clarification regarding ways of experiencing and
manging intercultural conflicts
• highlight the existence of a cultural specificity in conflict
management and more specifically to confirm the
presence of a connection between the styles of conflict
management and the dimensions of the multicultural
personality, contributing to corroborate the research
hypothesis discussed in lessons 1 and 2.
All theses information have been essential to inform the
design and development of the ACCORD role-play training
scenarios simulating conflicting intercultural situations.
21. Approaches and models to
negotiation
The methodology used for the design of the ACCORD learning
scenarios simulating intercultural conflicting situations that
teachers encounter in real-world classroom settings is
underpinned by two theoretical aspects described in lesson 2:
• Models of handling interpersonal conflict (Rahim & Bonoma,
1979)
• Models of assertive communication in effective interactions
(Salter, 1949; Wolpe, 1958; Alberti & Emmonds, 1973; Lazarus,
1971)
22. ACCORD game
Following will be described the methodology and
characteristics of the ACCORD game an educational
tool in the form of a 3D, single-player to train user’s
intercultural communication and negotiation skills in
realistic scenarios during the interaction with
artificial agents, to be employed by teachers in
secondary school contexts.
It aims to cross the boundaries between
educational games and Intelligent Tutoring Systems
(ITSs), merging the importance of an online and
dynamical learner training with the intrinsic and
extrinsic motivating environment of serious games.
23. ACCORD main characteristics
ACCORD game focuses on the simulation of a dialogue between
two characters (an avatar controlled by a human player, and a
BOT computer-controlled counterpart), in which behavioural
characteristics such as the act of speech and some elements of
body language play a fundamental role.
As specified earlier the ACCORD simulation role play game are
based on the 5 styles of handling interpersonal conflicts
conceptualized of Rahim and Bonoma (1979): Integrating,
Obliging, Compromising, Avoiding, Dominating.
Each of the five style manifests itself in a pattern of observable
behavioural indicators that we have identified in the
communication model of assertiveness, passivity and aggression
(Dryden and Constantinou 2004).
24. Conflict management style
Conflict management style defined as a “general and consistent orientation
toward the other party and the conflict issues, manifest in observable
behaviours that form a pattern and share common characteristics over
time” (Kuhn & Poole, 2000). We have used the behavioural indicators
based on the concept of assertiveness, passivity and aggression (Dryen &
Constantonou, 2004; Boulle et al., 2008) in order to identify the behaviours
characterising the different styles. For each style we have then identified 7
variables (4 verbal and 3 paraverbal) that we have groped in two
dimensions: concern for self, as per Rahim model.
26. ACCORD game description
Within Accord both the user and the artificial agent with which the
user interacts with during the game, are implemented as 3D
avatars able to perform a range of basic expressions using verbal
cues (vocal tone, shape of the speech bubble and structure of the
sentence) and non-verbal indicators (facial expression, eye contact,
body posture and gestures).
The user is introduced to the game with a scene explaining the
situation and the reason of the conflict that conduct the teacher to
the stage of the virtual agent-user interaction. Each exchange
between the two is organized in a five or seven state scene, which
include one turn of speech for each party.
In each state, the user can choose one among five/seven possible
sentences, one for each of Rhaim’s styles of handling conflicts:
integrating, compromising, avoiding, dominating (appropriate and
inappropriate); obliging (appropriate and inappropriate), that are
complemented with gesture and facial expression.
29. The conflicting scenarios
• The 5 conflicting assessment scenarios have been designed
according to the variables listed below, considered for both the
agent and user:
• The negotiation style adopted by the virtual character that
according to the Rahim and Bonoma model can be: Integrating,
Compromising, Dominating, Obliging or Avoiding;
• Type of conflict: intercultural conflict that requires a
resolution, a decision to be made.
• Gender: if the player and the agent can have the same or
opposite gender, so that the interactions can results as male-
male (or female-female) and male-female (or female-male);
• Ethnic variables: to allow a user-avatar interaction covering
different ethnic groups.
30. User representation and
avatars
As introduced earlier, each scenario starts with a brief text explaining the
situation in which the user has to play the game, the role assigned to the
user and her goal within the given scenario.
The user starts the game by pressing the “play” button that brings the
player on the game scene.
Two characters are shown on the screen: the user’s avatar is presented in
a small window at the left upper corner of the screen, while the BOT
represents the main character focused on by the camera.
The user’s five/seven possible choices are shown below the small avatar
window, while the responses of the BOT are shown in text bubble
appearing over its head.
When the mouse is over one of the five user sentences (on the left-hand
side of the screen), the animation (non-verbal behaviour) related to that
sentence is shown in the top-left window. In order to choose a sentence,
the user needs to click on it.
32. Training objective
More specifically, the most pioneering aspect of ACCORD is the
opportunity for the user to become aware of personal handling
conflict styles, and related communication skills particularly
relevant to effectively act in intercultural contexts.
The feedback for the player is based on the preferred negotiation
styles used during a series of negotiation scenarios, that is also
important for automatic elaboration of identification of specific
development areas of the player, in order to create an effective
learner-centred environment, where the user activity is focused
on the areas of behaviour that mostly require improvements.
33. Self-sustained development
process
The strongest points of the approach used within ACCORD is
related to the fact that the tool offers a complete and self-
sustained assessment and training process (presence of a real
tutor is not indispensable).
The player is constantly at the centre of the assessment and
training processes developed within the software. The user can
test her own personal attitude towards personal negotiation
styles, can improve their understanding and practice with the
support of the tutoring system provided.
34. Flexibility of the tool
At the end of scenario, the teacher is invited to think about the
interactions she had so far, and select among seven alternatives the
way she would end the scenario. Final scenario IMAGE
The teacher may select a completely different style to the predominant
used during the game, or confirm her pattern of behaviuors.
The teacher can revise the history of all the choices made during the
scenario, and she is guided through the understanding of the possible
hidden aspects the way she has been handling conflicts. After the game
process has been completed the teacher is provided with a debriefing
regarding the main path of negotiation styles adopted during the
games, as well as the appropriateness of the style adopted according
with the specified game scenarios: type of conflict, objectives of the
game, personal concerns and interlocutor’s concerns . IMAGE
negotiation path
36. Tutoring system
The tutoring system is available only after the user has
completed the 5 proposed scenarios; thus, it will intervene
during the training scenarios and at the end of the game session
in order to provide useful information to the user about her
performance related to the BOT she is currently interacting with
and to her general behavior when managing conflicting
situations.
The user is given a profile based on the Rahim model related to
the specific situations she played, together relevant information
related to multicultural personality dimensions (e.g., Flexibility,
Cultural empathy).
37. References
Dell'Aquila E., Marocco D., Ponticorvo M., Di Ferdinando A., Schembri M., Miglino O.
(2017). Educational Games for Soft-Skills Training in Digital Environments: New
Perspectives, Springer.
Kuhn, T. I. M., & Poole, M. S. (2000). Do conflict management styles affect group
decision making? Evidence from a longitudinal field study. Human communication
research, 26(4), 558-590.
Rahim, M.A. (2001). Managing Conflict in Organizations. Quorum Books.
Rahim, M. A. (1983). A measure of styles of handling interpersonal conflict. Academy of
Management Journal, 26(2), 368-376.
Van der Zee, K., Van Oudenhoven, J. P., Ponterotto, J. G., & Fietzer, A. W. (2013).
Multicultural Personality Questionnaire: Development of a short form. Journal of
personality assessment, 95(1), 118-124.
Van Der Zee, K. I., & Van Oudenhoven, J. P. (2000). The Multicultural Personality
Questionnaire: A multidimensional instrument of multicultural effectiveness. European
journal of personality, 14(4), 291-309.
