A.09. Play, Economic Awareness, and Social Change
The session investigates the nexus between democratic education and awareness of socio-economic systems, emphasising play as a pedagogical tool. It examines how economic, digital, and environmental transformations shape civic participation, social justice, and sustainability, exploring the role of play in their understanding. Key phenomena include economic literacy, socio-ecological interdependencies, prosocial behaviour, and the reduction of inequalities. The session also considers how play-based interventions, both digital and analogue, individual and collaborative, can support awareness of complex dynamics and collective responsibility.
This session aims to foster a critical, interdisciplinary discussion on the educational potential of play in cultivating economic awareness, democratic participation, and socio-emotional competencies. The panel illustrates how play can encourage sustainable behaviours, informed decision-making, and openness to diversity, supporting the development of citizens able to navigate complex economic and digital environments. It further explores how play-based practices, when integrated into school and community programmes, enhance engagement, motivation, and learner self-efficacy.
The panel is situated within an interdisciplinary field bridging education, social sciences, behavioural economics, psychology, game studies, game design research, and educational technology, following Dewey’s view of schools as agents of social change (Dewey, 1961). Its scientific relevance lies in analysing how methodologies based on play support prosocial development, deepen understanding of economic structures, and encourage sustainable practices (Di Paolo et al., 2024). By integrating theoretical frameworks with empirical findings and transformative social innovation (Avelino et al., 2017), the panel advances understanding of how play-based learning environments become spaces that foster democratic participation, critical thinking, and social justice.