African Akan Philosophy for Educational Gamification

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Playing With Pedagogy: Generative Games and Imaginative Teaching (Table 29)

Abstract

In order to address the various challenges in education, it is essential to include perspectives and concepts from underrepresented philosophies to ensure equitable representation. This paper aims to suggest suitable games for educational gamification based on the traditional games of the Akans in West Africa. It discusses and recommends games that originated from the Akan philosophy, including ato ankyire, pi lo loo, agyarek) no, oware, and anansesem sei sei oo. These games have been tried and tested for many years and are proven to have no adverse health effects on their players, unlike some digital games. Additionally, they provide physical health benefits and promote mental development and training.

Authors

• David Kyei-Nuamah, East China Normal University

• Zhengmei Peng, East China Normal University