Making the World More Relevant for Students: Role Playing Exercises for the Classroom

As our world grows more complex and difficult to understand, perhaps we benefit best by looking at it through different lenses and at different angles. Since “accidents” of our birth and upbringing leave us predisposed to adopt only one perspective and to be certain that we have the best view, it is even more important that we consciously identify and separately consider a variety of viewpoints. As everyone knows reading a concept in a book or even viewing someone else demonstrating it is quite different than actively participating in the conduct of such a concept. This essay is a collection of our own classroom simulations developed for the purpose of furthering this educational endeavor.