How It Works

The Real Game is designed as a journey. Each session represents a step of the journey, and each subsequent step builds on the previous one. The journey is divided into five units: Learning a Living, Making a Living, Quality of Life, Changes and Choices, and The Personal Journey. Some sessions are followed by optional activities and discussion segments.

UNIT ONE:
LEARNING A LIVING

In the two sessions in this unit, which together take two 30- to 40-minute periods to complete, students receive an overview of The Real Game. The game is presented as a journey in career exploration that will bring students to "assuming the mantle of the expert." Students learn that they will soon assume unique and individual life/work roles. In these roles, they will earn and spend money, participate in family and community life, make many decisions that affect their characters' lives, and experience good and bad chance situations. They even make decisions on social issues that affect their own and their community's future. They learn that every decision is a career decision.

Students complete a pre-survey to assess their awareness of realities in the contemporary working world before beginning The Real Game experience, and they complete a post-survey (same items) at the end of Unit Five to evaluate their progress. In this way, progress may be documented. The pre- and post-surveys are based on the Blueprint for Life/Work Designs competencies and performance indicators for the Junior High/Middle School level.

Now the fun and learning really begin. This is where students play the first round of The Spin Game, a multiple choice question-and-answer game linking school subjects to life/work roles, and form neighbourhood groups that serve as the basis of many subsequent activities in The Real Game.

UNIT TWO:
MAKING A LIVING

There are four core sessions in this unit, which together take five to six hours. Here students engage in activities through which they assume their own individual adult life/work roles.

First, students explore and express their dreams by creating wish lists (homes, pets, cars, leisure pursuits, etc.) they would like to have as adults. Then, they are randomly assigned life/work roles they will assume for the balance of the game. They learn about a typical day in their new roles (A Day in the Life.), the monthly income, the education and training required to qualify to enter the occupation, the working hours, etc.

Reality comes into play when students have to balance their monthly budgets (using numeric skills) and calculate what they can actually afford, taking into account their actual net incomes. Chance Cards (some positive, some negative, all different) are given to all students in order to force them to make adjustments in their budgets and cause them to think about financial planning and saving.

Students then start to personalize the Activity Posters that are displayed on the classroom wall for all to see throughout the program. They produce their own business cards. Much shared learning occurs as students compare notes about their roles, incomes, budgets, lifestyle choices, etc. Some elements of the Activity Poster are: education level, transferable skills, annual holidays, gross and net monthly incomes, housing and transportation choices, and expenses. Students actually begin to turn the classroom into an imaginary community by creating street names for the clusters of posters on the wall, a town name and other optional (civics and society) activities, such as electing a mayor and town council, holding town meetings, and debating community issues.

UNIT THREE:
QUALITY OF LIFE

Unit Three has three core sessions that together last about four to seven hours. Here students are introduced to the concept of quality of life by choosing leisure and vacation activities within the means of their assigned life/work roles and occupations.

Students start with a time management activity. They examine necessary daily activities related to their life/work roles, identify activities they choose to do during their free time, and explore the balance between work and the rest of their lives.

Students then plan a group vacation by examining several suggested vacation packages or by choosing their own destinations, near or far. Of course, they must take into account each of their budgets and schedules in accordance with the amount of vacation time each has available at specific times in the year. This activity gives students a chance to explore vacation destinations (geography, social studies, information and communication technologies), experience group decision-making, and learn about a variety of occupations related to the travel industry.

UNIT FOUR:
CHANGES AND CHOICES

Unit Four has five core sessions that together last about six to eight hours. Here students learn how to adapt to change and unexpected situations that occur in the work world and in life. The activities are presented in such a way that participants realize that changes and surprises, even negative ones, offer opportunities and choices.

With the help of a questionnaire and group discussions, students reflect on attitudes and preconceived notions they have about the roles of men and women in society. They become aware of trends and changes influencing home and workplace situations.

Students then examine which aspects of their assigned work role they like and which they dislike. In the context of their new knowledge of all the work roles in their community, they consider other work roles, styles or environments they feel could bring them greater satisfaction.

In this unit, some students will receive pink slips and lose their jobs, always through no fault of their own. Downsizing, mergers, etc., change the course of the game as the students rally to provide support and assistance to colleagues faced with job loss. Activities such as group discussions and essay writing help students to think of positive actions, both for the affected individuals and their community, that may lead to new possibilities.

Finally, the entire class is rendered jobless. Working in teams, students brainstorm solutions and by connecting with innovative community projects, learn how their transferable skills will enable them to create new work opportunities.

Students wrap up this unit by playing a second round of The Spin Game, further exploring the links between their schooling and potential life/work roles as adults.

UNIT FIVE:
THE PERSONAL JOURNEY

Unit Five has four core sessions that together last about four to six hours. Here students leave their roles behind and imagine themselves in the future. They reflect on their career journey by talking with active individuals in their real community.

In the first activity of this unit, students learn the true meaning of the word "career" as they imagine their lives and note the main events in a powerful and graphic exercise called "The Big Picture." This is followed by a session called "Follow Your Heart" in which students develop their own personal life/work profiles based on the new knowledge of themselves and the life/work options they have acquired through the program.

Guest speakers are invited for the next activity as a Career Day is planned. The students realize how The Real Game has given them a real feel for what adults go through in real life. Invariably, they begin to view their parents/guardians with new respect and understanding. Their contacts with adult counterparts from their own community enable students to share their experiences and new knowledge and to gather new information on contemporary life/work roles in their community.

Students share their views on what they have experienced and learned in The Real Game, and they identify which activities made the greatest impression on them. To conclude the program, students answer the post-survey to assess their progress towards mastery of the Blueprint for Life/Work Designs competencies.