TEACHING NOTE: TEACHING ABOUT OPPRESSION THROUGH JENGA: A GAME-BASED LEARNING EXAMPLE FOR SOCIAL WORK EDUCATORS

Abstract

Educators, both novice and experienced, are presented with a formidable constellation of obstacles when attempting to teach the concepts of institutional oppression and unearned privilege. Educators must challenge years of socialization and internalized ideologies of superiority that make hierarchies of privilege appear to be the natural order. In the interests of expanding and strengthening social work educators' repertoire of instructional tools on the topic of institutional oppression, we review the relevant literature on institutional oppression and game-based learning and offer readers an original game-based learning exercise adapted from the popular family game Jenga as a tool for instructing on the topic of institutional oppression.