“It Seemed That Time Passed Differently”

A Case Study on Board Game Design and the Construction of Historical Knowledge with First-Year High School Students

Abstract

This study investigated how the creation of board games, integrated with pedagogical practices, contributed to the construction of historical knowledge among first-year high school students at a public school in the municipality of São Mateus, Espírito Santo, Brazil. The study was grounded in the theoretical contributions of Johan Huizinga (2003), Roger Caillois (1990), Gilles Brougère (1998), Walter Benjamin (2009), and Tizuko Kishimoto (2011), scholars who understand games as cultural, symbolic, historical, and educational practices. The research was conducted through a qualitative approach, configured as a case study, with the main methodological strategy consisting of workshops focused on the creation of historical board games during extracurricular school hours, involving twenty-one high school students. Data were produced through observations, field journal records, and participants’ testimonies collected throughout the processes of game creation, testing, and implementation. The results revealed experiences of immersion, student protagonism, cooperation, emotional engagement, and the re-signification of school space, as well as the development of cognitive, social, and reflective competencies. Challenges related to rule negotiation, the management of institutional school time, and conflict mediation during collective activities were also identified. The analysis demonstrated that when intentionally, critically, and reflectively incorporated into pedagogical practice, games transcend a merely recreational function and become legitimate spaces for meaning-making, the collective construction of historical knowledge, and the ethical and cultural development of students.

Keywords: Game; History Education; High School Education; Pedagogical Practice; Historical Learning.