Inequality of opportunity is high on the European education agenda. Equipping teachers to be able to identify and address inequality requires them to develop sensitivity, multi-perspectivity and agency, and these are complex attributes that require personal experiences and deep reflection.

Recognizing this complexity, five Master’s students chose this challenge for their collective graduate research project. Following the principles of design research and inspired by Bourdieu’s ideas on different forms of capital, they developed a card game that helps both beginning and experienced teachers reflect on the hidden mechanisms of inequality, particularly on the effects of socio-economic status (SES), and it stimulates them to address these mechanisms.

The impact of the card game – both in terms of outcomes and its driving mechanisms – is now the subject of a study, funded by the Centre of Expertise Urban Education of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. The preliminary results are promising: especially identifying with low SES pupils and feeling the accumulation of negative experiences raises teachers’ awareness.

In our presentation we first play the game with you and then discuss the results and possible implications and applications.