Serious Policy Game ‘’Kansrijk’’

Serious Policy Game ‘’Kansrijk’’
How do we foster collective responsibility for educational equity at the local level? The Dutch serious policy game “Kansrijk”, developed in collaboration between Radboud University and the University of Amsterdam, offers an innovative answer. This game invites participants to step into the shoes of key educational stakeholders like parents, teachers, school leaders, school boards, and local government in a fictional municipality named Kansrijk (a Dutch pun meaning ‘equal opportunity’). Together, participants explore the complex dynamics of inequality in education.

A wicked problem
Educational inequality is what researchers call a “wicked problem”: deeply complex, multi-layered, and resistant to simple solutions. Kansrijk doesn’t pretend to solve this problem but exploring the issue through gameplay allows participants to simulate complex realities, share and test ideas without real-world risks, and engage in a safe environment that fosters mutual understanding and collaboration. The game encourages participants to see beyond their own role and consider the broader ecosystem of actors and interests that shape educational opportunity.

How the game works
At the start of the game, participants are invited to identify which challenge they believe has the greatest impact on educational equity (e.g., school segregation, early tracking, unequal access to extracurricular learning, and disparities in parental involvement). This collectively chosen challenge then becomes the focus of the game. Participants are divided into five groups, each representing a different stakeholder. They receive a challenge card with background information on the issue, along with several possible interventions to address it.

From the perspective of their assigned stakeholder, the group must then decide: which intervention do we find most compelling to tackle this challenge? They also predict which intervention other groups will prefer (from their assigned perspective) and justify their reasoning. Points are awarded for accurate predictions and collective alignment.

The goal of the game is to earn as many points as possible as a collective. The more aligned the group is in understanding each other’s roles, interests, and constraints, the higher the score. The game ends with a debriefing session, where participants reflect on what they’ve learned about the problem of inequality, the perspectives of others, and the potential for joint action.

Use in teacher education
While developed in The Netherlands, the game’s structure and principles are easily adaptable to other national or regional contexts. It can be used in teacher education programs, professional development for teacher educators, or policy workshops. Within teacher education programs, the game can be used as a structured activity to help students explore how various actors interact and influence educational outcomes. By stepping into these roles, student teachers develop a broader understanding of the educational ecosystem and the structural factors that shape (in)equality.

More information?
floris.burgers@ru.nl