Board games as a tool for career orientation for disadvantaged students - theoretical foundations in the development of a practical tool.

Abstract

Background and objectives: Several international and national initiatives have led to the development of support for disadvantaged pupils. In Hungary, this approach should be given special attention because of the size of the group concerned and the seriousness of the consequences. The aim of our study is to present our research by summarizing a literature review, in which we take further steps to respond to the root of the problem and implement a lifelong guidance system that can be effective in supporting disadvantaged students.

Method: In our study, we analysed academic literature (n=39) published between 2010 and 2022 on the topics of disadvantage, early school leaving, lifelong guidance, games and board games in three databases. We focused on a review of skills in order to find out if board games can have a positive impact on the lifelong gidance of disadvantaged students.

Results: The correlations found in the researches show that disadvantaged students have atypical skills that make it difficult to plan for the future and often lead to early school leaving. Based on our study, its prevention can be achieved by a board game that develops lifelong guidance focusing on career knowledge and life situations of disadvantaged students.

Conclusions: A systematic analysis of the selected literatures can help us in the next steps of our research, to build a theoretical system for the board game and to develop a first prototype, which can be followed up with further steps to support young people with fewer opportunities in their own progress.

Keywords: disadvantage, lifelong guidance, future vision, boardgame