Abstract/Summary

Education in Kuwait does not appear to be evolving and developing to fulfil the needs of the 21st century. Kuwait’s low marks in international tests are an indicator of a problem that has to be addressed and resolved in its educational system. Therefore, whether students in Kuwait are being prepared with the necessary 21st century skills has become an increasing concern. Previous studies have assessed education in Kuwait and offered solutions for reform, but these have ended in failure. Due to the complexity of the problem, this research aimed to explore a more realistic and practical approach to spark change in education. The aim was to empower teachers with an effective teaching method that would enable them to develop a more engaging learning environment in their classrooms. Therefore, the research’s purpose was to explore the possibility of developing some of the key 21st century skills, specifically communication and leadership, through playing games. This research sought to answer the main question: “Do communication skills appear to develop through communication activities and, if yes, how?” This was an explanatory sequential mixed-methods study utilising mainly quantitative and some qualitative methods to explain the findings. The research took place in an after-school educational club in Kuwait. The participants underwent a programme that lasted three months. The sample was 15 eleven-year-old boys from Kuwait. The programme was designed to teach the participants communication and leadership skills through gameplay. Two questionnaires were completed by the participants, one at the beginning of the programme, and the other on completion. The post-programme questionnaire was followed with an interview. The questionnaires focused on communication and leadership skills. The quantitative data from the questionnaires were analysed using SPSS. The qualitative data from the questionnaire, and from video observations, were used to further explain the findings. The results were discussed and interpreted through the lens of the conceptual frameworks of Kolb’s experiential learning theory and Bandura’s self-efficacy theory. The results showed that the participants’ self-efficacy beliefs in most of the communication and leadership abilities mentioned in the questionnaires increased. They also showed that the participants gained knowledge about communication skills, which was the focus of this research. Furthermore, the study found that the participants were engaged and motivated due to the reward system that was associated with the games they played. The research findings demonstrate that gameplay is an effective method of engaging students and enabling them to develop important 21stcentury skills. This offers a potential solution to existing issues in Kuwait’s educational system. In a school or ASC setting, teachers and coaches can take the initiative to start creating an engaging class environment by using more games to incentive their students. This, hopefully, will motivate the students to become better learners.