Created Project Ethos (markdown)

Project-Ethos.md

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+**How to make the most of the skill trees project with ethical considerations and recommended ways of working.**
+
+The Skill Trees project is about using gamification to help you find your skill levels, identify skill gaps and inspire you to try new things.  Using aspects of gamification like points, badging, leaderboards and progress bars can help you set goals and upskill. With a distraction free, on paper experience, the original intention of this project is to give users a chance to reflect and meditate on their current selves and their journey ahead.  
+
+
+However, gamification can be used in ways that might incentivise short term growth but provide the wrong motivations for completion, negatively affecting growth journeys.  Addictive mechanics and dark gamification have no place within the skill trees project, and I’ve outlined some examples how to avoid this.  
+
+
+## **Intrinsic motivation, not extrinsic motivation**
+Instead of: 
+“If you aren’t top 10 in the class leaderboard, you won’t make it onto the robotics team”
+Say something like: 
+“I see that you’re x points ahead of where you were last year, great work!”
+Or: 
+“I didn’t realise you’d done so much electronics, can we do a skill swap?”
+
+Instead of: 
+“You must complete five tiles by the end of the week”
+Say something like: 
+“Pick a skill and tile to start and work through at your own pace”
+
+Leaderboard mechanics should not be used to inspire toxic competition, but instead allow you to enjoy the social aspects of upskilling, including skill swaps and helping others grow their skills. 
+Everyone works at their own pace, and it’s important in the learning process to not ‘skim the surface’ all the time but get a chance to ‘deep dive’ for topics and projects that truly resonate with us.  Forcing time limits or offering large rewards on completion encourages abuse of the self grading system, and might encourage early completion of the failure related tiles, incentivising breaking parts or setting up machines to fail.  The idea of ‘speedrunning’ real life skills is a funny concept but not to be encouraged or incentivised.  Quality of work over quantity of work, and journey over destination.  
+
+## **Choice of flexibility, not rigidity**
+Instead of: 
+“You must build this specific object to complete this tile” 
+Say something like:
+“Choose a tile to work on and make something that you’re excited to create”
+
+
+Lack of choice and agency can kill motivation and make participants lose interest.  Bringing your own creativity and ideas is a richer experience and allows more collective learning when working with others.  Sometimes this is not possible in classroom settings, but it’s worth reviewing the activity and introducing more freedom where possible.  Consider giving students a problem or challenge rather than directions to the solution.  When it comes to grading time, consider using student portfolios rather than graded tests.
+
+## **Further Reading and Resources**
+
+The Learning Game, by Ana Lorena Fabrega
+
+Collateral Damage: How High-Stakes Testing Corrupts America’s Schools, by Sharon L Nichols and David C Berliner
+
+A Mathematician’s Lament, by Paul Lockhart
+
+A Pedagogy of Play: Supporting playful learning in classrooms and schools, by Ben Mardell, Jen Ryan, Mara Krechevsky, Megina Baker, Savannah Schulz and Yvonne Liu Constant
+
+A Project of One’s Own - Paul Graham
+
+Weird Ideas that Work - Robert Sutton
+
+The Puzzle of Motivation TED Talk - Dan Pink
+
+How Thinking Works TED Talk - Dr. Derek Cabrera