Worldbuilding
Pre-built worlds are a great asset to implementing Needs and Nations. However, there are scenarios in which it would be better building the world for your class to learn in that is entirely unique. There are many benefits to tailor-fitting your world to your classes needs and your individual teaching style. However, incompletely formed nations or nations based too heavily on the real world can cause your students to base their decisions on the real world history of the nations that they are based on instead of using the core concepts of the course in a critical manner. Ultimately, the Needs and Nations framework is a form of collective storytelling. If your students are a step ahead of you in the story, the process starts to lose some of its educational merits. So if you would like to build your own unique world for your class, here are a few tips.
How Do I Build My Class Its Own World?
The process of building an entire fully-fleshed world from nothing can be a daunting task. However, once broken down, it becomes much simpler. Much of the world can be broken down into three distinct areas: society, geography, and history. For our example, we will aim to create a powerful neighboring country that would serve as a push towards western philosophy and values for our student nation. For the sake of this example, we will call it the Republic of Livia.
Society: when building the basics of a society, the focus should be on the organization and distribution of resources. It is usually best, to begin with the systems of power or wealth within a nation, and then develop the cultural focuses afterward.
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Geography: The next point of developing the environment is to understand the geography of the world. In general, national borders tend to follow suit with geographic borders (rivers, mountains, and bodies of water). In addition, the geography and climate change the manners by which our societies function. Shortages can affect everything from the trade policies, membership to multinational collectives, and even sparking international conflicts.
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History: The ongoing history of the nations involved is what creates a sense of reality in the world built for the activity. Once the geography and society have been built, the creation of a history becomes an easy process. One important thing to recall when building the history of the involved non-player nations is that simplicity is key. The amount required to make a nation believable and engaging is little. The time to convey the history of the nations that your student nation will have to is limited, so the bare essentials are key.
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