PRIVILEGE-OPOLY

The game where who you are

makes all the difference
About Privilege-opoly

Privilege-opoly is a board-game based educational resource

developed to teach students about identity politics and the
concept of privilege. As identity privilege will significantly
shape the lives and experiences of our students, it is
absolutely vital to raise a critical consciousness about the
ways in which certain groups are advantaged and others are
disadvantaged by institutional and structural systems of
inequality. This is the aim of privilege-opoly – to make the
invisible concept of privilege visible in the classroom.
3Gameplay overview
In this board game, students attempt to reach four life
achievements by gaining a specific amount of game
currency, called capital coins. Players can gain capital coins
through luck (such as landing on a ‘collect 2 capital coins’
space), and through skill (by answering questions about
diversity issues to earn capital coins). However, privilege also
plays an important part of the game, as some spaces allocate
capital coin advantages to players based on the ‘identity’
they are allocated within the game, while other players will
be denied these advantages.
4Theoretical framework
Our game is influenced by Bourdieu’s (1986, 1989) theory of
capital. Capital refers to the qualities and resources which
are valued in the dominant society, which create self-
perpetuating advantages for particular individuals (also
known as ‘privileges’).
While Bourdieu’s theory outlines economic, social, cultural,
and symbolic capital, we have presented a simplified version
of this theory, using ‘capital coins’ as the currency of
Privilege-opoly.

Inventory
 Privilege-opoly board  Identity cards
 Dice  Situation cards
 Player pieces (10)  Knowledge cards
 Life achievement tokens (16)  Diversity fact
 Capital coins and container cards

Setup
1. The identity, situation, knowledge, and diversity fact
cards are placed on the board, face down, and the
capital coin container is placed in the centre.
2. Each player selects a player piece, and places it on
the start space.
3. Each player is randomly allocated an identity card
from the pile.
5How to Play
Once everyone has an identity card, the players roll a dice,
and move the amount of spaces shown. Different spaces
require students to complete different tasks, as outlined
below:
Diversity fact space – player draws a diversity fact card and
reads it to the group. These facts can help students answer
knowledge questions later in the game.
Knowledge space – player to their left draws a knowledge
card, and asks them a multiple-choice diversity fact question.
If the player answers correctly, they are rewarded with
capital coins. This promotes student engagement with
diversity issues.
Situation space – player draws a situation card and reads it
to the group. The student’s identity card determines
whether they will be rewarded with capital coins, or
disadvantaged by having to give up capital coins. This
reflects the way that privilege advantages some players over
others, thereby reflecting the ways that privilege can have
material impacts in real life.
Life achievement space – if the player has the right amount
of capital coins, they can cash them in for a life achievement,
represented by a coloured token. There is no penalty if
students do not have enough coins, or choose not to pay.
The game ends after one student meets all 4 life
achievements, or after a time limit, when the student with
the most life achievements and capital coins wins.
6Are there other ways to play?
In an alternate version of the game, students draw a new
identity card every time they land on a situation space. This
allows students to identify with and experience the
privileges and disadvantages of a number of different
identities.
Pedagogical framework
The game facilitates both collaborative learning, and
experiential learning through role play (Adams, 2015).
Privilege-opoly also reflects Freire’s (1970) critical pedagogy,
which facilitates learning through the meaningful critical
analysis of privilege-based experiences, challenging students’
preconceptions to provide a transformational educational
experience.
Adaption to KLAs
Privilege-opoly is unique in that it is highly transferable
across KLAs due to the included adaptable lesson plan, which
allows teachers to shape the game to reflect the content of
their own subject. Beyond the obvious links to power and
privilege in Society and Culture, Privilege-opoly would be
particularly relevant in English, as the syllabus often explores
texts which detail the politics and representation of identity.
Moreover, the engagement with social and historical
inequalities, evidenced through the studies and statistics
included in the gameplay, relates directly to the History
curriculum.
 7Educational rationale
While novel experience of game-playing cannot capture the
deeply-ingrained realities of systemic, institutional, and
structural inequality in a truly authentic way, Privilege-opoly
is an excellent way to facilitate critical reflection on the issues
of power and privilege. It provides an enjoyable, engaging
learning experience, in which students co-construct
knowledge, and makes the invisible concept of privilege
visible within the classroom (Mills & Keddie, 2012).
We know that understanding systems of power and privilege
is vital in nurturing socially conscious students, and it
empowers them to enact their global citizenship and
challenge inequalities in their own lives.

So, what are you waiting for? Help your students to

transform their knowledge of social inequalities with
Privilege-opoly
The game where who you are makes all the difference.
 8About the creators
The creators of Privilege-opoly are first year Master of
Teaching (Secondary) students at Western Sydney University.
They have a passion for education, social justice, and fun, and
they strive to create engaging and empowering resources to
use in their own classrooms and beyond.

Ashlea Dale My Y Lay Nguyen

Hajar Noufl Stuart Holt