Urban Education Esports for Equity and Access: A Case Study

Including Games And Esports Into Urban Classrooms

After school activities that involve video games is not a new concept, many teachers have been successful in running extracurricular activities that engage students, increase digital literacy tools, and allow for social interactions (Steinkuehler & King 2009). The research recently also shows that using gaming and esports can help students develop critical communication skills while in an afterschool program (Neilson & Hanghøj 2019; Rothwell & Shaffer 2019). As much as this is important for schools in suburban and rural areas, it is just as important for schools in urban areas to get involved. In “The Esports Education Playbook: Empowering Every Learner Through Inclusive Gaming” Bradford Harris, lead trainer for digital learning at Aldine Independent School District in Houston, states, “I am really big on making sure I expose as many black and brown children to esports as possible because it’s not being seen. That is the reason I jumped into it. So, every time I go somewhere, I start asking the hard questions” (Aviles, Isaacs, Lion-Bailey & Lubinsky, p.3, 2021; Gray 2020).