Leadership
LEAD & PLAY – Leadership, Teamwork & Social-Emotional Skills through Cooperative Games
6 days
Leadership and teamwork are among the most consistently valued — and least systematically developed — competencies in European schools. Cooperative board games offer a unique training ground: they demand communication, shared decision-making, conflict resolution and collective problem-solving in a safe and engaging context.
LEAD & PLAY gives teachers a complete framework for using cooperative games to develop leadership and SEL competencies in their students. Participants play, analyse and design cooperative game experiences, and leave with a structured programme they can implement from the first week back in school.
Learning Outcomes
Participants to the course will learn to:
Use cooperative board games to develop student leadership, communication and collaborative decision-making
Apply social-emotional learning (SEL) frameworks through structured cooperative play experiences
Design game-based leadership development programmes for primary and secondary classrooms
Facilitate group debrief and reflection sessions that maximise learning transfer from game to life
Use cooperative games to develop conflict resolution, empathy and active listening skills
Lead a school leadership and SEL professional development session using cooperative games
Programme
LEAD & PLAY – Leadership, Teamwork & Social-Emotional Skills through Cooperative Games
Monday | Cooperative Games — The Science of Playing Together
Welcome through cooperative play: participants experience the course methodology first-hand.
The research on cooperative games: SEL, leadership and team development outcomes.
Overview of cooperative game mechanics: communication, shared resources, co-decision and role specialisation.
Workshop: play and analyse three landmark cooperative games.
Tuesday | Leadership Through Play
Leadership models in game contexts: emergent, distributed and facilitative leadership.
Workshop: cooperative games that specifically develop leadership awareness and skills.
Debrief methodology: structured reflection questions that extract learning from game experiences.
Participants design a leadership-focused game debrief protocol.
Wednesday | SEL Competencies Through Cooperative Games
CASEL SEL framework: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision-making.
Mapping cooperative game mechanics to specific SEL competencies.
Workshop: designing a cooperative game sequence targeting specific SEL goals.
Conflict resolution and empathy: game structures that develop emotional intelligence.
Thursday | Programme Design and School Leadership Toolkit
Building a school cooperative games programme: scope, sequence and integration.
Workshop: participants design a six-week cooperative games leadership programme.
Student leadership through games: student-led sessions, peer facilitation and game clubs.
Action planning and peer feedback: finalising your LEAD & PLAY classroom programme.
Friday | Field Experience & Final Workshop
Cultural visit to selected Braga or Porto landmark relevant to the week's theme.
Final hands-on workshop: design and present your classroom action plan.
Group showcase: share the games, tools or activities created during the week.
Saturday | Certificate Ceremony & Closing
Presentation of each participant's final project or classroom toolkit.
Peer feedback and recognition of contributions.
Certificate presentation ceremony.
Group photograph and informal closing celebration.
Materials, digital tools & other learning resources
Course participants will receive training and engage in exercises designed to develop their skills as trainers. The provision of additional materials or resources will be determined based on the course structure and the instructor’s approach to meeting the learning objectives
Course package content:
Services and activities included in the course package are those described above. Please note that accommodation, transport, and meals are not provided.
Cancellation & changes:
Common sense prevails when it comes to cancellations, which are analyzed on a case-by-case basis.