Teacher praised for playing Assassin's Creed in class to teach history lesson
A popular teacher who came up with a unique way of illustrating a famous ancient Greek battle for his students that is both engaging and immersive has been widely lauded for his method, despite it being based on a computer simulation game. The teacher in the United States posted a clip of himself playing Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey to a class of middle-school students so he could break down the battle and give his charges a better understanding of the tactics used.
The lesson deals with the battle of Thermopylae, a key point in the Grecco-Persian War of 480 BC which was given a Hollywood remake with Gerard Butler starring as King Leonidas, and his small group of fierce Spartans in the film 300. Social Studies teacher and TikTok sensation Mr Mahathey, who has shared many tween-friendly videos on his TikTok feed, was roundly praised by other users of the site who thought his method could well have made their own education far more interesting.
The video has been viewed more than two million times and in it, the students are shown a literal birds-eye vista of the battlefield as the popular educator explains where the Greek forces were stationed and how they planned to hold back Persian King Xerxes’ massive army. The Greek king wanted to lure in the superior force to a rocky and narrow pass of sulphur springs known as "hot gates" to reduce the advantage of the overwhelming numbers they faced.
The teacher garnered fulsome praise in the comments below his video, because he had used a method which would bring back to life the intricacies of the battle, with one person saying: "I would 100 percent pay way more attention if my teacher did this," while another said: "This is how teaching should be done."
Another person said: "Creating a teaching style that students can relate to, and engage with," a comment echoed by many more with one adding: "Using a game to make history more tangible to your class is brilliant and fun."
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And Mr Mahathey replied: "Gotta keep them engaged somehow!" Another TikToker commented that they would have loved history much more had it been approached with video games and excitement in school and the teacher wrote back: "History is just one big story – have to treat it like one!"
Others said that the games – which have spanned historical periods such as the Renaissance, Ottoman Empire, and both the American and French Revolutions, along with many more eras – helped them to understand the subject and therefore boost their grades. One said: "I remember I passed a history test about the Boston Tea Party in middle school after playing AC3."
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