Citizenship
These activities are good for doing group work with young people.
With whom would you like to share a house?
David inherits the house of his
family and lives a single and satisfied life, until one day David
loses his job. David is no longer able to afford the live in the
big house by himself. With his last money he decides to split the
house into 6 apartments and puts them up "for rent" in
the newspaper."
Now, imagine you are David and that you have to choose five
tenants from the list of people applying to your ad, in order to be
able to keep the house.
a) Individually, you select with whom would you prefer to share the same house by rating the 14 possibilities from 1 (best choice) to 14 (never!). 15 minutes
b ) In groups of 4, you exchange your three best and three worst choices, and discuss the reasons which led to your choice or refusal. 30 minutes
c) In plenary, we debrief and exchange on the exercise. 30 minutes.
- A single mother with a 3 year-old child whose father is Tunisian. He visits his son occasionally and sometimes brings along a few friends.
- An ex-Yugoslavian refugee family with 5 children aged between 1 and 12.
- A family with a 17 year-old daughter attending secondary school. Father is an accountant in a bank, mother is a teacher.
- A single 70 year-old lady living on minimal retirement pension.
- A group of 4 Romanian migrants all working in a restaurant.
- A group of 5 young people living an alternative life-style rejecting the materialistic ideology of consumption.
- Three Palestinian students who are politically engaged.
- A Gypsy family of 5 persons. Father works occasionally and is unemployed in between times. They are part of a larger family which has strong ties and likes to hold festivities.
- An American couple without children. Husband is working at the American embassy; wife is taking care of the household and 3 dogs.
- Two African artists, approximately 40 years old who live a rather bohemian and unconventional life-style and have many artist friends.
- A girl studying piano who has to practice regularly in the afternoons.
- A religious Muslim family with 5 children.
- A family of African refugees, husband, wife and 2 cousins. Only two of them seem to have a job.
-
A group of 3 young students
whose main passions are rap music and videos.
The good ones and the bad ones
Approximate total time: 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Aims: To make the participants identify and analyze the causes of discrimination and social exclusion of people or groups who are "different" by their culture, origin, etc.
Materials needed: Flip-chart paper and markers, tape, pens and paper.
Running:
1. Participants are split in two groups. One of them must elaborate the "portrait" of a "social winner" in our society. The other group will make a portrait of a "social looser" in our society.
2. For this, each group will start by listing characteristics, trying to tackle as many of them as possible:
- Social and
economical level;
- Education;
- "Race";
- Profession /
Occupation;
- Habits/customs;
- Hobbies, free-time
occupations;
- Opinions, ideas,
values;
- Family profile;
- Housing;
- Consumer habits;
- Interests, themes or fields of
interest; etc.
3. Each group will then represent these characteristics in a flip-chart or large board in a visual / graphic manner by drawing a person with the characteristics or symbols that reflect them.
Each group will have approximately 40 minutes for this.
4. After this, the groups will display their drawings and present their conclusions by listing the characteristics they selected, the way they represented them in the drawing, and why they did it.
5. The facilitator will then invite participants to carefully observe both "portraits" and compare them, trying to identify the criteria through which our society puts a value on social "success" or "failure".
In order to facilitate the reflection and dialogue, some questions can be addressed, such as:
· What are the essential,
fundamental, characteristics of social "success"? And of
social "failure"?
· What are the causes, the roots, of success and
failure, which factors make the difference?
· In which sectors or social groups around us,
reflect better the portraits elaborated by the groups?
· Are all the groups and communities around us in an
equal footing to achieve "success"? Which are the best
and which are the worst placed?
At least 40 minutes for the plenary presentation and discussion..
Contents and themes to be dealt with:
The identification of social success with economic success: the "winner" is not the one who reaches a greater level of personal development, knowledge, etc., but the one who becomes wealthier.
The social and economical factors raise or decrease the chances for "social success": poor access to education, marginalisation through "accessory", elements such as the colour of skin, make it so that some groups are from the start in a more disadvantaged situation than others.
Letter from an Arab/Black/Gypsy/Southerner/ person
Aims : To make the participants reflect about:
· Their own
attitudes and behaviour towards the differences of minority groups;
· the attitudes and behaviour of the majority towards
difference;
· the possibilities of relations between people from
a different culture, origin
Material: Copies of the unfinished letter (see below), pens and paper; if possible overhead projector to show the letters written by each group.
Running: Approximate time needed: 2 hours.
During ten minutes , the participants complete, individually, the "uncompleted" text that is presented below; it is an imaginary letter addressed to them by person from another culture/society. By completing the sentences, the participants must express what they, as members of a majority in society, believe this "different" person would tell them.
In groups of 6 to 8 people, the participants compare their answers and, by consensus, elaborate a single letter which reflects - according to the general opinion - the most common attitudes in our society towards people from another culture or origin.
They will have approximately 40 minutes for this..
This will be followed by bringing together the results of the groups. The facilitator will take note of the conclusions to make a final synthesis by drawing the attention to the most noticeable commonalities and differences.
To finish, the facilitator will launch a debate putting forward questions such as:
· Do we see
each other as equals, superior or inferior to the people from other
cultures/societies?
· How would we like to be treated if we were in a
situation in which we would be the "difference"?
· Do we know at all the values, customs, meaning of
the world and life, etc, of people from other cultures? If yes, how
have we learned it? In school, through TV, movies?...
· Do we consider that those values, customs, meaning
of life and the world, could teach us something, bring us something
positive, or, on the contrary, do we believe they have no interest
or anything positive for us?
The synthesis of the group work and of the discussion might take 45 - 60 minutes.
Letter to someone of the majority
Dear White/European/National:
When
we cross each other in the street you look at me and you think . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
and I have also the feeling that,
in relation with my needs, my problems and my areas of interest you
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Of me, my feelings and my way of
thinking what you know is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
You think you are . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
of/from/than me and, so, you may/can . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . with/for/from/of me.
Perhaps you have never imagined
that you could be, like I am, a foreigner, someone different in a
world where the rest of the people have a different colour, speak
another language, have other ways of life. If you were, what you
would wish, like I do now, is that . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . , and that your values, your knowledge, your capacities
would be . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ; and
then you would feel, like I do now, that you had the right to . . .
. . . .
That, what you would wish for
yourself, is what I expect from you now.
You will not be surprised that/if
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . my best
wishes.
Someone
different
Contents / themes to be dealt with:
· The
disinterest and ignorance for/of other cultures , ways of life,
values, etc, is a general reality in our societies;
· Ethnocentrism, usually we tend to judge cultures
and societies that we do not know by using the schemes and criteria
prevailing in our own society, without taking into account that
each culture is a product of a particular reality;
· Ignorance, combined with an ethnocentric vision,
are the root for many prejudices and stereotypes about other
cultures;
· Prejudice are often translated through scorn,
discrimination, injustice and exploitation, etc, which constitute
some of the social responses to the difference;
· Difference is a positive and enriching factor for
our society. The relationship and interaction with people from
other cultures/societies is a means of opening up our minds to
other ways of understanding life and the world;
· Difference is a factor for social change and
evolution. Society gets better and changes as a result of the
contrasts of the different visions and ideas about life and the
world. An uniform society is a reactionary society.
OUTSIDERS
Aim: An interactive exercise exploring the effects of exclusive grouping on an individual, exploring how we react to experiences of rejection and looking at what it feels like to belong to a group.
Group size: Minimum of 12
Duration: 10 minutes
Step-by-step
description:
1.Ask a volunteer to leave the room.
The remainder of the group divide themselves into groups according
to some agreed criterion – for example, hairstyle, eye
colour, type of clothing, height or accent. (3 minutes)
2. The outsider is called in and
guesses which group they belong to. They must state why they
believe that group is their group. If the reason is wrong they may
not join, even when they have picked the correct group. (4
minutes)
3. Continue with a new volunteer,
giving as many participants as possible an opportunity to go
outside, subject to time.
Reflection and
evaluation:
How do we behave when we do belong to a
group? Is it easy to reject outsiders? Is it enjoyable? Do we
empathise with the outsider or do we enjoy our power? (3
minutes)
Comments:
This exercise focuses on feelings and
experiences or being rejected rather than communication. It can be
used to focus a discussion about prejudice and how we react to
belonging or not belonging. It could be developed into a study of
personal experiences.
GROUP DECISION MAKING
Part A
Due to a plane crash there are 7 people stranded on an uninhabited desert island. There is no way on or off except by plane.
The group of
people comprise:
- A pregnant woman
- A doctor
- A British scientist
- A teenage girl
- Elderly diabetic man
- A Catholic priest
- Prime-minister
One person can be rescued. Individually decide who it is should leave and then as a group reach a consensus. Part A doesn't finish until the group are in agreement.
Part B
New information comes to light. This is as follows:
- A pregnant woman, 48, black, single parent with 4 children
- A doctor, 32, working on the AIDS vaccine
- A British scientist, 56, germ warfare specialist
- A teenage girl, 17, suspicions around death of baby -
wanted for questioning
- Elderly diabetic man, 72, associated with Nazi war crimes
- A Catholic priest, 54, record of indecent child assault
- Prime-minister of the uk, 47, terminally ill with
cancer
Exercise
- If you had the
information would you present it to the people on the island? -
discuss.
- If the information was presented to the group what would
the outcome be? Would it change the decision?
RIGHTS: Children/Other’s
Aim of the session: improved awareness around young people’s rights and those of others.
Resources: The
list of various laws applied in England, Wales, Northern Ireland
and Scotland.
Flip chart and pens
Group size 2 - 15
Space limited or where the larger group can break of into twos/threes.
- Begin session with a quiz e.g. 'what age can I?'
- Look at the UN charter for rights of a child
- What are their rights e.g. entitled to food, shelter, and
education.
- Who has responsibilities for who?
- In groups or as a whole devise a time line 0-19(21)
- Work out where
rights and responsibilities change through their life.
- (Feedback to the group)
- Devise as a group own charter of what they'd like to see in it followed by relating it to the group contract.
- This session can last as long as 2 sessions. Don't be tempted to rush it but it could just be one session.
- Issues raised can include behaviour and they may want a right to behave as they like e.g. swearing, bullying etc however how does that impact on the other individuals within the group and their rights.