Remco

• Suggested duration: Two weeks, for one hour a day
• Technique used: research, report, debate, discussion, action; done by students inside a school Materials required ICT gear to make notes (iPads or similar), to observe (pictures, movies) and to report (beamer) If needed: materials to make posters and/or displays
• Aim of activity: Raise awareness of students behaviour and improve this
• Underpinning components: All that are mentioned above
• Connection with other competences: Attentiveness; Creativity

Short description

Students do research on waste behaviour of students in the school restaurant. The report visually (pictures, short movies etc.). They discuss actions to be undertaken to change the attitude of their fellow students in a polite, respectful way, taking into consideration the PPP. This might be discussions during lunch time, inviting signposts etc. They choose action strategies and do them. After a period of time they repeat the research to detect improvements.

• Suggested duration: One or two hours a week for six weeks (more if available – including out of school hours)
• Technique used: A student led project designed to build their knowledge, skills, motivation and self-confidence in relation to a local issue.
• Materials required: A local community issue – identified by the students
• Aim of activity: To introduce the concept of ‘new value’ and see how innovation can bring social, environmental and economic benefits.
• Underpinning components: UC11.1.a; UC11.1.b; UC11.1.c; UC11.2; UC11.3
• Connection with other competences: Creativity; Futures; Criticality; Attentiveness; Participation

Short description

Building on the ‘Talking the Walk’ activity under Innovation – give the students time to develop their ideas into practical projects for resolving an issue (or adding new value) in their locality. Students follow the IVAC steps:

• Investigation: look at the what, where, when, how, who questions – and most importantly, why?
• Vision: How might this situation be improved/solved/resolved?
• Action: Engage with others people/organisations as necessary to put your ideas into action
• Change: Reflect on what has been achieved. What has actually changed? This can be physical change or a change within the students and/or others.

• Suggested duration: 30 minutes
• Technique used: Group activity and feedback
• Materials required: Pen & paper or similar
• Aim of activity: To start the process of an IVAC approach
• Underpinning components: UC11.1.a; UC11.1.b; UC11.1.c; UC11.3
• Connection with other competences: Creativity

Short description

• Small groups
• Brainstorm locations nearby and choose one
• Visit it and investigate it, envision possibilities for change
• Explore the implications for change and how one might start trying to create this change
• Whole group
• Share ideas
• Reflect on the approach – could it actually lead to change? Implications?

• Suggested duration: 15 mins
• Technique used: Mini lecture
• Materials required: Slides or handout
• Aim of activity: To provide a brief overview to the background of and principles behind, action comptence
• Underpinning components: UC11.1.c
• Connection with other competences: Creativity; Participation; Futures

Short description

Where Action comes from

• Aims
• IVAC approach (Investigation – Vision – Action – Change)
• The two criteria for an ‘action’ (student led; to effect a change)
• Examples

• Suggested duration: 25 mins
• Technique used: Simulation
• Materials required: Handout (see below)
• Aim of activity: To encourage students to think about their values
• Underpinning components: UC 3.3
• Connection with other competences: Values; Decisiveness

Short description

Individuals read the handout and decide on a charity. They are paired with someone who chose a different charity and have to agree on ONE charity between them. They then join another pair who chose a different charity to them and try to agree on ONE charity to support. 

In plenary discuss whether this was easy or not. What made it difficult? 

We are driven by our values – sometimes even positive values conflict with each other. 

Handout used in UK setting: Considering Your Values

Your school has a reputation for making small donations to a variety of good causes so when an elderly neighbour of the school passed away, she left a donation of £4,000 to the school with the condition that half should go to the school and half should go to a charity in order to make an impact. 

The headteacher is aware that to make an impact, this sum should be paid to one charity.

All staff and pupils were invited to suggest their favourite ‘good cause’ and a number of suggestions were made. 

The Head finds it impossible to choose from the top four preferred charities so you have been asked to make a decision because you have no personal connection with any of the listed charities. 

The Head’s only guidance is that the school should be “seen in a good light among parents and the public” for making this donation.

Your task is to choose one charity from the list below and then rank the others in order of priority. Explain why the other charities were not selected.

1. The local animal rescue centre – their urgent need for more animal housing has been highlighted in the paper recently.
2. Oxfam – towards their recent, high profile appeal following a massive earthquake in Malawi.
3. The local hospice – caring for terminally ill patients with a reputation for its special care of cancer patients.
4. The NSPCC – for a specific campaign to help with the assessment, support and monitoring of children returning home from a period in care.

• Suggested duration: 15 mins
• Technique used: Group discussion
• Materials required: Representation of different values
• Aim of activity: To encourage students to consider how values can underpin/influence a system/approach
• Underpinning components: UC 10.2a; UC 10.2b; UC 10.3
• Connection with other competences: Transdiciplinarity; Empathy

Short description

• Group activity: Reflect on the power flow as it currently exists in the education system and consider what values it seems to represent
• Group activity: Consider alternative power sharing approaches and discuss what values these would seem to represent.
• Plenary: Discuss Carl Rogers and Paolo Freire and their respective philosophies.

• Suggested duration: 15 mins
• Technique used: Reflection and group categorisation
• Materials required: Post it notes
• Aim of activity: To encourage students to reflect on times when power was shared and what this entails
• Underpinning components: UC 10.1; UC 10.2a; UC 10.2b; UC 10.3
• Connection with other competences: Responsibility

Short description

• Individually: Using post it notes, think of examples during your educational journey, as a learner or educator, of where you felt the power was shared more equitably
• Group activity: Share experiences and see if they can be grouped together in any way – do any have any characteristics in common?
• Plenary: Any observations? What did they perhaps have in common? Discuss the extent to which the evidence shows that effective power sharing is built on trust and positive relationships.

• Suggested duration: 15 mins
• Technique used: Group discussion
• Materials required: Flipchart paper and pens
• Aim of activity: To encourage students to think about flows and balance of power in systems
• Underpinning components: UC 10.1; UC 10.2a; UC 10.2b; UC 10.3
• Connection with other competences: Decisiveness; Responsibility; Empathy

Short description

• Stage 1: On your flipchart, construct a diagram that shows the flow of power between various stakeholders in education e.g. the education ministry, schools inspectors, governors, headteachers, teachers, pupils … (likely to be hierarchical)
• Share
• Stage 2: Reflecting on the balance of power, add to the diagram showing how the various stakeholders might feel about this e.g. frustrated, angry, voiceless, secure, fearful
• Share
• Stage 3: Consider the implications of this – what might it lead to? Show this on your diagram e.g. resistance, demotivation, rebellion
• Share
• Stage 4: Consider whether there any alternative approaches? e.g. power sharing. What might be the outcomes of the alternative?

• Technique used: Visualisation technique, i.e. clarification of causes and effects using cards (A4 divided into 3) to facilitate particpation in the discussion. 
• Materials required: Cards (A4 sheet cut into three) tape or similar to fix cards to wall
• Aim of activity: To build a group consensus of key probelms and possible actions required in which everyone in the group can participate.
• Underpinning components: UC 9.2; UC 9.3
• Connection with other competences: Decisiveness

Short description

Select a situation known to the group and decide on the core problem. What are the effects of this problem? What are the other problems which contribute to the core problem? (NB Avoid writing down a lack of solutions as problems, rather state the problem itself that needs to be solved, e.g. rather than writing “Lack of awareness on effects of dumping”, say, “Townspeople dump waste in street.”) Build up the ‘tree’ from the core problem in the middle with causes below and effects above:

Add more cards to extend the tree as the discussion develops. Draw a line around a certain part of the tree in order to define a manageable project.

Rules of engagement

• Participants write their own cards unless they are unable to write in which case take care to ensure that their ideas are being recorded faithfully
• Only one idea to be written on each card so ideas can be moved around
• Ask participants to write legibly
• Write a maximum of three lines per card so that it can be read easily
• Use key words that have been shared by the group
• The facilitator is not normally a stakeholder

This technique enables all stakeholders to participate in a sophisticated discussion of causes and effects.

NB To turn this into a hierarchy of project objectives, simply turn each card around and write a positive version of the ‘problem’ that was written there.

• Technique used: Role play
• Materials required: None
• Aim of activity: To encouage students to think about leadership styles
• Underpinning components: UC 9.4
• Connection with other competences: 

Short description

In groups, students are given the following activity or similar. You are the leader. Within your group, someone needs to be a wolf, be a rabbit, represent a cabbage. The other two are the boat. The task is to get the wolf, rabbit and cabbage to the other end of the room without them getting wet, but you can only take one thing in the boat at a time.

Note: if the wolf and the rabbit are together without you, the wolf will eat the rabbit. If the rabbit and the cabbage are together without you, the rabbit will eat the cabbage. Remember, only one thing can go in the boat at a time.

In plenary discuss ways that the leaders approached the task e.g. top down, or bottom up, collaboratively?