Communication breakdown

Aim:Define and commit to common rules for a training event to guarantee a maximum level of participation in the group.

Material:Paper, pens and space

Duration: 30 Minutes

1. In small working groups the participants collect 10 actions/behaviours they judge most contributory to a communication breakdown and visualize them on a sheet.
2. From these possibilities they select the 3 best' ones in a ranking order. The best one should be represented in a living statue (body sculpture) for presentation in plenary, yet it should not be named.
(20-30 minutes)
3. Every group reports on it results and presents the human sculpture. The other participants have to interpret it.
4. From this pool of destructive behaviours, participants and trainers can create a set of rules for group
communication and discuss individual commitment to them.
5. Some other issues for discussion in this manner could be:
Mutual respect
Smoking and non-smoking
Alcohol and closing time of the bar'.
Noise levels in the evening
Absence from the training

(Tkit "Training essentials" , p.84, CoE/EC 2002)

(http://www.salto-youth.net )

Smartie arm wrestling!

Group size: 2 - 10

Resources: Packets of Smarties

Aim: Understanding about co-operation v's competition.

Divide the group into pairs and explain they need to win as many smarties as possible in 1 minute. They win a smartie each time they win an arm wrestle.
Bring the group back together to establish who won the most.
Have a discussion around how people could win more.
Set the task again and see if there is an improvement.
Get them to a stage where if they let each other win so they can win significantly more smarties!