TASKs for democracy

Step 2 (pair work – 35 minutes)
1. Ask the group to gather in pairs of their choice or form pairs randomly by distributing the halves of
postcards to each participant who will then have to find their “other half”.
2. Each pair receives their task description. You can also read the task aloud to the whole group.
“Write a new, analogical poem, based on Jacques Prévert’s poem ‘To paint the portrait of a bird’. The title
of this new poem will be
To paint the portrait of a human
Your poem will describe what humans need ‘to live and to have a good life’. Try to follow the structure
and the main theme of the original poem.”
3. Have each pair pick a card from the choice of cards you present (see sample cards in Task sheet 3). Tell pairs to
keep their card a secret. Explain that pairs now have to write the poem as “representatives” of the group on
the card; their poem should be about what the needs of this group are in order “to live and have a good life”.
4. The pairs need to look for a quiet corner and have about 20 minutes to write their poems.
Step 3 (plenary – 30 minutes)
1. Ask pairs to come back to the circle and read out the new poems. Pairs should agree on how they share
the reading of the poem so that they both get to recite a few lines/verses.
2. Analyse each poem, trying to find what they convey on the main theme: what do humans need to live
and to live a good life? Write the ideas on posters as the discussion takes place.
3. Compare the ideas on the posters: do certain needs appear on every poster? Are there basic needs that
concern all human beings regardless of their social status?
Step 4 (debriefing – 15 minutes)
Moderate a discussion to help the group draw conclusions from the activity. You can use the following questions.
Do all people need the same basic things, or do their needs differ according to their position in society?
If all people need the same basic things, why it is so difficult to understand each other?
If we know we need the same basic things, why do conflicts among people still exist? Because of a
lack of what everybody needs? For other reasons?
Do you agree that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is based on the basic needs each of us
have? Could you give an example?
Step 5 (evaluation – 15 minutes)
Moderate a group discussion or have participants give their evaluation in writing based on the following
questions.
What did you learn from this activity?
What other questions/issues are raised by this activity?
Could you use this activity in your classroom?
What are the implications for your teaching?
What may be some of the challenges or anticipated difficulties if you want to use this activity with
your classes?
How might you follow up this work in your teaching?
PLANNING
Preparation
Arrange tables and chairs so that the pairs do not disturb each other in the creative writing process.
TASKs for democracy Page 132