TASKs for democracy

Step 2 (Silent debate – group work – 40 minutes)
1. Each group meets with another group in a corner of the room and they start a silent debate, in line with
the following procedure (10 minutes).
2. The members of each group begin by indicating on a sheet of paper all their views about the opposing
group, both positive and negative, taking care to note what they believe to be the source of the conflicts
between them, their differences and their prejudices concerning that group (10 minutes).
3. The groups exchange papers. The members of each group indicate in red on the opposing group’s sheet
of paper all their comments and replies to what the other group wrote (10 minutes).
4. The sheets are placed on the tables. The participants then move between their group and the opposing
group, adding an idea, a reply, a question or a comment every time (10 minutes).
Step 3 (Dialogue – full group – 40 minutes)
1. Ask the participants to stop moving around and to sit down in a circle.
2. Chair a discussion on what they saw on the cards. From time to time, highlight key concepts (stereotypes,
prejudices, discrimination, exclusion, etc.) to make the participants more aware of the phenomenon of
intolerance and its causes. The document in Appendix 2 can help (15 minutes).
3. Ask a volunteer from each group to post an invitation on the wall to a dialogue in his corner. The invitation
will be open to all members of all groups. During the discussions, the participants in conflict will
have to engage in dialogue and devise together an action plan to improve the situation (15 minutes).
4. The members of each group will indicate on a sheet of paper of a different colour alongside their respective
sheets their action plans for resolving the conflict, and all the participants will be asked to move
around the room and briefly discuss the proposed action plans among the participants (5 minutes).
Step 4 (Debriefing – 15 minutes)
Lead a discussion on the following points.
What do you think of the method we have just used?
Is this type of approach easy to implement in the classroom with your pupils?
What are its advantages/disadvantages? (for example, does the silent debate give a clear picture of
the aspects of the conflict?)
Is there a risk of the exercise reinforcing stereotypes?
How should this question be addressed?
Step 5 (Assessment – individual work, pairs, full group – 60 minutes)
1. Ask the participants to choose one or more secretaries. The secretary must sit down at a table on which
there are four piles of closed envelopes.
Content of the envelopes:
a. Each envelope in the first pile contains a question which a participant has to answer.
b. The envelopes in the second pile contain photos of political and religious leaders or any other personalities
whose activities are related to the topics which the teacher wishes to address.
c. The envelopes in the third pile contain satirical cartoons.
d. The envelopes in the fourth and last pile contain cuttings from newspapers and magazines which
sharply criticise a given situation or a political or religious leader.
2. Ask each participant to go to the secretary and randomly choose an envelope from each pile (2 minutes).
3. The participants return to their places, open the envelopes and consider their contents. Ask the participants
to write their replies and reactions on cards: they should stick the document chosen on the cards
and write their reactions next to it (15 minutes).
a. Reply to the question in the envelope chosen.
TASKs for democracy Page 266