TASKs for democracy

Step 2 (group work and plenary presentations – 30 minutes)
1. The participants are divided into micro-groups of four or five.
2. First, each group must share the following tasks: who will take notes and make a synthesis? Who will
present the results of the group discussion in an oral report? Who will be the group’s observer? Who can
be the timekeeper and the group’s leader? When this is decided, group leaders and observers receive
the appropriate task sheets.
3. Then each participant presents himself/herself to the group through his/her choice, explaining the
reasons for choosing the selected item. Everybody can ask questions about the choices made by each
member of the group.
4 The same groups prepare to present and analyse the choices made.
5. The micro-groups present to the whole group.
6. After the presentations, the group observers talk about the notes they have taken to the whole class.
Step 3 (debriefing – 20 minutes)
Finally, the whole group discusses the choices made by the micro-groups. The different contributions to the
discussion may reveal how the class can benefit from diversity as a resource.
Questions to guide the debriefing discussion
How could you make use of this activity in a variety of subjects or in an interdisciplinary fashion?
(Teachers could organise and develop the activity together with students in an interdisciplinary way,
integrating e.g. Civic Education, Languages, History, Visual Arts or Project Work.)
How and where would you organise this activity for your students? (Teachers need to manage and
organise a timetable to work as a team and provide practical arrangements to support the students’
work – different spaces and different resources will be needed, e.g. an auditorium, a language lab, a
library or a media centre.)
How would you evaluate the students’ development? (It will be important for teachers to consider
the activity of assessment as a way to improve quality. Provide evaluation grids and self and peerevaluation
guidelines and encourage the use of these for self and peer reflection in order to develop
both autonomous learning and collaborative work.)
PLANNING
Resources and equipment
Choose one of the options below
1. Objects lying in participants’ pockets, purses, suitcases, bags and so on
2. Images of diversity in today’s societies (age, gender, languages, styles, races, professions, etc.), such as
photos of people in busy streets in big cities, shops, advertising, excerpts from newspaper and magazine
articles, texts in different languages, poems, video clips and songs
3. Internet products: YouTube footage, e-mails, posts, blogs, videos, materials from social networks
Read and photocopy the task sheets.
Tips and potential difficulties
1. For this activity grouping is best done following a diversity pattern based on age, gender, place of birth
and other possible criteria.
2. Ensure that the task sheets go to the group leaders and that the observation and comments grid gets
to the observer in each group.
TASKs for democracy Page 82