Groups Teach

From Peacebuilding

Content Processing Activity: Groups Teach

Contents 1 Aims: 2 Time: 3 Materials: 4 Procedure: 5 Note:

Aims:

• To process the content in a participatory way

• To enable participants to personalise the content introduced

Time:

At least 30 minutes, depending on the number of participants and groups, and the complexity of the content being introduced

Materials:

• Visual aids illustrating the specific content being processed (these can be flip charts, PowerPoint presentations, overhead slides or handouts)

• Flip charts and markers

Procedure:

I) Before the workshop, divide the content you are planning to introduce into two or more sections. Prepare a visual aid on each section.

II) Divide the plenary into two or more groups (depending on the number of sections you’ve divided the content into). Explain that you’re going to introduce new content, which has been divided into sections, and that each group will work on a separate section.

Note: There are several ways to do this. One option, when there is more than one facilitator, is for each one to present a section of the content to one group. When this is not possible, you can send out handouts with sections of the content before the workshop and have volunteer participants present the content in each group. Alternatively, you can distribute a handout on a specific content section to each group and allow time for them to study and discuss it.

Example: You are introducing Gene Sharp’s theory of power (Sharp, Gene, The Politics of Nonviolent Action – Part One: Power and Struggle, Boston: Porter Sargent, 2000 [1973]).

You decide to divide the content into four sections:

1.) The basic nature of political power;

2.) Social roots of political power;

3.) Why people obey; and

4.) The role of consent.

You divide the plenary into four groups and have each group working on one section.

III) Start group work. Have each group working on a specific section of the content. Allow sufficient time.

IV) Stop group work.

Ask participants to form pairs with one member from each of the groups (or groups of three, or groups of four, etc. depending on the working groups you’ve created at step II of the procedure).

Example: After groups have worked on different parts of Sharp’s theory of power, have each member from each group form a team with one member from each of the other groups. As you divided the content into four parts, and consequently the participants were divided into four working groups, you’ll now have several teams with four members. Each person in these new groups of four will have worked on a different section of the content.

V) Ask the members of the newly formed groups to share their knowledge. The groups’ task is to put together the entire content. Assign sufficient time.

VI) Ask each team to develop a real life example that illustrates the content introduced.

Note:

Alternatives to this procedure include:

• You can skip step VI and only have teams working on putting together the content.

• You can have each team presenting the example it developed (step VI of the procedure) to the plenary, and then encourage a discussion on this.

• After teams have shared and put together the entire content (step V), you can ask them to prepare a list of questions and use it to generate discussion in the plenary.