Where do I stand?
Written by Pascale Mompoint-Gaillard
In 2019 we received fabulous feedback about the Cards for Democracy.
They have been used in many training events, conferences as well as in various teaching contexts. Business coaches also took interest because the cards offer great potential for workplace learning and lifelong and lifewide education.
This is why, in 2020, we started a community of practice around the cards and we will be sharing activities and engaging with our members’ activities designed to be based on the cards.
The activity we present here today was developed by Andriy Donets (Ukraine) and Pascale Mompoint-Gaillard (France) in 2019 and was tried and tested in Tbilisi with a group of teachers and teacher educators from Georgia, Moldova and the Ukraine.
This activity is meant for a lesson or session at the start of the year but it may be adapted for other purposes and contexts. It aims to help individuals focus on improvement by reflecting on the following questions:
Because it is based on improvement, the activity can also serve as a first step in an action research cycle.
The first activity is for any type of player/participant. After the game, the debriefing questions are tailored to specific learners.
Have one or more packs of Cards for Democracy for All ready. Make sure you have enough space for players/participants to roam around and speak to each other.
The game takes 25 minutes. Debriefing is 20 minutes.
Step 1
Each player/participant gets 5 cards. The goal of the game is to trade cards with other players in order to have what we think is our ‘best hand’. You can give the following instruction:
‘Focus on the ‘future you’. What do you need to improve? In your hand, you have 5 cards describing behaviours. Now you have 10 minutes to trade cards with others until you feel that you have a good hand, the set of components you need to help you to develop into this future you” .
Let the participants play for 10 minutes or until everyone thinks they have their ‘best possible hand’.
Step 2
Have participants individually choose (and note for future reference) 3 cards that they wish to keep in mind as ‘elements that they wish to improve in the year (or months, weeks) to come’. (5 minutes)
Step 3
Gather participants in groups of 3. Have them identify 2 actions they will take to improve on each of the elements they have chosen. Each participant should have 6 actions noted (2 for each card/element they have chosen). (10 minutes)
I plan to approach three people in my entourage that I do not usually engage with because we have different opinions and styles, in order to have a conversation with them where I will be open to listening.
I will find someone who speaks a different language than I and do my best to engage in a discussion to understand something about this person’s unique history and how this history influences their worldview.
Engage the whole group in a conversation. You may use the questions provided below.
Suggested questions for different types of learners:
For All
For Teachers/Trainees
For Trainers
To end, talk about the association Learn to Change, about the cards and how to get them Cards for Democracy for All (CC-free for all). Note: if you are working in a teacher education context, you may use the Cards for Democracy – Teachers’ Edition for the activity.
Tell participants to keep their 3 components and 6 actions for improvement and encourage them to plan to engage in these actions in the coming weeks/months. Plan a date to get together with your learners and assess their progress. You may find inspiration for how to do this here: My Journey: Student Teachers’ Self-Assessment with Cards for Democracy.
In this article we answer some questions regarding the decision to transform Learn to Change from an association to a collective.
In this article, we talk about what we mean by Collective – the new form chosen by L2C – and how you can join it.
Learn to Change’s members held a General Assembly in fall 2022, in which the decision was taken to transform the association into a less formal, and more agile entity. Therefore, we will change status, going from an ‘organization’ to a less formal entity that we name “The collective”
If you feel you are committed to the vision and mission of the association, then your place is here.
We are sure that becoming a member will benefit you in many ways. Read the product description for more details or click sign up now.