SCENARIO 7
Personal development and personal learning goals
A 60-card deck to reflect on our interior condition for democratic culture.
Learning to show up in the world of education with democratic values in mind
Content
- Introduction to Scenario 7
- Activity Example
- Aim
- Expected Outcome
- Preparation
- Procedure
How you show up in the world matters. This is why Cards for Democracy are an important tool today. They help us develop our interior condition to support democratic environment in our life and work.
Ready to use the Cards for Democracy? We offer some suggestions for you in the form of loose frameworks in which you can develop your creativity, as an educator, facilitator, or trainer.
These frameworks – we call them “Scenarios” – are intended to help you find inspiration to create your own activities.
L2C will share activities for download regularly in the C4D community of practice: Cards for Democracy Facebook group and on its media pages.
For an Introduction to the Cards for Democracy click here.
Scenario 7: Personal development and personal learning goals
Trainers and teachers can use Cards for Democracy with learners to build a longitudinal documentation of learning progressions, through portfolios for example.
Teachers learning with the Cards for Democracy
Activity Example – Envision yourself as a grown-up
Aim
- To reflect on the characteristics of the people that are important to me.
- To point out what I desire to become in my life.
- To realize that I can choose who I become.
- To realize that I can take steps towards my future self.
Expected Outcome
- Participants will have reflected on what person they would like to become.
- Participants will be aware of the steps they can take towards their development.
- Participants will be open to take responsibility for realizing their ideal.
- Participants will consider how much they, as individuals, can contribute to a more democratic environment*.
*the environment can be of many sorts: classroom, school, university, sports club, training…
Preparation
Make sure you have printed all the cards that you want to use (this may vary depending on what you have explored and how long you want this part of the session to last).
The cards are available in the products section of Learn to Change.
You can become a member by clicking here.
Procedure
Step 1: Social activity
Divide a big group into small groups of 3-4 people. Have your students outline their hand on a sheet of paper. Have them answer individually one question for each finger.
- Thumb: Who was your favorite teacher in your experience of school ? Why?
- Index: Who is your favorite adult right now? Why?
- Middle finger: Which characteristics do you cherish in a friend?
- Ring finger: Which historical person would you like to meet? Why?
- Pinkie: Which is your favorite place in the world? Why?
Share your results with your micro group
Step 2: Envision yourself
Individually, envision yourself moving 10 years forward on a timeline: what kind of person have you become? Choose three of the cards above which best express your adulthood.
From where you stand, move towards the direction of your future self and put the cards on the ground: look back to your younger self and try to see which steps helped you to realize your future self.
Step 3: Exchange your experience
In pairs, exchange your experience of your walk to the “future”.
Step 4: Letter writing
Ask the participants to individually write a letter to their future self. Tell yourself which steps you are willing to take to reach your future self (20 min)
Have them seal the letters and collect them. suggest to participant to keep this letter, and open it in the future to evaluate how they have evolved, and to what extent they are moving in the direction they had wished.
Step 5: Debriefing
Possible questions for debriefing that we have found generative are:
- What new thing have you learned about yourself?
- How does thinking about your future self help you move towards your goal?
- Do you believe you can reach your future self? What obstacles do you see as possible? What enablers would be helpful?
Step 6: Disbanding
Pick one card, within the selection below, that you would like to focus on for the next week.
Download the activity
By downloading Scenario 7 – Personal Development and Personal Learning Goals, you will have a PDF resource to keep and consult for your activities.
