1.1(a) My Passport
Aim
To get to know each other and explore the challenges of working together as a group.
You need
Activity sheet 2, large sheets of paper (A3), pens and about an hour.
What to do
a) To get you started – a quick game of true or false, to check out how well we really know each other and for a bit of fun. With the group in a circle, each person thinks of three things you want to say to the whole group about yourself, two being true and one being false. Now take it in turns to make your statements about yourself. The rest of the group then call out or vote for which they think are true and which is false. Of course, the game works better if you can think of funny or surprising things and this will make it harder for the group to guess right. Even when we think we know people well, there can be a few surprises lurking in our past!
b) Now for something a bit more serious. You are going to create a passport for each other. Before you break into pairs, agree as a whole group what information you want on the passport. Make a list and then stick it up for everyone to refer to. Make sure everyone is comfortable with the list, or there is space to adjust the list to suit the individual.
Mock passport
The list of things for the passport might include:
- My name
- My age
- Where I live
- Special features
- Places I have travelled to
- Places I would like to travel to
- My interests and hobbies
- Particular skills I have that might be useful to the work of the group
- My emblem or symbol that I would like to represent me on my passport
- What I eat
- How I get about
- What I buy
Now work in pairs with someone you don’t know that well. Each take a large sheet of paper and write ‘passport’ at the top, or you can photocopy activity sheet 2 in the resource section. Draw a picture of your partner. Take it in turns to interview each other for ten minutes to create a passport for the other person, using the agreed list of areas to cover. Add the information to your partner’s passport. Then come back as a whole group. Everyone now introduces his or her partner to the whole group.
| My passport | ||
|---|---|---|
| My name | My age | Where I live |
| Special features | My emblem or symbol | Interests and hobbies |
| Places I’ve been to | Places I’d like to go to | My special skills |
| What I eat | How I get about | What I buy |
What do you think?
Knowing each other and listening and learning from other people inside and outside the group is crucial in helping bring about changes in things that are important to you. What have you learnt from each other and about the group? How did you feel about interviewing each other? What was it like being asked questions about yourself? Are there some useful pointers to remember for when you are interviewing other people who you don’t know?
(Adapted from YouthBank UK Toolkit, 2003)