Purpose: To explore how cultural and personality differences can lead to communication breakdowns.

Transcription

1 Activity Rooks and Tooks Time: min Purpose: To explore how cultural and personality differences can lead to communication breakdowns. Skills: Appreciating similarities and differences, Communication, Conflict resolution, Cooperation, Identifying feelings, Inquiring, Listening, Noticing, Patience, Problem solving You will need participants Upper elementary age participants or older Envelopes (one per group), red triangles and blue squares (attached; two of each per participant), group customs/practices descriptions (attached) Enough space for two groups to work separately, then come together to mingle Before You Begin In this activity participants will be working in small groups. Consider whether you will assign groups before the activity or guide participants to choose their own groups. Prepare envelopes for the groups by cutting out shapes and putting two red triangles and two blue squares in each envelope. Prepare the reflection questions you will ask participants in the debrief. Directions Introduce the activity Rooks and Tooks. Use this time to reinforce any established expectations that are important for participants to remember during the activity. Explain that the objective of the game is to trade goods while overcoming different needs and customs. Divide participants into two groups, the Rooks and the Tooks. Explain that the groups represent people from two different cultures: the Rooks and Tooks. Explain to participants that the Rooks and Tooks will meet at the marketplace to trade goods. Both groups want to trade what they have; however, they have different needs and customs/practices, which they will learn about in a handout. Explain that each group will have time to review their customs/practices before meeting in the marketplace. Tell participants that it is important they do not share information about their customs with the other group before they meet. Tell groups to find space to meet separately so they can not hear each other. Ask if participants have any questions about the activity Peace First 1

2 DIRECTIONS CONTINUED Distribute the group customs/practices handout descriptions to each group. Give time (five minutes) for groups to read their customs and develop a plan of action for trading. Review the customs with each group individually. Some questions to help guide this process include the following: What color or shape do you want to trade for? Who will talk at the market? Everyone or only a few representatives? How should you greet the other group? When groups have finished developing their plans, bring them back together. You will act as the market supervisor and are responsible for presenting the market rules and handling any conflicts that may arise. Read the following rules: There is to be no stealing or fighting in the market. If the market gets too noisy or disruptive it will be shut down. When trading, the different groups may not touch each other. Ask if participants have any questions. Open the market and let the trading begin. Give time (three minutes) for groups to interact. Look for any obstacles or difficulties. If obstacles become more pronounced, close the market and process the situation with the group: What barriers are preventing trading from occurring between the Rooks and Tooks? Is there something that the other group has done/is doing to offend your group? Tell groups to reveal their hand etiquette and ask if there are ways to remove this obstacle. Encourage participants to agree on a new marketplace rule that neutralizes the differences. Re-open the market for trading. Give time (three minutes) for groups to interact. The activity ends when time runs out or when the Rooks and Tooks have successfully concluded their trading. Explain to participants that now they will reflect on how they experienced the activity Peace First 2

3 Debrief Debrief the activity with participants. Remember, this activity is only as effective as your debrief. This is your opportunity to help participants connect the activity to personal experiences, actions, and beliefs. You will want to reinforce any skills or beliefs you are hoping participants will carry beyond the activity. For more on facilitating debriefs, refer to the Debriefing Tip Sheet on our Digital Activity Center. We ve included some suggested questions below to get you started. Ask: What happened during the activity? At the market? Did your group achieve their trading goal? Why or why not? What strategies did your group use to approach the situation? What were your group s values? What did your group have to compromise in order to reach a solution? This simulation looked at miscommunication between two cultures. Where do you see miscommunication in your life? What happens when people or cultures miscommunicate? How do people or cultures overcome miscommunication? What peacemaking skills were used in the activity? How can you use these skills outside of the activity? Thank participants for taking part in the activity Peace First 3

4 HANDOUT: ROOKS AND TOOKS Rooks and Tooks: Customs Rooks The Rooks are very peaceful people. They believe that it is polite to hold up a hand (as if telling someone to stop) when they are meeting people. To the Rooks using this hand etiquette when greeting people is a sign of respect. The Rooks would never dream of holding out their hand (as if to shake hands) to another person. In fact, he/she find this gesture to be extremely rude. If someone holds out their hand to a Rook, they would be offended and would immediately sit down and stop talking to that person. The Rooks like to have things that are all the same color. They do not care what shape an object is as long as it is the same color as the other objects they have. The Rooks are bringing two red triangles and two blue squares with them to the market. It is the Rooks goal to come back from the market with four cards that are the same color, regardless of shape. Tooks The Tooks are very peaceful people. They believe that it is polite to hold out a hand (as if to shake hands) when they are meeting people. To the Tooks using this hand etiquette when greeting people is a sign of respect. The Tooks would feel very offended if someone held up his/her hand (as if telling someone to stop) while speaking to them. If someone holds up their hand to a Took, he/she would be extremely offended and would immediately sit down and stop talking to that person. The Tooks like to have things that are all the same shape. They do not care what color an object is as long as it is the same shape as the other objects they have. The Tooks are bringing two red triangles and two blue squares with them to the market. It is the Tooks goal to come back from the market with four cards that are the same shape, regardless of color Peace First 4

5 Rooks and Tooks: Shapes Blue Squares Red Triangles 2012 Peace First 5