Tool "What do we want to say?"

Language: English

Project Featuring This Tool: Peers without Frontiers

Themes:Education

•To come up with common messages the group wants to share with their peers •To consider how best to ensure this message reaches their peers

Time 60 minutes
Approximate number of participants 10
Age 15+
Date published 3 Feb 2011, 16:29

Materials

•Small pieces of paper (A5 size) •Flip chart paper •Markers/ Pens

Step-by-step instructions

1)In small groups, look at the issues or area around which your peer education is based (health, climate change, equality etc) and consider the following: •What do we want to educate for? •What do we want our peers to understand/ think about? •What do we want our peers to do/ change as a result of this process? (15 minutes)

2)Record key points on small pieces of paper.

3)Share the discussions in the large group and try to agree on common messages for your peer education project. Try to keep the messages short, clear and achievable. (15 minutes)

4)In the whole group discuss the following questions: •How can peer education help us in getting our message across? •Why might our peers listen to us and not to others? •What advantages do we have over teachers/ newspapers/ TV/ other sources of information? •How can we use these advantages in our project? (15 minutes)

5)In pairs, ask the participants to list all the things that ‘help’ get a message across and things that ‘hinder’. What puts people off our message and what attracts people to it? Use the list below to support the discussion. (10 minutes)

6)The pairs should share their discussions in the larger group. (5 minutes)

Tips

Helps:

  • Clear information without jargon
  • Seeing different ways to look at the issue
  • Learning in a fun way
  • Having pictures and illustrations

Hinders:

  • Shock or fear stories
  • Patronising people
  • Lots of technical information
  • Overloading with facts and figures
  • Blaming people/ making them feel guilty about their behaviour
  • The ‘I know best’ approach
  • Message is seen as irrelevant
  • Linked to ‘moralising’
  • Complex issues

Attached files