Apr 29, 2010 Strategies for Helping Participants Practice Decision-Making, Compromise & Consensus Continued…A Tried and True Method for Dividing Groups Into Teams

In Monday’s post I mentioned that I had observed a trend of children and adolescents missing out the development of important social & emotional skills because of a lack of time for “free play” without adult intervention. I believe we can intentionally bring some opportunities for this kind of peer-to-peer learning and conflict resolution practice in our structured settings such as school, camp, and other recreational programs.

When I work with people of all ages in experiential team building programs I purposefully create situations/opportunities for participants to practice coming to agreement on the rules of the game, a team name, a team symbol etc. I use methods that involve pairs and then groups making simple choices together and work up to practicing consensus. Here is one of my favorite simple strategies for helping learners of any age practice these important skills:

Which one? Partner Decision Making Method for Dividing Into Teams: I developed this fun method during my time teaching in Stevens Point, Wisconsin School District’s Experiential Education program. I started getting bored with the old counting off “1-2” method of dividing students into teams or groups for a project or activity and started integrating hypothetical decision-making situations instead. I quickly discovered that I had not only found a fun and engaging way to divide into groups or teams for an activity or classroom project, I had a vehicle for  helping participant’s practice key social and emotional skills of communication, decision- making, consensus, and making a compromise with peers.

Facilitation Suggestions:

• • Invite everyone find a partner.  In many situations a student will pick a buddy you would rather they are separated from. This is fine, even preferable, because they will be splitting up soon. This method of dividing honors their need to partner with a friend because it gives the friends something to do together before they split up.
  • Present a hypothetical situation with two choices. For example: “Imagine it is summer and the two of you are near a river. You want to play on the river, but the only boats available are a kayak and a one-person canoe. Which one of you will take the kayak, and which the canoe? Or: You are at an ice cream stand and the freezer has broken down, there is only one cone of chocolate, one of cookie dough. Who gets which? Cookie dough’s become one team, chocolates the other. Other scenarios I have used: cotton candy flavors, roller blades or skateboards, toboggan or saucer sled etc.
  • Challlenge the participants to come to a compromise and decide who will choose the kayak and who will choose the canoe. Divide the canoes into a team and the kayaks another. Encourage the use of decision-making methods such as “rock, paper, scissors.”
  • If multiple, smaller groups are needed, repeat the exercise with new partners and different choices until the desired-size groups are reached.

 

Over the years, I have noticed that youth of all ages have bought into this method of dividing teams without “pre-arranging” themselves the way participants often do with the old 1,2 count off method. I think it could be because they get to have the connection with their friend first- you are honoring their need to pair with who they are comfortable first before sending them apart.It can be surprising how intense the discussions and negotiations around these imaginary decisions can be!

Many educators have shared with me that they have appreciated this simple exercise for helping practice and reinforce conflict resolution, positive decision- making and the idea of compromising-coming to consensus. Adult participants share that they enjoy the sense of connection and humor from sharing and making decisions about these hypothetical scenarios.

Note from the field:  A decade ago during my time at Middleton School district, I was working with a second grade teacher on implementing experiential community building and social and emotional learning in her classroom. Early in the session, I had students partner up and imagine they were at a fair where, after waiting in line for cotton candy, they found only one purple and one pink cotton candy left. The students had to decide who was to choose which one. One set of students started arguing about this imaginary decision. I called on another pair who had already decided and asked them how they came to their decision. One student responded, “Well, we both wanted purple, but I am okay with blue, AND I wanted to find out what you were going to have us play, so I let him have the purple one.” At that point, I briefly defined compromise to the group. The other pairs decided quickly at this point realizing it would help them get to playing sooner.

Later in the day, the teacher told me that as the students lined up for lunch, a squabble erupted about who was going to lead the line to the cafeteria. Just as she was going to intervene, a little voice from the back of the line said, “You know, this is just like the cotton candy; we all just want to go to lunch. So you two should compromise.” The students quickly played a quick round of “Rock-Paper Scissors” to decide which ended the squabble, and they proceeded to the cafeteria. The teacher later shared that the language around learning to compromise and make decisions as small groups became an ongoing “practice” they reflected on again many times from that point in the school year. Sometimes the simple, small things we do as educators are more important than the planned activity or lesson itself.

Reference: Tips & Tools for the Art of Experiential Group Facilitation. Jennifer Stanchfield, Wood ‘N’ Barnes Publishing 2007

Middleton School District Experiential Education Curriculum; Jennifer Stanchfield, 2001