Session 5: Communication

Goals:

· To examine the application of escalators and de-escalators to real situations.

· To emphasize the necessity of good communication to avert misunderstandings which might lead to conflict and to show students the benefits of communicating feelings

Materials Needed

q Red things and blue things for Suuls vs. Ichtholonians

q Instruction sheets for Suuls vs. Ichtholonians

Methods:

I. Opening game-Birthday Line

II. Discussion-Communication

III. Game- Suuls vs. Ichtholonians

VI. Letter to the Mayor

VII. Alien Shoe Tie

PEACE PHRASE #4: Work on active listening, not passive hearing.

Conflicts escalate when partners try to talk more than listen and then only listen as a time-out from their own talking.

I. Opening Game-Birthday Line

Have all of the students get in a line in order of their birthdays. The trick is that the students cannot communicate verbally to accomplish the goal. You may help the students by telling them where the first person born in January and the last person born in December should stand.

II. Discussion-What is Communication

Discuss with students what communication is and why it is important. Be a moderator in a discussion between the students, not a lecturer. If you feel that the students have skipped over an important issue bring up the topic in the form of a question you poise to the class.

Make sure to cover the following topics:

1. What are different ways in which humans communicate to each other?

(examples: spoken language, writing, internet, touch, body language, eyes, voice inflection, et cetera)

2. Why is communication important among different people? How do people get bad laws changed?

3. Do you communicate differently with different types of people?

(father, mother, brother, sister, friend, teacher, famous person, government)

4. If people communicate can they accomplish more ? (example: why do scientists

communicate. Share information, feelings, ideas à newer, better ideas)

5. What are some other ways to communicate besides talking?

(writing letters to the government, over the radio, through artwork)

III. Suuls vs. Ichtholonians

In this game, students have to trade “red things” for “blue things.” The problem is that the students with the red things and the students with the blue things each come from different cultures, and they have different social rules they have to follow. The students have to find a way to overcome their differences and communicate in spite of them.

Give half the students red things and half blue things, and the corresponding sheet reminding them which rules to follow. Explain to each group (so the other can’t hear) what their rules of trading are.

For more information, see the detailed instruction sheets (attached). Discuss the following questions:

1. Were you successful at trading?

2. Were you frustrated by the other person’s culture?

3. How did you overcome this frustration?

4. Did you keep an open mind and attempt to respect the other culture to make the trade?

5. How did you get around your cultural prejudices if you did trade?

6. Did you learn about the other culture in the process or did you simply trade?

7. How is this exercise related to real life?

8. Do you ever come into contact with people with different customs than your own?

9. Would you deal with these differences in the same way?

IV. Letter to the Mayor

Write a letter to the mayor telling him what you want changed in New Haven. If you don't think you want anything changed then tell him what you like about New Haven. Most students will not be able to finish this letter in class, but have the entire class start a letter. Ask your classroom teacher to collect the letters when they are completed. Please remember to pick up these letters when you return to your classroom the next week because we do send these letters to the mayor.

V. Closing Activity—Alien Shoe Tie[1]

In this activity, the students must use good communication skills to work together towards a common goal.

1) Have your students sit together in a large group.

2) Present the game as follows:

a) One of the teachers is introduced as an alien visiting from Mars. She or he understands English, but has a very limited understanding of what the words mean. She or he also has no idea what a shoe is or what it does.

b) The alien is easily bored, so she or he needs to hear a different voice with every suggestion. The alien is also only able to listen to one person at a time.

c) The object of the game is to get the alien to put on her shoe and tie it.

d) The alien will take all instructions quite literally. (If for example, you tell the alien to pull out the tongue of the shoe, s/he will pull out his/her tongue and wiggle it over his or her shoe.)

e) The whole class must decide on what to tell the alien and only one person may speak at a time

3) Use the following questions to guide the group in a discussion of the game:

a) How did you get the alien to put on her shoe?

b) Were they any difficulties that arose while communicating to the alien and to each other? How did you overcome those obstacles?

c) What happened when the alien didn’t understand you?

d) Was it difficult to re-word your instructions?

e) Give examples on how you had to paraphrase an instruction.

f) Are there times when you have difficulty explaining something to others?

g) How do you overcome those communication obstacles?

BEFORE YOU GO:

Þ Tell the class when you will be visiting next.

Þ Discuss with the teacher how your group handled the students and ask for his or her critique.

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[1] Peace Games would like to thank David Wang and Columbia University’s Community Impact for this game.