This activity will help to set the ground rules for the rest of the learning. It will give participants the chance to consider the conditions they and others need to learn effectively.
- Organise the group into smaller sub-groups.
- Ask each group to spend five to ten minutes collecting as many ideas as possible for the sort of ground rules they would like to have in order to be successful with their learning. At this point do not reject any ideas or judge them, just collect them.
- Now spend five minutes sorting through the ideas, putting similar ones together, and selecting your top five. You may want to rephrase some to make them say exactly what you want.
- Feedback: Explain that the whole group is going to collect their top five ground rules for the rest of the programme. Ask each group to feed back one idea. If their chosen one has already been said they can choose another.
- Write up the top five ground rules collected from all the groups.
- Ask if everyone is happy to work with these, or if they would like to change anything.
- Once the rules are accepted they should be copied and displayed in the working areas.
Points for Discussion
- Ground rules work best when they come from the people who are going to use them.
- Ground rules need to make it easier for everyone to achieve success with their learning.
- It is each person’s individual responsibility to keep the rules.
- It is best to have fewer rules that everyone can remember rather than lots that people can’t remember.
Equipment: Flipchart paper, marker pens, pens, paper
Time: 15-20 minutes.
