The different steps contain instructions to be given to the group ; italics enclosed in brackets are instructions for the group-leader.
Step 1 : Introduction and presentation of work
(Duration : around 10 minutes)
We are going to work with a series of …..(give the number) photos (coloured or black and white) which have been selected in relation to our work theme. During this work session with photos, we will be allowed to share our different ways of seeing and understanding, starting from our own and personal representations and experiences.
A question will be submitted to you. The objective is to allow each of you to become conscious of what each one has to say in relation to this question, to try to communicate this to others, and to listen to what others have to say. The aim is not to find the best answer, but to see, listen and react to what echoes within you.
This work will be done through several steps :
- this introduction time ;
- an individual choice of photos according to the proposed question, which will last between 5 and10 minutes
- a time for groupwork
- a time for analysis.
First we will look attentively at each photo and mentally select one or two of them to answer the question which I will give you after this introduction.
This first period, when we will look at the photos, is a time for individual work, thought, choice and preparation of what will be said to the group. Allow yourself this necessary time for individual work. If comments, ideas, impressions, reactions come to your mind, keep them for another moment, so that others are not obstructed in their own work. Your way of seeing things can be very different from that of somebody else and prevent him from going further in his own personal reflexion. We will take the necessary time for everybody to choose their photos.
When you have chosen your photo(s), do not immediately pick it (them) up: leave it (them) where it (they) is (are) until everybody else has made his choice. When the choice is made, I will tell you that you can take the photos. Even if somebody else has taken your photo and you are left with nothing, it is important that you keep to your initial decision. You will recover your photo in the group later on.
Then it will be time to work in group. Starting with your choice of photos, you will present it or them to the group, and explain as well as you are able, why you chose them, and share your impressions and feelings with this group, here, today. There may be comments or questions about what you say. You are free to choose if you want to answer or not. Very often, two people express very different things, about the same photo. We will try to understand how this can happen.
(If the group-leader has chosen to participate and present a photo) : I will also participate in the choice and presentation of the photos.
(If there will be a time for work-analysis, it must be told now) : At the end of the session, we will allow ourselves 30 minutes for analysis ; we will tell to each other how we experienced this work session, and what happened to each of us.
Do you have any questions ? (The group-leader answers the questions about the work process. Any other question about the choice of photos, or the problems are not to be answered or discussed now but during the time of group work analysis.)
Step II. The individual choice.
Now we can begin to work. I will explain everything when the time comes. …… photos are displayed which are related in one way or another to our theme. Here is the question which will constitute our starting-point :
(Clearly state the question, eventually write it, repeat it : Choose..)
You can make your choice in two ways : either by starting from what you want to say and choosing the photos corresponding to it, or by looking at the photos and letting them inspire you until what you want to say becomes clear. Photos can illustrate what you say, or the opposite of what you want to say ; they can also be its symbolical, metaphorical, or aesthetical expression. You can choose the approach that allows you to better answer the question and then we can discuss it when you present your photo.
(When all the participants will have made their choice)
Now you can take your photos. It is important to keep to your initial choice even if somebody else has taken your photo and you are left empty-handed. You will recover it during the groupwork and you can ask for it when you want to speak.
Step III : after individual choice
(when every group-member is seated in the group)
This is the question which we will use as a starting-point to our work. (Give the question again accurately : …) You must now, starting from your own choice of photos, present it or them to the group ; you will explain, as well as possible, why you chose them, and share what you want to say to this group, here, today. To do this work, we have ……(state duration of work). Everybody is invited to speak when he wants, as he wants. You may want to speak after one member or another, because you feel accordance with what he said, or you may want to express your disaccordance with, your opposition to, what he said… Everybody is free to choose the moment when he can best express himself, while at the same time listening carefully to what is being said.
When somebody is talking, other members of the group are invited to listen to what he is saying, to try to understand what he wants to communicate to us. To do that, it can be necessary to ask questions or to reformulate what we are not sure about. The aim is not discussion, confrontation or getting the right answer. The aim is to discover who we are, to become conscious of our own point of view regarding this theme. Two persons may say different things, starting from one and the same photo. We will try to understand why.
You know how it is difficult to tell within a group what you really think and what is really important to you. If, when a member of the group begins to talk, you begin to chat with your neighbour, even in a low voice, or to distract others, you may break his train of thought and, you may really prevent him from speaking, because he will have lost all desire to do so. Listening is vital to allow others to speak.
At the end of this work, we will come back to talk about the way things happened to you ; it will be time for group analysis.
Now we can begin.
Step IV : Group work analysis
This time for groupwork analysis is a time we take to become conscious and to share with others this work with photos ; from here we will try to understand what has just happened for everybody and for the group. This can be possible only if every member of the group is ready to give information to the group, so that the analysis really brings to light what has happened for us.
Here are some suggestions we can begin with :
- Do you think that you really have listened to others and that you have been listened to and understood ?; how did you become conscious of that ?
- Were you interested by what was being said and done ? at what moment ?
- What about the photos that have not been chosen ?
- How did you react to the attitude (of X or Y), or to this intervention ?
- What happened when you realised that you had chosen the same photo as somebody else ?
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