Skills: Place-taking Empathy Mirroring Respect Responsibility

Time: 25 minutes | 5 for preparation / 10 for activity / 10 for debrief

Inspiration: This activity is modeled after a dialogue workshop depicted in the documentary Two Sides, produced by the Palestinian Israeli Bereaved Families for Peace organization. While the activity was used as an icebreaker for the group of adults ranging from their twenties to their fifties, the discussions that it elicited ran much deeper than expected and gave the facilitators insight into the group dynamics they were about to manage.

Audience: This activity’s important aspect is its discussion prompt and time limit. Each can be crafted to suit a specific age and group! For example, younger participants would benefit more from simpler or more generation-specific discussion prompts and can be expected to retain less information than their older counterparts. For this reason, sharing phases should be kept shorter than you would for an older group of participants.

Room Setup Recommendations: The participants are recommended to be arranged in a circle so that the participants can switch to different pairs easily by looking in the opposite direction. The room can have chairs or not, depending on available furniture, the time allotted for the exercise, and the preferences of the participants. NO other materials are needed for this activity!

Preparation: It is best for the facilitator to know what they information and experiences that they want to have shared between partners and in the wider group! General questions are best for the first round and deeper questions are best after the group has built a good model of representation and have established trust and respect for each other. Please consider these factors as you sequence your discussion prompts. If this activity exceeds 2 rounds, please end the activity with each participant introducing themselves as themselves to clarify who they are!

Procedures: 

1. Facilitators will introduce themselves and explain that the group will be split into pairs. 
   • Pairs will be formed by asking the participants to look in the clockwise direction.
2. When everyone has settled on their partner, the facilitators can now give the participants their discussion prompts.
   • Prompts can also be written on the board for easy reference.
   • Sample Prompts:
     • Name
     • Hometown
     • Plans for the weekend
3. After 60 seconds have been spent, the facilitator will now ask the group if each partner has had the chance to share about their prompts.
   • If all have shared, please feel free to move to Step 4
   • If all have not shared, please repeat Step 3 to give everyone the chance to share with their partner
4. Now that everyone has shared, it is time to spring the suprise! Each participant will introduce themselves as their partner, Sharing Out to the class the information that they received from their partner moments ago!
   • Participants should be encouraged to speak in the first person
5. Now that everyone has had the opportunity to represent their partner, the group can be reshuffled and the facilitators can introduce new discussion prompts and/or longer time limits.

Debrief:

• If this is the end of the activity, please feel free to use the following prompts to decompress and review the activity!
  • How did it feel to be represented by someone else?
  • How did it feel to represent your partner?
  • Did you feel a difference between the experiences?
  • Are there responsibilities involved with representing someone else?
    • If so, name a few?
  • What makes for an accurate, respectful representation?
  • How did you feel about your partner after you had represented each other?
  • How did it feel to Share Out to the group?