Exploring people

Week one of Quest for the year. We are going to be looking at the concept of exploration this term. 

This week we started with a fun cooperative game in teams, and then we looked at the similarities and differences in people - exploring people. 

I asked the children to make a flower or plant with three pipecleaners. No other instructions. I wanted to see their creativity at work, and for them to see that they all think differently and have different skills. Some children immediately started planning - drawing their ideas and executing them precisely (even measuring carefully!). Some discussed their ideas with others. Some sat and watched others. Some just got into it with a clear idea, and some started one idea and changed along the way. It was very interesting to see all the different styles of thinking / creating, and the different outcomes. 

Then I challenged children to think about how people are like flowers. These are some of their ideas:

People and flowers both: Need air, breathe, need sun, need water, die, can get damaged, need care, are beautiful, are different, some smell nice, some are prickly, stand up, need food, can make their own food. 

We discussed a couple of quotes I had, and whether we agreed or disagreed with the statements.

We then talked about outward appearances and whether we can tell things about people by looking at them. They had a picture of a group of children. I asked them to look at it and point to who they think is the rich one, the poor one, the kind one, the mean one, the friendly one, the clever one, the one who needs help with their learning etc. Interestingly some stereotypes seem alive and thriving - most of them pointed to the one with glasses as the clever one! We had some good discussions about outward appearance and what that can and can't show us. Some came up with the saying 'Never judge a book by it's cover.' 

We then watched at a video of a social experiment, where a 6 year old was dressed in tidy clothes and left on a footpath to see how long it would take for her to get noticed and helped. It seemed almost instantly people were asking if she was lost and needed help. Then the same girl was made up to look dirty and unwashed and dressed in scruffy clothes. She was not helped or noticed at all by bystanders when left alone on a footpath. The same thing was tested in a restaurant and people visibly held their handbags closer and shooed her away when she walked up to their tables in her scruffy dirty clothes, yet invited her over and chatted happily when she was in her tidy clothes. Very thought-provoking! We discussed whether the girl's needs  and feelings changed just because she was dressed differently. 

Next we looked at personalities and how we are all different inside and with our thinking and actions. With the year 2-4 students we looked briefly at the book 'The Treasure Tree' and the different personalities (Lion, Golden Retriever, Otter, Beaver). The year 5&6 kids did an online personality test. We discussed the fact that just like plants are classified in groups (eg roses, ferns, daisies etc) we can be too. There are still differences within the group. A personality test can give us an indication of our personality type (depending on how we answer the questions) but we may not be exactly as it says as we are all unique. It is a great discussion starter though - you might like to try this at home and then have a discussion about your personality types. I find this stuff really valuable for helping to understand ourselves and others and the different ways we all think and act. 

Next week we will be looking at explorers, the traits they possess or need, and some NZ explorers.