[P4K] Our Communiy Evolves
Last week was a big one for the P4K program. As I’ve mentioned before, there’s been a huge turnout for the program. So big, in fact, that we may have to review our applications and select only the best students. The criteria for that selection process, however, was decided not by the trainers, but by the group as a whole. On Monday, the class broke into groups of four or five students, each one led by an experienced GK leader. Each group listed which attributes they thought would make a good candidate, and which attributes would inhibit our group's progress. After ten minutes, the groups presented their decisions
It was exciting to see how seriously everyone took the exercise, and there was thoughtful debate about the issue. When the groups presented, there was a significant amount of consensus on what characteristics GK leaders needed, and which were undesirable. Some of the most commonly named traits were: responsibility, respectfulness, creativity, good listening skills, and energetic. No one wanted to have leaders that were mean, aggressive, disinterested in learning, lazy, or irresponsible. After everyone had presented, my co-facilitator Cristina brought the lesson to a nice closure by explaining that all the traits that had been discussed could be summarized by the three GK rules: One Mic, Safe Space, and Participation.
The following Thursday, the students knew they were being reviewed for acceptance into the program, and it was clear that many were conscious of following the rules that they had decided. We want the leaders to take ownership of the program, to feel invested in it and work to keep order. When we heard students telling each other to be quiet and encouraging each other to participate in the exercises, it was clear that this process is beginning. There’s still a lot of work to do before we have a strongly cohesive team, but the group is beginning to gel. Our group is beginning to understand that Playing 4 Keeps is their project, and it is fully within their power to make it a success. I have no doubt that by the year's conclusion, many of the leaders will have a better understand not just of video games, but of themselves and of community organization.
Comments
Sounds like a really amazing process to bring the group through Jay. You gave the group the power to decide what they wanted for themselves, and I think that this is what's really at the core of GK's vision for empowering young people. Congrats to you, Cristina and Radhika on the kick-off to the third year of this rocking program.
Posted by: Rafi Santo | October 29, 2007 11:16 PM