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Activity Ten: Step Forward Equality in Irish society) 12
Activity 10
Step Forward
Aim: To explore equality in Irish society in 2016 and have a valuable opportunity to gain insight into the lives of other people who may be less privileged than themselves.
Age: 12+
Time: 40 Mins
Materials: Copies of characters for participants, Shoe cut out (optional).
Goals:
Instructions: This activity presents the group with an opportunity to reflect on our society and to consider the barriers that prevent young people from pursuing their potential. Depending on the space available, there are two ways of approaching this activity.
Option 1: Moving in the space by stepping forward. Option 2: Give participants an A5 size shoe cut out to be placed on the ground as an alternative to physically ‘stepping forward’ (and visually display this through photos or exhibition).
Step 1: Choose a variety of characters from the list and give one to each participant. Ask them to imagine what life might be like for that person in the Ireland of today. Tell them to keep the identity of their character a secret. Step 2: Ask participants to stand side by side in a straight line on one side of the room with a clear space in front of them.
Step 3: Inform participants that you will read a number of statements and that for each statement that they feel the answer is “yes” for their character, they must take a step forward. If the answer is “no”, then they do not move. After you finish the statements you will see that there are people spread across the room in different positions. Step 4: Invite everyone to stay where they are and to turn around so that they can see everyone else and where they are standing (If you are using shoe cut outs, invite people to step away from the area and have a look at it). You might ask the participants if they felt that all of the characters were realistic. This is important because these could be people in Irish society right now. Step 5: Starting from the furthest back, invite participants to simply and clearly describe who their character was.
Debrief:
Tell the group that in some sense this represents one picture of Ireland right now. • Ask those at the back how it felt when they were not taking steps forward. • Ask the group if they are surprised by where they are or where others are (Sometimes you can use the same character twice which might illustrate that experiences can be different even with the same label)? • Ask the group about those at the front, what is the reaction to those who are ‘ahead’? You might ask how connected those at the front might be to those at the back? And whether this is a barrier itself to equal opportunities? You might notice that the single white male is at the top but
Activity 10
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in truth a homeless person could also be a single white male. You could also reflect on how these basic labels frame a whole person’s life for us and the challenges that brings. The essence of this activity is to illustrate that regardless of anyone’s situation, whether they be a refugee or a person in a wheelchair, it is our collective responsibility to create the society we want and to fight for the rights of anyone in our society who is suffering.
