Teaching sequence

20 minutes

Explore: Trust walk

25+ minutes

Discover Interviews

20 minutes

Thrive: Community building

Explore: Trust walk

Teacher note: This lesson builds upon concepts taught in another lesson titled ‘Tribe: Building Connections Through Open Communication’. If you haven’t taught the lesson, it is recommended you read over it to ensure students are familiar with the basic concepts before proceeding.

Step 1

Advise students they will work in pairs to complete a blindfolded walk, requiring focus, trust and communication. Explain that the person who is blindfolded will be verbally guided around the room by their partner, who will need to notify them of any obstacles along the way. Obstacles could include chairs and other furniture items.

Before providing pairs with a blindfold, facilitate a class discussion about actions and behaviours that help build trust.

Examples:

Taking the activity seriously and not laughing
Making sure the blindfolded partner doesn’t bump into things
Focusing attention on my blindfolded partner and not having side conversations
Keeping the blindfold on and not peeking (because they don’t trust their partner to guide them safely)

Step 2

Allocate pairs to different parts of the room to avoid collisions and provide enough time for each person to have a turn. Depending on the shape of the room, you may have everyone start at one end and finish at the other.

Step 3

For the next round, ask students to move to the edges of the room and scatter items of differing sizes in the centre (pens, rulers, books, etc.). Explain that the non-blindfolded person will need to verbally guide their partner to collect items and bring them back. Give them 2 minutes to play before returning the items to the centre and swapping roles.

Step 4

When finished, ask students to discuss what worked well and what they found challenging about each role, then discuss answers as a class.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

How did it feel to put your trust in your partner?
How did it feel to have your partner trust you?
Which parts did you find challenging?
Why is building trust important?

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

Building trust is crucial in any relationship, as it forms the foundation for open communication, understanding and mutual respect. Trust enables you to feel safe and secure and can allow you to be authentic and vulnerable without fear of judgement. It can take time to build trust, and it can be broken in a much shorter space. Knowing the power of trust is vital to building relationships.

Teacher note: Depending on the atmosphere and safety in the classroom, you can turn Step 3 into a friendly competition by setting a time limit and seeing which pair can collect the most items.

Discover: Interviews

Teacher note: This activity requires students to work in pairs and will be most effective if students are paired with someone they don’t know well socially. Having pairs pre-planned will allow this to run smoothly.

Step 1

Explain that trust builds as people get to know each other better and that this activity aims to help students get to know 1 of their peers on a deeper level by conducting an interview with them. They will each get a set amount of time to ask questions and take notes before being required to share what they learned with the rest of the class. Therefore, this activity requires active listening. Allocate pairs or draw names from a hat to ensure students don’t pair up with their closest friends.

Step 2

Option 1 (if time is limited)

Present the Interview Questions and ask students to select 5-10 they’d like to ask their interviewee.

Option 2 (if lesson is split over multiple sessions)

Ask students to prepare a list of open questions (between 10-20) they would like to ask the interviewee. Pairs can work together to develop them or write them independently, so the questions are a surprise.

Step 3

Encourage pairs to find a space away from others to conduct the interviews and provide them with scrap paper to take notes. Give students 10+ minutes each to conduct their interviews and provide a 30-second warning before swapping roles and wrapping up.

Step 4

Next, ask students to form a seated circle with their partner next to them. One at a time (if time is limited, ask 2-3 students to share), they should introduce their partner (the same way you would if you were about to introduce a guest speaker at an event) and present the information they found most interesting. To wrap up the activity, facilitate a class discussion.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

Did your partner share anything that made you feel more connected or trusting of them?
Did you feel you could open up to your partner? Why/why not?
If you found this activity challenging, what could you do to make it easier next time?

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

Getting to know new people is important, as you never know what you may have in common with someone. You do not need to be best friends with everyone, but it is important to respect and understand the people you share space with, and learning more about them is an easy way to build trust and a sense of community and belonging.

Thrive: Community building

Teacher note: To enhance the quality of posters and amount of questions students get to ask each other, run this activity over a whole lesson.

Step 1

Explain that students will create a wall display for the school community. This display will reveal information about each student to help start conversations and build connections. Students need to include at least 12 pieces of information about themselves on their posters. Display the Poster example.

Step 2

Give students 15 minutes to create their poster using Canva or an online app like Google Docs. They can also create their poster by hand if they choose. They should be A4 size and include their name, short descriptions and visuals.

Step 3

Display the posters in the classroom and give students time to read about their peers. Give each student the opportunity to ask any questions they have about the information presented.

Examples:

What is it like having twin brothers?
When did your family move from Norway to Australia?
What do you love about baking?

Step 4

If there is time, allow these questions to be asked as a class so everyone can learn more about one another. Encourage students to continue using these posters as prompts and opportunities to build connections and conversations with their peers during break times.

Tribe: Building Trusting Relationships

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