Perception Pictionary

Introduction

1. The facilitator can start by asking the group what they understand when they listen to the word perception. Give a few minutes for them to discuss.
2. What is perception?
    

Explain: By perception we mean the way we view, interpret, understand, and experience things and situations with our senses, the meanings we give to things or experiences. Individuals taking part in same activities will have different and very specific experiences and impressions from each other. This individual way of collecting the information we receive from our surroundings results in numerous perceptions that we build about the reality that surrounds us.

It is very important that the facilitators introduce this section by explaining that we are going to examine our own perceptions now. Share that this means that it may feel a little uncomfortable and that’s ok. It is important that you challenge yourself in this session in order to really benefit and feeling uncomfortable means we are in the learning zone.

There are no right or wrong answers, we want to explore the personal perceptions and viewpoints of each other. Please be honest and respect the nature of the game.

Main Game

1. Each participant is given 5 pieces of laminated paper (A5) and a wipeable board pen.
2. They are then given one word, from the list below (no one else must see this word). They must draw this word on the first piece of laminated A5 paper. Options could be:

• Discrimination
• Home
• Safety
• Education
• Love
• Language
• Religion
• Family
• Refugees
• Human rights
• Culture
• Nature
• Hate
• Respect

3. Once they have drawn the word, they pass the picture to their left.
4. The person receiving the image writes on a clean laminated A5 piece of paper what they think the drawing shows, one or two words. They cover the image with the word and pass the pile to the left. (Stacking the new whiteboard on top of their own)
5. The person who receives the word then draws their perception of the word- as an image.
6. This continues until the circle has been completed and the original drawing is returned. Rember the order, if receiving an image, they write a word and visa versa
7. Each person then lays out all 5 cards they have, DO NOT reveal the initial word at this stage.
8. Talk through the images, the interpretations of the words, similarities and differences. Here you can encourage conversation about why they are similar or different or why a certain image was interpreted as a certain word. An example to share could be ‘Education in Western society looks very similar whenever we ask people to draw, one person at the front of a classroom etc. However, if we ran this in a global space, we would see very different images, education to others could look like – reading a book under a tree, scouting or the TV’
9. Finally, reveal the original word and explore the similarities and differences. Use the following reflections and debriefing questions.

Please refer to the Learning Objectives above for each age group when explaining, facilitating, and recapping this activity. Select the questions relevant to the age group and their objectives.

Reflect: Perceptions are captured by our senses and are interpreted through the lenses of our past and present experiences. Our different identities also become lenses through which we see the world. This is the reason why some situations are very pleasant for some people and not for others. It all depends on how we perceive a situation.

• Do you think any differently now you have completed the activity?
• How did that make you feel?
• Is there anything that surprised you during this activity?
• How does this relate to your own context?
• How does this relate to perceptions?
• Why is understanding perceptions important to dialogue?

Explain: Perceptions become lenses or filters based on individual experiences. In time, lenses or filters change; such changes occur due to many reasons. Some are kept because they are verified by numerous experiences and they provide us with a sense of orientation; some are discarded because they are no longer useful, or they become outdated. Finally, some are changed because of an experience or encounter. Dialogue contributes directly to many of these latter changes.

As the adult leader, you should also encourage other reflection and questions based on your knowledge, experience and desired objectives