Take a Step Forward (Turkey)

We are all equal – but some are more equal than others.

It is an activity about equality, people’s opinions about stereotypes and their prejudices about nationalities. It can be applied to  group of students aged between 11-15 . In this activity they imagine that they are someone else, another child who may be quite different from themselves.Everyone in the group takes a slip of paper and create a new identity. To  enhance their imagination, some quiet music can be played and the children are asked to sit down and close their eyes and imagine in silence as they read out a few questions to get information about them.The children are asked to remain absolutely silent as they line up beside each other. When they have lined up, they are asked to describe some things that might happen to a child. If the statement would be true for the person they are imagining themselves to be, then they should take a step forward. Otherwise they should not move. The situations are read out one at a time, pauses between each statement to allow the children time to step forward and invites them to look around to see where others are. At the end of the activity, everyone sits down in his or her final position and  each child in turn to describe their assigned role. After the children have identified themselves, they observe where they are at the end of the activity.Before continuing to the debriefing questions the children are asked to get back to their own identities.

The activity can be revised by asking debriefing questions. A discussion can be made with the children about who in their community has more or fewer opportunities. What first steps could be taken to make opportunities more equal for everyone? Are there inequalities in the group or community that the children can address?