Session 8.6
CASE STUDIES
Your role as a coach
Introduction
This case study activity is focused
on the peer coaches involved in peer group education
programmes it is designed to help them to examine
their role, the empowerment of young people and possible
conflicts which can arise.
Material
Case studies and questions
Time
1.5 - 2 hours
Group size
10 - 20 people
Process
Ask people to work in small groups
(4-5). Each group is given a copy of a case study.
The task is to read the description and to consider
the questions and note down the responses. Each group
needs to identify a spokes person and feedback with
a short presentation in the large group.
After the presentation several questions could be
raised and common areas and differences between the
groups identified.
• Who is in control?
• What are potential areas
of conflict?
• What would the feeling
of the young people be in these situations?
Case study 1
You are involved in a peer
group education programme which has been running
successfully for 2 years, the young people are
responsible for planning and running sessions
with other groups of young people on Human Rights
and conflict mediation. Sessions take place
in youth centres although some take place in
schools, they have also recruited new members
and the team numbers around 15 with 10 of these
being more committed. They have organised themselves
with roles and job descriptions, recruitment,
planning, publicity, dealing with administration,
etc. The funders of the project made up of local
education authority and private sponsors feel
that the young people are not responsible enough
to manage their funds. They would like the youth
leader or coach to take financial responsibility
for the project. The young people feel that
they should have control of what they do.
• What are the issues
arising?
• What strategies
would you pursue with the young people?
• What skills are
required to deal with this situation?
• What support and
resources would you need to handle the situation
effectively? |
Case study 2
You work in a school as a teacher,
your subject area includes work on equality
and Human Rights. Your headmaster has recently
attended a conference on peer education and
is very keen to see that you develop such a
programme with your class. He has a model from
the conference and you have been instructed
to implement this for project which aims to
deal with a number of racist incidents
in the school and local community. When the
idea is suggested to young people there is little
response, they are not excited by the idea of
peer education or the subject of racism.
• How do you react?
• What do you say:
to the headmaster? to the young people?
• How do you follow
up this situation?
• How do you respond
to the issue (racism incidents) within the school? |
Case study 3
You work at a youth centre
where for the past twelve months there has been
a successful programme organised by a committed
group of young people. They work in youth centres
across the town to reduce prejudice against
people who have physical disabilities. Some
of the group are able bodied and others are
not,
they are interested in the
issues and many people acknowledge that the
project is a great success both in integrating
able and disabled and in the peer education
work they do. Three new members of the youth
centre would like to join the
group, the members of the main
group are resistant to this and feel that they
will not 'fit in'.
• What are the issues
involved?
• What do you do?
• How do you reflect
this issue within the youth centre programme?
• What strategy would
you develop to prevent a repeat of this or similar
situations? |
Conclusion
Activities which are case studies
have the advantage of allowing people to connect themselves
with a situation before investigating in their own
roles as peer coaches.
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