Life Skills Education Toolkit

44 • PART TWO: FACILITATOR’S GUIDE

In this P matrix, children do not feel that they

can learn to say “no” and stop addictions, but

need to physically remove themselves from the

environment. This matrix indicates the areas

that the facilitator in the life skills sessions will

need to work on.

Children may identify problems that fall into

the domain of adults’ responsibilities, such as

providing shelter and preventing sexual

harassment. One way of getting around this

situation is to help children list out the

problems and identify which require adult

intervention. The children are then “free” to list

out problems and priorities that they

themselves can work on.

Adults who work with children, such as

caretakers, teachers and others, can work on

their own P matrix and compare results with

the P matrix of the children. The results are

often a learning experience! Children and adults

often have very different views of what the

problems are.

11. Drawings
    Children can draw and explain what they feel
    instead of talking about their problems. This is
    a useful tool with young children or with those
    who do not wish to talk and discuss. The
    facilitator or counselor must be trained to
    interpret drawings and counsel children.

12.Relationship/Communication Mapping

This tool has been explained in the Module on

Relationships. Children draw a circle or a figure

in the center of the page to represent

themselves. Next, they draw all the people they

communicate with, either by drawing circles

and placing the names of the people in the circle

or by drawing figures. Then they think of who

they talk to more and draw three lines towards

that circle; they draw one line for people who

they talk with infrequently; and two lines for

those they talk with sometimes. They use the

lines to write the topics they discuss with the

various people.

This tool graphically describes whom the

children communicate with, what they

communicate and who influences them. It is an

excellent tool and provides rich information. It

can be used to understand the needs of the

children, as a communication exercise and for

evaluation. It is versatile and can be used with

children, young people and adults.

13.Role Play

Children take on different roles and are given

a problem situation to act out. The facilitators

write down what is said, how it is said, who

says it, what are the interpersonal interactions

and how problems are resolved. No comments

are made during the exercise.

Processing Activities

No matter which active learning method is used, it

is important to process the activity. Issues to

explore include: what did you learn, what did you

do and why did you do it, what did you feel and

how do you think the others felt. Make sure the

message is not lost in the fun! This reflection helps

the children transfer learning from an active

learning method to their own lives. After processing

the activity, children are ready to carry out the

linking learning to life activities and can move into

real-life situations to practice new behavior.