In order to put this idea into practice, the spiritist teacher will need to get pairs of candies of different colours. If the group has twenty components, there shall be twenty candies in ten different colours; two candies of each colour.
Suggested Class suitable for: Youth – 1st Cycle (13 to 14 years old)
If you can not find candies in so many different colours, it is suggested to number them in order to join a number of one colour with a number from another colour. The spiritist teacher will tell participants they will need to grab a candy and form a duo with the participant who has the same candy number, but of a different colour.
This first step aims to get the young group into pairs. If the spiritist teacher can’t find so many candies of different colours that should not be a problem – numbers could be distributed around the group to get them to form pairs. Therefore, by using candies this makes the group technique more playful; not to mention tasty!
The pairs will then meet and talk. They will talk about themselves, what they like to do, the songs they like to hear, what they do in their spare time, what they consider important in themselves, how long they have attended Spiritist classes, what they like about the Youth Spiritist Group, among other things that they might want to share with the other colleague, who can ask questions.
After the pairs talk for some time (roughly 5 minutes), the coordinator will inform them they must now present each other to the rest of the group.
It’s important that they talk again to see what each partner will speak of each other. It’s only then that the presentations will begin.
The presentation should preferably contain more than just name, age and how long they have participated in the Youth Group. They should also contain other points and/or information of what the other colleague values; likes.
This group technique is aimed to get the young group to talk about themselves; thinking about themselves. This helps them to get to know themselves better (work on their individual self-knowledge process).
The presentation also helps the Youth Group to feel they are important as individuals to the Spiritist Centre. Speaking of another person is easier than talking about you: this technique is about getting another person to talk about you. Talking about themselves can lead some individuals to feel inhibited; ashamed to talk about some things that they like or do. The other colleague will talk without any false modesty, since he/she will just tell what they now/learned from the other person.
Spiritist Teachers: Carina Streda & Antônio Escobar - Spiritist Group ‘Seara do Mestre’.
Translation: Carolina von Scharten, London, linked to BUSS - The British Union of Spiritist Societies.