Name of dynamic: Feeling old
| Objectives: |
| 1. Develop the young people’s perception in relation to the senior's feelings and particularities. |
| 2. Add to the perception of the young people on the challenges of teaching a senior. |
| 3. Learning about aspects involved in the third age and how they may affect learning. |
Materials required for each young person:
- 1 pair of gloves (not surgical type);
- 1 pair of glasses (preferably powerful lens);
- 1 pair of gymnastics shin guards (or weights) - 2 or 3 kg;
- 1 pair of ear protectors (in the absence of protectors, use cotton wool in the ears);
| Activities: |
| Half the group of young people wear gloves, ear protectors, glasses and shin guards (or leg weights). |
| Then these young people go out into the street, somewhere reasonably far from the laboratory location. These young people act as the seniors. We will call this the old-young people group |
| The other half of the group stays in the room and acts as teachers. We will call this the teacher- young people group |
| The old- young people group walk from the stipulated place to the laboratory. |
| The teacher-young people group welcome the old-young people and simulate a "lesson"( a simple dictation or some explanation) |
| The teacher young people are told to speak as quietly as possible and not to repeat what they have said if the old young people ask them to. |
| After about 30 minutes of “lesson”, they change roles and young people that experienced the senior role become the teachers. |
| After each young person has experienced "what it is like being a senior", the whole group meets, discuss the experience and consider the following subjects: |
- The gloves have the purpose of diminishing the sensibility of the hands, the glasses diminishing sight, protectors diminishing hearing, and shin guards or weights cause fatigue or pain in the legs.
- On this basis, the teacher young people understand and experience the difficulty of the old young people in hearing, seeing and assimilating contents transmitted.
| Issues in the dynamics for the old young people: |
| What does "being old" feel like? |
| Describe the sensation of not hearing well or not understanding what has been said? |
What was it like to lose some of the sensitivity in your fingers? What about typing in this situation? |
How did the weight on your legs hinder walking? What about fatigue on arriving at the room? |
What was sight with glasses like? Describe looking at the computer screen? |
Did these inconveniences cause irritation, impatience or any mood change? |
Did you ever think of giving up on the class? Why? |
Issues in the dynamics for the teacher young people: |
How does it feel "being a teacher”? |
Describe the sensation of not being heard or understood by your student? |
What was your reaction when you realized your student has difficulties in hearing, seeing, typing and walking? |
Did you at any point have a tendency to type for the student or help them to walk? |
Did you feel the desire to disobey the instructions given by the educator and use a louder voice or repeat the sentences so that the student could understand better? |
Did these inconveniences cause any irritation, impatience or mood change? |
Did you ever think of giving up on the class at any point? Why? |
· Then a debate is held about the impressions of each person.
· The educator adds some information on the universe of the third age, such as:
- Physical aspects: natural loss of sight, hearing, touch, motor coordination, etc.
- Psychological aspects: regression, stiffness, impatience, reaction to aging process (rejection or acceptance), changes in sexuality, etc.
- Typical third-age illnesses.
- Overview of the third age worldwide.
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