With partners:
Interpersonal Resources
In Pastoral Care there are opportunities for classes to discover their similarities and concentrate on what unites them. Such an exercise can lead to the selection and adoption of class and individual values.TEACHER: For the school magazine each class had to submit a page about themselves. 9B chose to celebrate their cultural diversity and called themselves “9B the multicultural class” in recognition of the fact that the 22 students came from 14 different countries. They put together a page with a photograph of the class in the centre surrounded by student reflections on the class. Flags from the 14 countries were depicted underneath. As part of Pastoral Care the students determined the values the class would follow for the year. They also had to choose an individual value to follow based on the initial letter of their first names. Throughout the year the class would review the class and individual values.
Wilderdom is a site with hundreds of games and group activities for adults and children of all ages. Of particular interest for teachers trying to build group harmony and inclusiveness is its section on multicultural, cross-cultural and intercultural games: http://wilderdom.com/games/
MindMatters is a mental health promotion resource for Australian secondary schools. The booklet Enhancing Resilience 1: Communication, Changes and Challenges looks at developing connections, friendship and belonging, and can be downloaded at: http://cms.curriculum.edu.au
Visit The Transcultural Mental Health Centre in New South Wales for a wide range of resources, some free, including monographs, reports, wellbeing booklets, video and audio resources: http://www.dhi.gov.au/tmhc/