Introduce the topic of Creativity or Group Work.
2. Train creative group thinking.
3. Promote the development of skills for teamwork.
4. Manage different meanings of creativity and the barriers that stop its development.
Teaching method: Lecture - discussion.
Total time needed: 15 minutes.
Resources to use: Paper ballots, markers and banners.
Didactic organization
This exercise combines individual work, work in small groups and the plenary session and does not require prior study, although it is necessary to bear in mind that the person who is going to apply the technique must know and be trained in the role of facilitator.
Application mode
This technique is easy to apply, but it is suggested that it be used when the group has advanced in its identification stage, since it is necessary that its members have socialized with each other and that there is an adequate socio-psychological climate.
The concept of metaphor must be induced, defining that it is nothing more than a way of expressing your perception of something, using familiar words and images that generate, in turn, an association of ideas about the subject of reference.
Introduction
The metaphor as a group work technique is used to obtain a set of ideas that brings the group objectively closer to the diagnosis of the current situation or the desired state of the object of study and its implementation is nothing more than describing how they feel or how perceive a phenomenon using an associative style, where the norms, beliefs and values of the members of the group are intermingled, so that their evaluations and criteria emerge, since the metaphor conditions that the mind manifests its power to express relationships that transcend the usual.
Development
The following steps must be followed:
Explain to the audience what a metaphor is, giving examples that illustrate the process.
The topic on which the exercise will be developed is reported and they are asked to write their perception of it using metaphors, it is specified that it is anonymous, highlighting the importance of exposing their true feelings and expressing “what they consider to be it is and not necessarily what it should be ”.
They are distributed a small ballot to be specific and avoid being extended in descriptive explanations.
They are collected and grouped by positive and negative aspects, trying in their writing to be as reliable as possible, reflecting their results in the "memory of the group"…
The results are generally presented in the form of paragraphs and are analyzed in plenary session and they are asked to illustrate the different points of view with practical examples, generally reaching a consensus on the criteria given by the group members.
When the results obtained differ a lot from each other, they are asked to sit in the shape of a triangle so that each team presents experiences and criteria that reinforce these considerations and they are even given the possibility before the end of the plenary session, that some of its members exchange and be part of other teams if they consider it appropriate.
Conclusions
The use of metaphors unconsciously conditions in people the possibility of really expressing what they feel, with total freedom of criteria, without feeling limited by existing norms and policies, and this is not given only by anonymity, since there are other techniques group work or for the development of creativity that do not necessarily condition these results.
It can be used primarily as a fast and accurate feedback mechanism that allows us to get closer to the perception that a group of people have on a certain issue, highlighting their most legitimate beliefs.
A novel aspect of the use of this technique is that when the students begin to exemplify their experiences, the plenary becomes a live case study, where the rest of the participants fertilize the ideas enunciated, expose similar experiences and repeatedly extremely interesting solutions are provided.
Author's note: This exercise is the result of a Technique elaborated and developed by the author, which is referenced in her article "The Metaphor Technique" published on quality.org, June / 2005.
