For this workshop we went outdoors. We were randomly placed into teams of about 7/8 and tasked to build a Den that could stand on it’s own, have at least 3 sides and that could fit all of the team inside while sitting down.

Group & Leadership

Although there was no designated group leader, there was a few stronger personalities within the group which did influence some decisions made throughout the task. In saying this, every member of the team contributed equally with ideas and thoughts on all aspects and decisions that were being made. The most challenging thing about the task for me was working with some people I had not yet had the chance to fully meet and work with, however this was not an issue for long.

Explaining

I thought the team that explained to us were very thorough in their description. They look the time to go through why they had chosen certain materials, for example, because it was waterproof/sturdy. They went through different ideas they had considered in the beginning and why they dismissed them. When it came to explaining how our den was built, we decided as a group that one person would speak and that would make it easier for the others to listen to one person rather than 7 people all chipping in. We made sure that we discussed all aspects of the material selection process and how we came up with the tipi shape for our den. Afterwards we answered any questions the other team had.

Environment

When my group were out in the afternoon the weather had become slightly more windy and there was a slight bit of rain on and off and so due to the nature of the task, it did make it slightly difficult to secure some materials in place. I can see how the environment could easily be a big distraction, especially in the explaining part of the task. We were out in an area near to the university, open to the public where there were people walking dogs, taking pictures and talking and therefore not everyone was giving their full attention at all times. Carrying out this task with primary school children, as much as they would find it fun and exciting, I would imagine the explanation part might not be as successful outside due to the natural distractions, and so it might be better to do this part indoors possibly in the form of a poster for example.

Negotiation

For this part of the task we had to approach another group and negotiate to obtain an essential piece of their den. As a team we came together to discuss how we might go about this as it was quite difficult. At this stage in the task everyone’s den was more or less complete and so no one was really willing to part with a now essential item. We decided we would send a few people from our team we thought could be the most persuasive. In the end our team cam back with a large wooden block, which we used as part of our entrance, however in order to acquire this we had to trade some our flooring. It was fun but by no means easy!