Precious real-plays

I lead real-plays with groups of school and out of school staff. Always, when I check-in around how folks feel about real-plays, many are hesitant if not downright anxious, and a couple always appear visibly giddy! A real-play is a way to understand another's perspective and access greater creativity in how we respond in tricky situations where we're unsure or unsettled. Real-plays are also known social emotional learning activities as we get to experience being someone else and what it's like for them. Real-plays are not an acting exercise per se, although there are always a few that get into it.

In small groups, each team decides which scenario they want to show the larger group. The team's wisdom is leveraged and one or two people real-play the educators or leaders, while the other people are the children or youth. For folks that are observing the real-play, their job is to name the behaviors which are challenging and to acknowledge which strategies the leaders are demonstrating. Strategies can be verbal or non-verbal, such as tone of voice, active listening, body positioning.

What happens with each real-play is that we see the child in their preciousness, in who they are. I kid you not. Each time a real-play happens and a challenging situation is demonstrated, it's like a pause occurs where instead of being stressed, overwhelmed and alone with - what do I do now? we're surrounded by others who also experience these tricky scenarios, and in this space warmth, humor, and compassion flood in for the children we work with, and for ourselves.

If you have not tried real-plays with your team as a way of supporting tricky situations, I invite you to give them a go. If you're looking for facilitated support in this area, let me know.

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