Felt, leaves and branches & student group work

Ketso is a hands-on kit for creative groupwork

Aims of the session Introduce Ketso Mini exercise to experience Ketso (explore student group work) learn from each other – share ideas and practice Introduce how Ketso can be used in teaching

‘Ketso’ means action in Lesotho, where it was invented in 1995

Women didn’t speak in mixed gender groups

Ketso was used in Southern Africa to help communities change this...

…to this: sustainable living

Ketso has been used in contexts ranging from Tesco (180 staff)

… to engaging with stakeholders of all ages and backgrounds in health related issues

… to community development and engagement in Jordan, Rwanda, South Africa & Bangladesh

… to teaching and learning at all levels

Introducing the kit – Write /draw on leaves

1 idea per leaf, write so others can read

Coloured leaves for different questions (write on the coloured side)

Time on your OWN to develop ideas…

…before reading out ideas one-by-one, going around the circle & placing on the felt

Student group work What works well? Challenges and problems Solutions to challenges

Student group work What works well? What in what we already do is effective?

Point leaves at branches

Branches provide themes, some blanks

Enhancing the student experience What works well? What in what we already do is effective? Table swap – what is important, & why? Any comments or questions?

Student group work What works well? Challenges and problems – think of a KEY challenge

You can move ideas around

Student group work What works well? Challenges and problems Solutions to challenges

You can think ‘outside of the box’

Cluster similar ideas

Ketso grid for action plan

Make productive use of people’s time

Give everyone a voice – commitment

Harness creativity of people all levels

Students engage with each other

Ideas being heard In past experiences of group work, I have often taken a backseat in group discussion as other more outspoken characters tend to hold the discussion. Using Ketso, it is also possible to set aside individual thinking time and sharing time... I enjoyed Ketso as I felt it gave everyone a higher sense of equality.

Students learn from each other

Developing ideas One of the things I was amazed at was that we had so many ideas, as a group we were bouncing ideas off each other taking one member’s idea and developing it. This made me very optimistic about the future of the module and strengthened my positive attitude, which has continued throughout the module.

See ideas develop

Time management This session again really made me think about time management, as we used Ketso to display a timeline from now until the presentation date. I knew we were pushed for time but actually stopping and reviewing the situation by analysing what we had to do and by when really made myself and the group a lot more effective and efficient in our decisions.

Supports effective groupwork Problems, issues, and solutions arose which potentially wouldn’t have entered my mind, whilst experiencing our group connect and energise each other. I have to say, I was impressed.

Allows you to give feedback

Allows peers to give feedback One area of the workshop I found extremely beneficial was moving around to view the other groups’ emerging Ketsos. I felt that I got the most out of this part of the workshop as it provided independent observations with regard to our Ketso maps, providing comments and approval where appropriate. Viewing the development of others’ ideas enabled me to change my perceptions and think ‘outside the box’.

Embedded inclusive education

International students can engage The Ketso is particularly useful for me to communicate with members. My English level is low… It makes me difficult to actively participate group projects. Last semester I could not insist my opinion… However, with the great tool covering many different kinds of group meetings I was able to clearly suggest my thought on a meeting.

Widening participation and access

Supports students with dyslexia “ I like the fact it is so visual, you can really see your ideas and the links between them and other people’s ideas… I like the way you can move the ideas around, it makes it practical and is more inviting than a list.”

Skills development (e.g. enterprise education - Durham, Sussex, Cambridge, Birmingham, Newcastle, Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester, Surrey, Austen Texas)

Students use to engage with clients We used Ketso in our meetings with the client and found it extremely useful and beneficial as a communication tool. We then had a permanent visual representation of the client’s thoughts surrounding the project, which we could use to inform our own ideas. The skills I learnt when using Ketso will also prove useful for the future.

Student Feedback Undergraduate Level2 Settlement Project From reflective learning journals (73 returned) 58 positive mentions 7 neutral/mixed 3 negative 5 not mentioned Feedback forms (48 returned) 33 positive responses on the use of Ketso as a toolkit in the class 8 neutral/mixed 5 negative responses 3 no responses

Student Feedback Undergraduate Level1 Environment and Society Feedback forms (41 returned) 31 positive responses on the use of Ketso as a toolkit in the class 6 neutral/mixed 3 negative 1 not mentioned

Data gathering – e.g. focus groups

Ideas can be captured and typed up

…for later analysis.

Public engagement with research

Returning knowledge to Peru “... It was good because we have all given ideas.” “... we are used to being dictated too, so it is nice to be able to give our ideas.” “... we are not used to thinking about such things, we are normally told what to do.” C.Furlong & J.Tippett, 2011

Urban regeneration and systems thinking

… working to develop a vision for a sustainable North Manchester

Local enthusiasm from the planning process moved a former landfill site from 30 th ….

... to first on the list. The site received £1.7 million of Newlands funding.

Reaction from North Manchester Resident “Because a lot of people are like me and they are not good at speaking if there are more than two or three people around, but they have things to say. This is magnificent at getting people to participate, and very important”

Launched as a company in 2009

Social mission - Transform the way we communicate, collaborate and learn worldwide

Business model – helping people run good workshops by selling & renting kits…

…. & providing free open source resources: workshop plans, slideshows, training videos

Create job opportunities for disadvantaged people in manufacture

The kits are assembled in a sheltered workshop in the UK

Customers include: Universities: Manchester Newcastle Durham Cambridge Hull Sheffield Leeds Liverpool Worcester Edinburgh Glasgow Lancaster Salford Pretoria Austin Texas

Customers include: Public Sector: Merseycare NHS National School of Government Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Environment Agency Cumbria County Council, South Lakes District Council Voluntary Sector: The Equality Network GroundWork Schumacher Institute The IONA Community The Big Life Company Private Sector: Tesco United Utilities