Positive Gossiping

The student is able to display openness and embrace growth

Positive gossiping is a proactive and positive way to promote personal growth and development among students.

The proactive framework of Positive Gossiping invites students to exchange in a constructive way, boosting their confidence to open up and engage in personal growth. By sharing appreciative feedback and best practices, students can gain insights into strategies and behaviours that can help them in their personal growth journeys.

Furthermore, this approach cultivates a nurturing and optimistic atmosphere, where students can mutually learn from one another and feel at ease sharing their experiences and obstacles.

Learning outcome

The student is able to display openness and embrace growth

Students share about their personal development journeys with peers and exchange constructive feedback.

1. Metaphor for Personal Development

2 hrs

Please note, this is a home assignment before class.

Before the session, encourage the students to engage in reflective thinking about their personal development by using a metaphor of their choice. The metaphor can be inspired by everyday objects, philosophical concepts or events.

Ask students to prepare a 5-minute presentation centered on their chosen metaphor, where they explain how it relates to their personal growth and the factors that facilitated their progress. Students may choose their presentation format – for example, a show-and-tell, monologue or elevator pitch.

Tip: students can use a set of thought-provoking prompt questions to guide their reflection.

2.Reflective Presentation

7 mins per student

Form groups of 3-4 students. Instruct students to share their presentation one at a time, followed by clarifying questions from peers.

3.Positive Gossip

6 mins per student

The presenting student is asked to turn around and sit with their back to the group.

The other group members engage in a 5-minute appreciative conversation about the preceding presentation, focusing specifically on discussing positive aspects of the student’s personal development. It is essential that the discussion remains positive and uplifting and that the student who presented can hear the conversation, but does not take part in the conversation. During this time, the presenting student keeps their back turned away from the group.

After this positive gossip session, the presenting student re-joins the group and reflects on the discussion for one minute. The student is prompted to highlight anything that stood out to them or that was particularly meaningful from the conversation.

4.Collection of what Works

10 mins per student

The student who delivered the reflective presentation is prompted to identify the behaviours they believe were instrumental in their personal growth. These observations are documented on a flip-chart.

Subsequently, all group members share any behaviours they witnessed or experienced while collaborating with the student that proved effective in facilitating personal growth. These insights are also recorded on the flip-chart.

5.Pattern Recognition

7 mins per student

After all insights have been collected, the group takes 5 minutes to extract patterns or conditions that support personal growth and add these to the flip-chart.

To wrap up, each student briefly reflects, in one minute, on what insights or patterns stood out and why.

Repeat Steps 2 to 5 for every student in the group.

To assess students’ ability to demonstrate openness and embrace growth, peer-assessment is utilised. Reflective peer-assessment plays a significant role in personal and professional development. Through peer-assessment, students receive valuable feedback and insights from others who possess diverse perspectives. Peers can offer unique viewpoints, identify blind spots and provide constructive criticism that may not be readily apparent to the individual. This external perspective enables individuals to gain fresh insights and a broader understanding of their strengths and areas for improvement.

Purpose

Assessment as learning aims to strengthen the learning process and the development of metacognitive skills. It empowers students to direct their own learning and to become independent, critical self-assessors.

Roles

Peer-assessment

When instructing students to perform peer-assessment, consider the following aspects:

Explain the Purpose: clearly communicate why peer-assessment is a valuable learning tool, such as because it encourages active engagement, critical thinking and constructive feedback.
Organise the process: offer clear instructions for who provides feedback to whom, when and how.
Teach Constructive Feedback: teach students how to provide constructive feedback that is specific, actionable and respectful. Encourage them to highlight both strengths and areas for improvement, while offering suggestions for enhancement.
Establish Clear Criteria: provide students with clear assessment criteria that outline the specific aspects they should focus on during the assessment. This will guide their feedback and ensure consistency in evaluating their peers.
Discuss and Reflect on Feedback: after the peer-assessment, encourage students to discuss the feedback they received from their peers. Guide them in reflecting on the insights gained and how they can utilize the feedback to improve their work.

Characteristics

Peer feedback

Materials

Peer-assessment form

Download Peer-assessment form