Learning negotiation skills in a fun way while building economy of a region
Last week, our fourth graders at B. K. Convent participated actively in a simulation negotiation exercise. The exercise started with allocation of natural resources to different teams. The teams elected their own leaders. These teams invested in establishing businesses and infrastructure based on advantage provided to them by the resource allocated to them. The team with mountains invested initially in setting up wind energy unit while the team with forests set up a timber plan in its early investment. The children also realized the importance of education and health and were quick to establish schools and hospitals. Then came the interesting part where children negotiated with each other to get more resources in exchange for the resources they have. To our surprise four out of six teams in the end were able to negotiate and get the needed resources within the stipulated time. Had we little more time the other teams were also on verge of reaching a deal. These skills are aimed to help children become better at strategizing, engaging with others and getting them to act towards common goals. We plan to introduce this content to children from other schools after incorporating the learning from this workshop. We are thankful to Ariana for joining us as a facilitator in conducting this workshop.