Paul Clarke muses on the morality of his own eavesdropping. Interesting stuff.
As someone who works in training/facilitation I was quite engaged by the eavesdropped rail employee who was in recovery from a recent course.
I cringed a little both for him and also for whoever ran the course. It’s no fun trying to cajole people into activities. It’s no fun being cajoled. I do try to make all such things optional as the most sane route through this.
The prospect of “role play” is likely to strike dread into someone’s heart in any group. Done with sensitivity it can create more exciting learning than any amount of theory or argument. It’s a question of people feeling able to get to the edge of but not outside their comfort zone. And that means having the option to watch and not play.
What’s interesting is people who “don’t do role play” often opt to watch from the sidelines. And then find themselves expressing strong opinions on the scene they’re watching… and with that engagement, they’ll often be up for having a go after all.
Mind you, if the scene is all about classifying customers by some four-part colour scheme, I’d probably be outside the room with the train guard having a grumble myself.
