Making room for every voice

Learning intention By the end of this lesson, students can use a question, an invitation or a short silence to help more people take part in a group task.

This classroom lesson is the base for session 6 of Ten sessions for advocates.

Time: 41 minutes
How the room works: Groups of four or five
You need: Three paper tokens per student, or three fingers; one neutral challenge per group
Opens with: Making it rain

Before you start

Keep the challenge neutral and the reflection private. Speaking must remain invitational, and students should be able to contribute by writing, hosting or listening.

Read the full safeguarding note Adapting it for your class A note home for this lesson

Trees bending under dark clouds in a rainstorm — Illustration by RecipesforWellbeing.org, CC BY-NC 4.0

Why this matters

Groups shape much of school life, from friendships and group chats to lessons and teams. A group works more fairly when participation does not depend on being the quickest or loudest person in the room. Collaboration asks us to contribute and to notice what would help others contribute too.

Skill in context Helping a group take part in inclusive, participatory and caring dialogue.

On the skill of hosting conversations Try the interactive practice

1

Open with “Making it rain”

5 min

Use Making it rain to let the class build one sound together without speaking. Lead clearly and allow students to join with smaller movements or by listening.

Read aloud

We are going to make the sound of a rainstorm together. This one gets loud, so if that is hard today you can rub your palms only, or just watch. Follow my hands and begin by rubbing your palms as the wind starts to rise.

Add the first drops by clicking your fingers, move into steady rain by clapping, and then pat your legs or desk for the downpour.

We will bring the storm down in the opposite order until the room becomes quiet again.

Notice how the sound changed when we watched, listened and adjusted to one another.

Listen for Watch whether everyone can follow the pace and whether the volume remains comfortable. Joining quietly or listening should count as taking part.

2

Teacher explanation

10 min

Collaboration means helping a group think together. That matters most when people bring different ideas, different levels of confidence and different ways of speaking up.

No one person is responsible for making a group inclusive, and an invitation to speak should never become pressure. Useful hosting moves include asking an open question, leaving time to think, checking whose idea has not been heard, and making room for writing or another form of contribution.

Questions for the room

What helps you know that your contribution is welcome in a group?
What can close a conversation even when nobody intends to exclude anyone?
How can a group make room for quieter contributions without putting someone on the spot?

3

Everyone in

18 min

Give each group a neutral task, such as designing a useful 15-minute break or inventing a game with three ordinary objects.
Give everyone three voice tokens. Each time a student speaks, they use one; when the tokens are gone, they move into listening and hosting.
Name a first host whose task is to ask questions, hold short silences and make several ways of contributing available. Rotate the host halfway through.
Run the challenge for eight minutes. If a group stalls, offer a question rather than an answer.
Ask each group to agree on one response and identify a hosting move that helped the conversation.
Gather one sentence from each group about its idea and one about how it made room for participation.

4

Private reflection

6 min

Think of a group that works well, whether real or imagined. What does it do to make participation easier, and which hosting move could you try in a future group?

How they reflect Private journal

5

Closing

2 min

At the start, the room made one rainstorm by noticing and responding to other people. Collaboration grows through the same small choices: offering an idea, and leaving enough room for another voice to arrive.

Safeguarding

Keep the challenge neutral and the reflection private. Speaking must remain invitational, and students should be able to contribute by writing, hosting or listening. If exclusion or bullying is disclosed, do not investigate it in the group; follow usual safeguarding and pastoral procedures.

If something a young person says gives you concern, follow your setting’s usual safeguarding route. This is not yours to carry alone.

Adapting it

Ages 13 to 15: Keep groups to four, use a playful task and model two hosting questions students can borrow. A visible timer will help the activity stay clear.
Ages 16 to 18: Use a task with genuine trade-offs and invite students to notice power, airtime and whose ideas are credited. Extend the discussion to online groups.

In other settings

Form time: Use the rainstorm, then run one short challenge with voice tokens and a named host.
Assembly: Make the rainstorm together, then introduce several hosting moves from the front without asking for personal examples.
Small group: Complete one shared challenge and pause halfway through to notice whose ideas have entered the plan and what would widen participation.

Curriculum connections

Australia, Personal and Social Capability: Social management — collaboration; communicationChecked by AI review against Australian Curriculum Version 9.0, General capabilities: Personal and Social capability, its elements and sub-elements on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Brazil, BNCC: Empathy and cooperation (GC 9) — dialogue and cooperation; Communication (GC 4) — sharing ideas towards mutual understandingNot yet checked against its source.
Canada, BC Core Competencies: Collaborating — supporting group interactions; Social Awareness and Responsibility — creating space for others' voicesNot yet checked against its source.
Canada, Ontario HPE: Interpersonal skills — teamwork, working collaboratively towards a common goal (1.4); communication (1.3) · Gr 7–8: A1.4Not yet checked against its source.
Chile, Orientación: Belonging and participation — teamwork that values each member's contribution (OA 7, 7°–8°); dialogue, diverse opinions (OA 8)Not yet checked against its source.
England, PSHE: Relationships: forming and maintaining respectful relationships, team working and active listening (KS3 R15, R16)Checked by AI review against the PSHE Association's Programme of Study for PSHE education, Key stages 1 to 5, 2020 wording (read from a school-hosted copy, 2023/24) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
England, RSHE: Respectful relationships: communicating respectfully (statement 5)Checked by AI review against the DfE's Relationships education, relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education guidance in force from 1 September 2026 on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Finland, Transversal competences: L2 Cultural competence, interaction and self-expression — cooperation and interaction situations; L7 — negotiating, being heardNot yet checked against its source.
Ghana, Core competencies: Communication and Collaboration — sharing ideas through dialogue; Core value — teamwork/collaborationNot yet checked against its source.
Hong Kong, Values Education: Unity (團結); Respect for Others (尊重他人) — friendly, accepting collaboration with peers (S1–S3)Not yet checked against its source.
India, NEP: Collaboration and teamwork; Oral and written communication (NEP 4.23)Checked by AI review against the National Education Policy 2020, final English text (July 2020, the PIB-hosted copy) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Indonesia, Graduate profile: Collaboration (kolaborasi) — cooperating in diverse groups (kelompok yang beragam); Communication (komunikasi)Not yet checked against its source.
Ireland, Junior Cycle Wellbeing: Respected — being listened to and valued; Connected — how my interactions affect the wellbeing of othersNot yet checked against its source.
Japan, Courses of Study: Moral education C — better school and group life: one's role and responsibility in a group (よりよい学校生活，集団生活の充実)Not yet checked against its source.
Kenya, Competency-based curriculum: Communication and Collaboration — collaborative learning and teamwork; Core value — unityNot yet checked against its source.
Mexico, Nueva Escuela Mexicana: Ways of being, thinking, acting and relating — mutual understanding and shared decisions; Axis: InclusionNot yet checked against its source.
New Zealand, Health and PE: Relationships with other people — interpersonal skills; KAL mental health — working co-operatively to achieve common goalsNot yet checked against its source.
Scotland, Health and wellbeing: Social wellbeing — valuing individuals equally, a welcoming place for all (HWB 3-10a); being part of a group (HWB 3-14a)Checked by AI review against Education Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence, Health and wellbeing: experiences and outcomes on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Singapore, CCE: SEC: social awareness and relationship managementChecked by AI review against MOE's 2021 Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) Syllabus, Secondary on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
South Africa, Life Orientation: Democracy and human rights — democratic participation and representation (Gr 11); Development of the self in society — effective communication (Gr 12)Not yet checked against its source.
United States, CASEL: relationship skills; social awarenessChecked by AI review against the CASEL Framework (2020), as published on casel.org on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
European Union, LifeComp: S3 Collaboration — eliciting the expression of different views (S3.3); S2 Communication — managing conversations (S2.2)Not yet checked against its source.
Middle East and North Africa, UNICEF life skills: Cooperation — working respectfully with diverse teams; Participation — making room for every voiceNot yet checked against its source.
IB, ATL: Social: collaboration skills (encouraging others to contribute)Checked by AI review against the IB's MYP: From principles into practice, Approaches to learning (for use from September 2014/January 2015, a school-hosted copy) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
OECD Learning Compass: Skills: social and emotional skills (collaboration); Student agency: co-agencyChecked by AI review against the OECD Learning Compass 2030 concept notes Skills for 2030 and Core Foundations for 2030 (2019) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
UNESCO SEL: EmpathyChecked by AI review against MGIEP's page naming the four competencies, with their definitions from summaries of Rethinking Learning (MGIEP, 2020), which could not be opened on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
WHO life skills: Interpersonal relationship skills — helping a group work well together; Effective communication — expressing and inviting viewsNot yet checked against its source.
Inner Development Goals: Collaborating: Co-Creation Skills; Collaborating: Communication SkillsChecked by AI review against the Inner Development Guide's 25 skills across 5 dimensions (idg.guide, 2025) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Sessions for advocates, capacities: Establish connection: the base for session 6Checked by AI review against the three capacities of Ten sessions for advocates, as the sessions on /advocates/ name them on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.