Coordinating reflection

Chapter 7 deals with the debriefing sessions which, after the conclusion of cooperation and trust games, stimulate children’s collective reflections on their previous experience. Debriefing sessions are supposed to promote appreciation of the ways in which sociality is constructed, and acknowledgement of a deeper common ground in terms of fundamental values, on the basis of which intercultural citizenship can be established. Thus, a crucial question is: how is reflection sustained in debriefing sessions? Reflection is often the outcome of a dis-empowering monologue relying on competence-related hierarchies between adults and children, where adults try to control the interaction. The promotion of creative forms of reflection, where children’s active participation brings about new meanings, is evident only in some interactions.