Lesson 3: How do we catch “as many fish as possible”?

Debriefing and reflection

Lesson description

Stage 1: Debriefing

The students step out of their roles in the fishing game

The teacher makes notes on the flipchart or blackboard, leaving space for a second column.

The students may be expected to express strong feelings:

• Conflict between winners and losers.
• Rich and poor fishermen.
• Destruction of natural resources.
• Decline of total fishing output (impoverishment of the whole fishing community).
• Difficult negotiations, e.g. lack of responsibility, some partners unwilling to co-operate.
• Difficult to obtain vital information. Guessing added to overfishing.
• No authority to enforce rules.
• No reward for responsible fishing policy – fishing less means poverty, and additional catches for the other fishermen.

Stage 2: Reflection

The students explore the ambiguity in the instruction, “Try to catch as many fish as possible”

The teacher explains that the students have outlined a complicated problem. To overcome such problems, the first step is to understand them. As in medicine, the doctor needs a diagnosis before he/she can decide what kind of therapy to apply.

The teacher reminds the students of the instruction they received before they began the fishing game and writes the phrase on the blackboard or flipchart: “Try to catch as many fish as possible”.

The teacher asks the students to recall how they understood this instruction and what their goal was when they defined their fishing quota. They should think about three points:

“Try” – who should try?

“As many as possible” – what is the limit indicated by the word “possible”?

They spend a minute in silence. The teacher then asks for their inputs. The students explain how they understood this instruction, and give their reasons. When a clear picture has emerged, the teacher takes down the key statements on the blackboard (flipchart).

If the students report back that they adopted the perspective of their village, focusing on their inter-ests, if necessary at the expense of others and of the environment, the result would be as in the following table. But perhaps some students include other perspectives, and the result would come closer to the full picture (see second table).

If they have kept to the perspective of increasing their village’s welfare, the result will be striking. The students will see that by their narrow focus on “welfare for us alone” they have collectively brought about the catastrophe.

This gives rise to the question whether the students can imagine any alternative, more constructive readings of the goal “catch as many fish as you can”.

On the other hand, if the students also include other goals, such as protection of fish resources or responsibility for the other villages in the lake community, the contrast between the goal defini-tions becomes immediately apparent.

The students may also check whether the initial instruction should be changed. However, if they agree to the model assumption that fish in the lake are the only protein resource available, they will accept it.

In the end, by whatever path the discussion has taken, the students should have recognised and acknowledged that “catching as many fish as possible” can be defined in different ways, entailing different consequences.

The teacher sums up the students’ inputs and adds them to the board:

This picture may prompt the students to raise new questions.

Clearly, the alternatives are much more sensible than insisting on “welfare for us” at the expense of all, as the outcome will be conflict. But why didn’t we, the players, attempt to balance these objectives from the start, and why was it so difficult to agree on these goals in the negotiations?

Stage 3: The model of sustainability goals

Step 3.1: The students link their discussion to the model

The teacher distributes student handout 4.2 (Model of sustainability goals). The students are given the task of identifying the goal in the model that they have just discussed (“welfare for us” – “welfare for all” – “protection of the environment” – “responsibility for future generations”).

The students respond after a brief period of silent study. They will identify the goals in the triangle on the handout, and, depending on their preceding discussion, further goals.

The teacher refers to the explanatory notes (the meaning of the double pointed arrows, dimensions of the goals: sustainability goals, time dimension, global dimension).

Step 3.2: Setting the homework task: the students prepare an input for the following lesson

The teacher sets the students a piece of homework. They are to prepare an input, to be delivered at the beginning of the following lesson. They receive the following Instructions as a mini-handout (see materials for teachers 4.5).

The teacher has the option of supplying student handout 4.3 to support the students if necessary.