Creating Tribes in Middle School
Forming a sense of fun, friendship, and community.
Presenters
Amy Riga
and
Linda Lucas
Western Placer Unified School
District
What Should You Know About
Working with Middle School
Students
• They are curious
• Are able to think creatively
• Prefer being active over passive learning
experiences
• Relate to real life problems or situations
• Enjoy analyzing data
• Are egocentric
• Are experiencing many physical
changes
• Some are ready to assume leadership
roles
• Crave positive attention from adults
What is Tribes?
• Early 70’s: Concerns regarding
student motivation to learn, test
scores, behavior problems, and
teachers leaving the teaching
profession.
• Pilot program began involving
26 elementary school teachers.
• Small learning groups, in which
they referred to as “tribes”.
The Tribes Mission
“To assure the healthy
development of every
child in the school
community so that each
has the knowledge, skills,
and resiliency to be
successful in our rapidly
changing world”
How does it work?
The tribes process develops a
positive environment that
promotes human growth
and learning.
How?
By learning to build a
community through three
stages of group
development using
agreements.
Tribes Learning Community
Community Agreements
Learning how to build community
through three stages of group
development by using four
agreements among students and
adults.
AGREEMENTS:
• Attentive Listening
• Appreciation/no put-downs
• The right to pass
• Mutual respect
Inclusion
1.
2.
3.
Each person must be able
to introduce themselves, not
just by stating a name, by
offering something about
themselves.
Each person must express
their hopes/expectations for
what will happen during
their time together.
Each person needs to be
acknowledged by the
group as having been
heard, appreciated, and
welcomed.
Influence (to feel valued by the group)
Facilitator leads groups to:
1. Express diverse attitudes,
opinions, positions, and
personal feeling
2. Put forth ideas without others
passing judgment and help
people respect individual
differences
3. Use participatory methods of
decision making so all group
members feel they are
influential and of value to the
group
4. Help members share
leadership
Community
Community requires:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Dedication to resolving rather
than avoiding uncomfortable
problems
Learning and practicing
collaboration skills
Agreements about how we will
treat each other
Time to reflect on how well we
are doing
Practical Application
Linda’s Middle School
Program
Activity 1
Forming Tribes
Activity 2
Declaring your Tribe
Reflection Question
What are things to consider when
doing this activity with middle
school students?
Activity 3
People Hunt
Reflection Question
How do you think this activity
would benefit your program?
Question and Answer Session