Getting to know myself

Before you start goal setting, it is useful to explore where you are now, what you have achieved, what you value, and what your dreams are. You can think about who you are, your personality, experience, skills, and interests. After getting to know yourself a little more, it may then be possible to talk about dreams and start to think about goals.

The “A Dream That Walks” resource by Anne Moore contains a lot of activities that you can work through with a learner. Each activity is designed to be used with adults with lower literacy and includes speaking, listening, reading, thinking and writing exercises. There are multiple copies of this resource in the LU library.

Here are some activities Anne Moore suggests that you could try in a session:

You can try them now with your learner, if you want:

1. Use the Whiteboard in Zoom to draw your learner’s lifeline (click here for an example lifeline). Use the lines to show ups and downs and write the important events that happened to this point. Talk about the lifeline – what did you learn at each stage?
2. Talk about hobbies and interests, talents and gifts. Create a mind-map with pictures and vocabulary. Ask your learner – what do you miss doing at the moment? Why are you missing out?
3. Do a questionnaire – e.g. what you value – it’s a good reading exercise as well as a way to help someone see what is important to them.
4. Do a personality activity – open this Powerpoint, follow the instructions, then return here to look at the answers.
5. Complete a skills and interests checklist – or ask your learner to write down the skills they think they have. Ask them for examples. If you want to see examples – ask Steph to join your breakout group and show you some resources you could use.
6. Draw a new lifeline – this one looking forward. What do you want your lifeline to look like over the next 10 years?

When you have finished, click here to go to Exploring Goals with a Learner