During this course, you will meet with your peer group once a week, six times in total. It is good to book at least 45 minutes for each meeting, and, for the first meeting, at least an hour. In the best case, the discussions are a good opportunity to get to know new people and at the same time share thoughts on important themes! However, a group of randomly selected people doesn't always become a peer group just by itself. In reality, the experience is affected by many things; luckily a large part of which we can influence ourselves!

To ensure a good group experience for all, we hope that everyone in the peer-group commits to the following guidelines:

  • Being heard, seen and taking and giving space: Everyone is welcome as they are, and each of you can decide how much of your thoughts you want to share with others. A good way to start is to do a “How are you today?”-circle at the beginning of each meeting, where everyone can share how they have been. When you discuss the thoughts and ideas about the materials of the week, make sure that everyone gets to share their own observations and that everyone is listened to.
  • Respect and trust: Of course, you can talk about your own experiences during this course with people outside your group. However, make sure to always keep experiences and personal stories shared by other members, within your own group; especially if you haven’t asked their permission to share those. Respecting the confidentiality is important for building trust within your group. However, if you are concerned or worried about something or someone in your group, you can contact the study psychologists of the course at a low threshold and discuss confidentially.
  • Commitment: The focus of the group is peer support, so please try to attend the meetings every time. If you can't make it, let the rest of the group know as soon as possible. Remember, you can come even when you are not “having a good day”: you don't have to be in your “optimal” state of mind, or fake that you are doing fine, if you are not. We hope to normalize that we are all human-beings, and we all have good days and bad days, and also our energy-levels can vary from day to day, and still, you are valued members of the group!
  • Equality and safety: It is absolutely important that everyone is respected as an individual in discussions. You can disagree on things, but always try to keep the discussion in a good, appreciative atmosphere, where it is also safe to say different views out loud. However, sometimes there are unintentional mistakes, and it can never be completely avoided. If you find yourself offending someone else, talk about it and remember to apologize. If you feel that you or someone else is being insulted, it is essential to try to intervene and deal with the situation at that moment or as soon as possible after the situation.

Giving genuinely constructive feedback or criticism about another's behavior or actions usually includes the following steps:

  1. Ask the feedback recipient's opinion on the matter first
  2. Share your direct observations (= real facts that can be observed), not your own interpretations
  3. Tell about your own feelings evoked by the other person's actions or behavior
  4. If possible, give concrete suggestions of what should be done differently

This course is shaped according to wishes and needs, so we, the course teachers, are happy to receive development suggestions already during the course! For example, you can write these suggestions on your group assignments and/or answer individual weekly feedback questions.

Remember the opportunity for individual discussions with Aalto's wellbeing-staff, especially if you have a need to discuss about some topic more or your situation might require a more individual approach than group-discussions can offer.

We wish everyone very rewarding and pleasant peer group meetings!

Senast redigerad: måndag, 26 februari 2024, 19:28