Developing educational support plans for these children is rarely a straightforward task: it involves navigating diverse perspectives, managing complex emotions, and finding shared understanding within a team. To foster more meaningful dialogue and collective ownership of ideas, LeGO experimented with the fishbowl technique during their educational team sessions. This approach proved to be not only engaging but also transformative in how they co-create strategies for inclusion and educational support.
What Is the Fishbowl technique?
The fishbowl is a participatory discussion format designed to balance openness, structure, and reflection. A small group of participants—usually four or five—sit in a circle at the center (the fishbowl), surrounded by the rest of the participants who observe from outer circles.
In an open fishbowl, one chair in the inner circle remains empty, allowing anyone from the outer circle to join the conversation at any time. When a new participant enters, someone from the inner circle voluntarily steps out, ensuring the conversation remains focused and dynamic. The process continues with participants moving in and out, bringing fresh perspectives and lived experiences into the dialogue. The moderator’s role is to introduce the topic, facilitate transitions, and synthesize key insights at the end.
Applying the Fishbowl at LeGO
LeGO used the fishbowl technique to explore key challenges related to educational support for children at risk of social exclusion, focusing on both personal and contextual barriers. The approach mirrored many of the dynamics we encounter daily in educational planning teams:
- Managing self and others’ positions: The circular setting prompted participants to be conscious of their own role within the group—whether as speaker or listener—and to negotiate their participation with respect and awareness.
- Balancing voice and silence: The physical structure of the fishbowl naturally distributed airtime. Those in the outer circle practiced active listening, while those in the inner circle learned to use their speaking time purposefully and concisely.
- Dwelling into problems: Rather than rushing to solutions, the conversation unfolded in layers. As new participants entered, they introduced different angles—emotional, pedagogical, or social—that deepened collective understanding.
- Reaching consensus and shared insight: Through this flow of dialogue, the group often arrived at more grounded, shared perspectives, based not only on professional reasoning but also on empathy and mutual respect.
- Acquiring new perspectives and information: The openness of the process allowed participants to contribute experiences from different educational contexts, broadening the group’s collective repertoire of strategies.
Why the Fishbowl works in educational contexts
The strength of the fishbowl lies in its capacity to model inclusion—the very principle we aim to promote in our educational work. It gives everyone a voice, but in a structured and respectful way. The constant movement between the inner and outer circles represents, metaphorically, the dynamics of teamwork: sometimes we are active contributors, sometimes attentive listeners, but all roles are essential to the collective outcome.
Moreover, the fishbowl method encourages reflective practice. It creates space to pause, observe, and re-enter with greater awareness. For educators working with children in complex social situations, this reflective stance is crucial—it allows teams to move beyond reactive problem-solving toward more empathetic and systemic approaches.
