wiki_ghostguild/content/wiki/cooperative-foundations/peer-support-playbook/session-guides/session-1-coop-principles-and-power.md

title	collection	path	parentDocument	outlineId	createdBy
Session 1: Coop Principles and Power	Cooperative Foundations	Cooperative Foundations/Peer Support Playbook/Session Guides/Session 1: Coop Principles and Power	Session Guides	c6a0ee07-8c24-41f3-9975-e54955e84b5c	Jennie R.F.

Session content: See Session 1: Coop Principles and Power for the full curriculum.

What happens in session

In this session, we cover cooperative history and lineages, crediting Global South, Indigenous, Black, women's traditions, not just Rochdale. We also review the 7 ICA Principles. Some question prompts for getting your team to think about how the principles connect to work in their studio: ICA Values Connections www

The theme is moving from principles to personal values.

:::tip Homework assigned: individual journaling, team values map (with PS), and individual prep for The Talk (Session 2).

:::

👀 Your role during session

• Observe small group activity (cooperative lineage sharing) – note whose stories are shared
  • you will be auto-sorted into a random mixed group with another peer support and 3-5 participants
• Listen for how studios talk about values – vague or specific?

This week's Studio Support Meeting: Values Mapping

📚 Materials

• Studio Miro board with Values Mapping template
• 7 Principles reference

👆 Before the session

• Confirm everyone completed their individual journaling (Session 1 homework)
• Ensure the studio Miro board has the template
• Have the 7 Principles visible (on the board or screen-shared)

🌊 Session flow

Check-in (5 min)

Individual sharing (15-20 min) – Each person shares 3-5 values from their individual reflection.

Prompts:

• "What values came up when you did the journaling?"
• "You don't need to explain or justify."

As they share: each person adds values to the Miro board (stickies in their colour/section). No discussion – just capture.

Watch for: Someone dominating or going first every time; someone staying quiet – invite them in gently; values that sound the same but might mean different things to different people.

Noticing patterns (10-15 min)

Look at the board together.

Prompts:

• "What do you notice?"
• "Where do you see overlap?"
• "Any surprises?"
• "Are there values that seem similar but might mean different things to different people?"

Example to offer: "Transparency" – does it mean open documents? Open conversations? Both? Neither? What exactly is meant?

Connecting to the 7 Principles (10 min)

Look at the ICA principles together.

Prompts:

• "Do you see connections between your values and these principles?"
• "Draw lines or group things if it helps." – This can be loose – don't let them fixate on making a beautiful diagram. The point is seeing that their values connect to a larger cooperative tradition.

To bring back to Session 2 (5 min)

Prompts:

• "What's one thing you learned about where your team aligns or diverges?"
  • You'll share this in Session 2 – doesn't need to be polished. Have someone write it down or capture it on the board.

Community agreements contribution (5 min)

"Based on this conversation, are there 1-2 values you'd propose adding to the cohort community agreements?" Capture these to bring back to the full group.

⭐ Tips

If someone is dominating:

• "Let's hear from someone who hasn't shared yet."

If no one talks… awkward silence:

• "Take a minute to look at the board silently. What stands out?"

If tension emerges:

• "Sounds like there are some different perspectives here. That's useful but we don't need to resolve it today."

If they want to debate definitions:

• "It's okay to mean different things. The goal is simply to notice where you might need to clarify later."

If time runs short:

• Prioritize steps 2-3 (sharing and noticing). The principles connection and agreements contribution can be done async if needed.

🏁After the session

• Note any tensions/surprises for your PS check-in
• Remind the team to bring their learnings to Session 2

👉 Also this week

Make sure they're prepping for The Talk

Session 2 homework includes individual prep on four topics: financial reality, time/availability, skills/contributions, decision-making styles.

:::warning They need to write their answers down before Session 2. Check that they're doing this!

:::

🚩 Red flags to watch for

• A studio that can't name any values beyond "we want to make good games" – don't we all! Too vague.
• One person speaking for the group about "our" values
• Values that are all abstract with no grounding in practice