Understanding, engaging and moving forward with groups.

This week we answer the question: What are some of the best ways to UNDERSTAND a group, ENGAGE them and MOVE FORWARD in addressing complex issues?

UNDERSTANDING takes listening and learning.  This could look very different depending on the group. Formally, you can use surveys, forums and research or consider collaborative conversations and seeking points of view more informally through fun engagement and interaction. Be curious…ask questions. Craft ones that are tough, deep, and emotional because its those kinds of questions that get people thinking. Remember to be open, patient and deliberate in all of your approaches within community.

 ENGAGE the group by giving them what they need. Keep brain based engagement principles in mind.  Find what makes things relevant for them.  That might include what is relevant for the group as a whole as well as what is relevant for individual people too.   Create the space, ask phenomenological questions, celebrate together, and hold tons of dialogue.

Then, once you have got people engaged, MOVING FORWARD to address complex issues is the goal. We believe that it is though well planned group process that moves groups to action.  And not just any action – but one that resonates, is well informed and has everyone’s buy-in.

See our related blog on the four steps to dealing with complexity using group processes.

Village Raising Question:

Reflect on what might happen when any of these strategies is skipped or rushed.  What happens when a community builder doesn't really understand the group they are with or if only part of the group is engaged in the topic or issue? How effective is action when not everyone is informed and "bought" it?

Related blogs:

 6 Group Process Tips
Brain Based Engagement Strategies
Find What Binds You

Through the eyes of our children - part 2

Alanna beamed as she told us how a grandmother, unknown to her, stopped her in the hall of the local community centre and asked with obvious awe, "Have you seen the displays from the children?"

For two weeks, wildly creative displays transformed the public library, the community centre and City Hall. The art and writing was much more than a celebration of what children are capable of accomplishing - they were powerful, visual displays of the voices of children - their perspective about what community means to them.

“If we allowed children to show us what they can do rather that merely accepting what they usually do, I feel certain we would be in for some grand surprises.”   Mem Fox

Sixteen child care programs participated in a comprehensive Reggio Emilia inspired project - supported by early childhood care and education instructors Alanna Miller and Theresa Gereluk. Children (from toddlers to 12 years old) led their care providers along a unique and collaborative learning journey to express their thoughts about "community." Most centres took children on walking field trips to see what they noticed, what they were interested in and what was important to them. From there, the children's educational odyssey emerged as they asked questions, explored certain areas and expressed themselves through play and art.

In this small, resource dependent city some common themes seemed to emerge; trucks, fishing and the steam train. How the children depicted these things shed light on how these elements affect their lives.

 

Issues such as housing, the built environment, community identity and "village" relationships emerged into stories, 3-D objects made from recyclables and even rice krispie squares!

Children expressed important aspects of their lives. "I live at Mom's house, it's too long to walk. On bus we go to Ahousaht, its too long to walk. We go on a boat past Nanaimo." Delylah

In one situation, the caregivers noticed how more in-tuned with community events the children were. For example, on a walk the conversation led to discussing a recent apartment fire tragedy.  The children came up with the idea to stop at the grocery store to get food for the families who were now out of their homes. Social responsibility requires being connected to one's community.

Children became incredibly enthusiastic about their ideas being listened to and their ideas taking shape into displays for the whole community to see. This interactive aquarium stood outside the Mayor's office beckoning City staff to take a peak at the stories that the children told about the environments they highly value.

What are the issues that children in your community would highlight?

How can we increase opportunities for a child to actively shaping his or her own learning?

How can we, as adults, apply what we hear from children to community planning and policy making?

Through the eyes of our children - part 1

How does a child's perspective change the way we see community?

Let us take you to Italy, 1945 - the second world war has finally released its grip of oppression. Reggio Emilia is a town in the north where the people sought to recover from the physical and psychological destruction caused by the war. One of the first areas of reform was the creation of schools, physically built and run by the parents and teachers in the community. Local workers, farmers and the Union of Italian Women gathered their strengths to build unique learning environments for their young children. Loris Malaguzzi, a local teacher who worked together with these courageous and insightful women and men to build these early schools, is considered to be the founder of the early childhood approach.  He writes;



A simple, liberating thought came to our aid, namely that things about children and for children are only learned from children.  (Loris Malaguzzi, 1993).

Children are seen as protagonists, collaborators, and communicators.
Teachers are guides and partners.
The environment acts as the third teacher.
By following the lead of the child, learning is grounded in strengths and honours the rights of children.

So what do you imagine happens when children (not in Italy, nor in a "reggio" learning setting) were involved in conversations focused on what they noticed about their community?  What was the result of their expression of "their" community through words and art? What was it that WE learned from seeing our community through the eyes of our children?

What do you think?  Write your comments!

The project that we will highlight over the next few weeks is the brain child of Alanna Miller and Theresa Gereluk, two early childhood education & care college instructors. Along with their phenomenal group of students and a community of willing child care centres, they set about to follow the lead and learn from their children... and boy did we!

photo by ianimmortal available under a Creative Commons Attribution license

Be directional - and use the right tools.

The most detailed map in the world will not be very helpful if the details don't tell you what you need to know. Consider kayaking through the broken group islands (gorgeous!) - if you grabbed an area map from the local gas station - you'd be in big trouble as you try to navigate between Dodd and Turtle islands - and all the rocks in the middle during a turning tide.   On the other hand if you had a navigational chart,  chances are you'd be safe in a kayak but get lost on the car ride home.

Consider the plethora of choices in choosing maps and charts. Knowing what you are going to do with data and information is half the battle - are you driving, hiking, boating, star gazing or drilling for oil?

In a recent survey of workshop participants hoping to increase their knowledge and skills around using data for community planning, a question was asked about HOW they typically used information. The responses described:

1. Making decisions about program priorities and project directions
2. Writing funding applications (justifying the "ask")
3. Seeing trends - how the context in which we work changes
4. Creating an advocacy arsenal in order to effect change with policy makers
5. Informing best practices
6. Celebrating success

Each use is different. Not every piece of information you unearth will be applicable for every purpose.

If information is causing you to be dazed and confused, do a double check. Check your sources. Is it enough?  Sometimes it is a matter of adding additional information to create the whole picture.  Is the information relevant? Other times, you need to be honest and not force a piece of data into a puzzle it doesn't belong in.

Be clear from the start - what are you hoping to do with what you learn?
And..at the risk of getting data obsessed, consider an evaluation process of your data exploration.  Learning from your experiences of what works and what doesn't as you gather, make sense of and apply information can be very useful learning!

RTV - #32 Break the Ice

A Year of Raising the Village: Week #32: Break the Ice

An opportunity for building connections in a community happens when a gathering of people shake off their formal, guarded, business-like demeanor and step lightly into personal topics. People feel good when they are able to share things about themselves. Brief, yet meaningful glimpses, into the lives of your neighbours, colleagues and even policy makers helps to identify what our last week's blog post talked about - the things that bind.



Here are a few easy, non-threatening and actually quite fascinating ideas of things to learn about and share with people;

• favourite children's song or rhyme
• favourite season (and why)
• location of early childhood home
• names of your ancestors 
• what makes your family unique and even "quirky"
• exciting initiatives going on in your organization
• ideas for reducing stress
• traditions  

How?

• If you are part of a work meeting - use these topics as a way of introductions.
• If you are a social media users (whether new or a veteran) - ask your friends and post your own response.
• In your social groups (book clubs, sports teams, service groups) - find ways to bring up more personal interactions formally or informally.
• or try being super random - ask the cashier at the grocery store one of these questions instead of chatting about the weather (imagine how many weather conversations she/he must have over the course of a day!)

As a "village raiser" - challenge yourself to be the first one to - break the ice. 

RTV #14 Embrace Change. Spark Change

A Year of Raising the Village - Week #14. Be the change you wish to see!

Einstein said that we can't solve problems with the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. That means that if we want to see change we have to change ourselves. Change isn't easy for many people. (that is probably an understatement!) As a village raiser, we have the opportunity to set an example by being agents of change. Carla Rieger, a Vancouver based "creativity catalyst" (http://www.artistryofchange.com/) recently shared her top 3 practices in what she describes as the artistry of change.


Choose your attitude.
Fish! (by Stephen Lundin) also does a great job outlining how attitude is all about choice. Feelings are things we can't control, but when it comes to how we approach and respond to situations - we are in the driver's seat. Ask yourself: what attitude are you choosing right now? What attitude do you want in your life more often? What attitude do you want to model in your home, workplace, neighbourhood and community? What attitude will it take to raise the village?


Let go and lean into problems.
Rieger suggests that if the roller coaster of life starts to go downhill, act as if you are confident about dealing with the situation until you also feel confident. It's a "fake it until you make it" or "think it and you'll be it" scenario. Actions and feelings are intertwined. Psychology suggests that the brain tells the body how to feel and then the body acts accordingly. As the roller coaster starts going downhill, pry your white knuckles off the bar, lean into the rapid change in altitude and FEEL (don't resist) the thrill. Recently, a group of innovative village raisers came together getting ready for ACTION! They had talked and explored and researched and were narrowing in on a project that had some exciting potential. The closer the group got to making a decision, people resisted, hesitated and pulled back with increasing force, Rieger calls these folks change-challenged. Take her quiz to find out if you are change-challenged or a change artist - and LEAN in.

Think in possibilities.
Creative thinking can be learned and practiced. Books (and apps) are filled with brain games to generate ideas, create new opportunities and improve old products or processes. Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko is just one resource that we use to break out of traditional patterns of thinking and play around in the innovation sandbox. Gamestorming by Gray, Brown and Mucanufo is another one that has tools for groups. Ask "what if" more often.

Ghandi said be the change you want to see. Can't argue with that! Einstein and Ghandi were pretty smart and both changed the world!

Related blogs:
Take the Change-agent Challenge
Be a Mischief-maker


Village Raising Question: What's the change you are going to be?

RTV #4 - Sharpen Your View! Distribute Cameras to Children and Families

A Year of Raising the Village: Week #4 - Using PhotoVoice with Children and Families

Give children and their families a creative opportunity to contribute their perspective on community. Perspective - literally - through the lens of a camera. Ask them to take photos about their lives in general or about a specific issue. Celebrate their contributions and then USE what you learn in community planning. 


While including the voice of children and families is important it can also be challenging - see our previous blog on listening to parents.  Photovoice is a very special methodology that can be used with citizens of any age.  Here are some links to give you some more direction and inspiration. They offer examples of the power of photovoice with children and families!

Children as Photographers This research study looks at children as photographers. It is a large-scale research project looking at how and why children take photographs – which can shed some light on how to approach a photovoice project and give some realistic expectations of children at different ages.

Kids With Cameras Kids with Cameras was founded in 2002 by photographer Zana Briski out of her work teaching photography to children in Calcutta's red-light district. She believes that photography is an effective tool in igniting children's imagination and building self-esteem.

The New Orleans Kids Camera Project The New Orleans Kid Camera Project was created to address the psychological and emotional impacts of Hurricane Katrina on children returning home to New Orleans. Through the use of photography, creative writing and mixed media, children from flooded neighborhoods explore their environment and express themselves, their stories and feelings with their friends

PhotoVoice These projects uses photography to enable those that have traditionally been the subject of such work to become its creator - to have control over how they are perceived by the rest of the world, while simultaneously learning a new skill which can enhance their lives.

PhotoVoice – St. Louis Maternal Child and Family Health Coalition

The photography project was part of a PhotoVoice Empowerment Initiative in which the mothers were asked to create a window on their neighborhoods, their needs and perhaps illuminate why health and prosperity remain so elusive.

Village Raising Tip:

Not only will organizers learn a TON from the children and families who contribute – but the participants, themselves, will feel a sense of ownership and belonging to an inclusive community planning process. 

Be a Mischief-maker

Be a Mischief-maker!
Photo Copyright Tammy Dewar

We are huge Seth Godin fans. His little nuggets of counter-intuitive thinking evoke something deeply motivating and, to be honest, uncomfortable. His opinions shoot out like little burrs that get stuck in the brain and, frankly, bug us until we translate his “business” and “marketing” focused brilliance into something that is relevant as community developers.

His book “Tribes” appealed first because of the title with it’s very village-like sound.  For the first two/thirds, we found it validating and aligned with our penchant towards change and innovation; it was like preaching to the converted. By the time we got to the last 100 pages we were feverish with anticipation to sink our teeth into something.  He did not disappoint.

After closing the book we were determined to be more of a mischief-maker than I ever was before. He convinced us that leadership requires more bravery and if we want to change things, improve things and create a better future…we simply have to do things differently than what has been done before.

“If you are not over the top, you’re not going to have any chance at all of making things happen.”  (pg 86)

When we look around at the work done in the area of the early years and the people who have done the work, we want to celebrate the consistent, focused, caring diligence of these individuals who GET it (that our society can prevent many social issues by investing in quality early years for children). We are also compelled to shout out a call to action: Let’s not work our tails off to maintain the status quo! 

Usually fear gets in the way of positive change. Along with fear of the unknown (which takes a little confidence) there is the fear of being criticized. Lets not worry about potential criticism when we make great things happen. Lets reframe criticism as an earned “ badge of honour” because it means we have blown away people’s expectations. Let’s raise a little mischief and start being remarkable.

Village Raising Question:

How can you create something that critics will criticize because it challenges the status quo?

Sparkling Dream Catcher

Photo Copyright - Tammy Dewar

Think not of the things you do well but of the things you are proud of, the things that instinctively put a spring in your step or a song in your heart. (Raising the Village, 2009).

This statement takes me back to a time when I facilitated a young parent group. Picture a diverse group of young mothers gathered around a table in a school room, unsure of their connection to each other, or the parenting group. Intent on getting to the heart of working together, questions were posed such as, “What would you like to share with each other? How can we share things that matter to us?” Quiet was the response... until one girl spoke up.

“I can make dream catchers.”
“Awesome! What’s important about making dream catchers?” I asked.

This mother proceeded to tell the group how it was an important part of her culture and how she had made a special dream catcher to hang above her child’s crib to ward off bad dreams and bring restful sleep (and you know that statement has an impact on any new parent)!

This intimate disclosure of parental love was the spark to get the group ideas flowing. One by one, the participants expressed areas that fired them up- the sharing was phenomenal. Future meetings were planned based on identified strengths which brought personal meaning to each participant. The dream catcher session was a highlight! A group of young mothers gathered in a circle making dream catchers filled with colour and love for their children. As the young parent led the group that day, she not only instructed others how to weave and twine the materials around the rim, she sparkled with a deep inner confidence that was powerful to witness. The opportunity to teach her crafting skill (and something close to her heart) with the other parents seemed to take her to a place that was rich in belief – belief in herself and her talents. What resulted was a group connection woven through the dream catchers and the people... providing a feeling of voice, unity and strength.
Tammy

Village Raising Question

What makes you sparkle with confidence? How might you share your “dream catcher” sparkle with others in your community? Notice how this might build a collective strength.

Note: This story is edited and adapted based on a story in our book Raising the Village (2009).