“FROM”
Core Themes:
Identity, authenticity + belonging
Racism (internalized, interpersonal and systemic)
Cultural appropriation
Lesson Goals/Objectives:
Explore identity and the lands and cultures we are from and where we are now.
Recognize things that we don’t often talk about, but that actually matter a lot four our lives!
Share experiences thoughts and feelings.
Estimated Time: 75-120 mins
WORKSHOP Outline and Detailed Instructions
Modelling decolonizing practices / learning about local Indigenous Territories
We encourage you to make the acknowledgments heart-felt and personal; to do them in way that meaningfully reflects the importance of naming the traditional territories upon which the workshop is taking place, and situating this practice as part of ongoing work to unsettle deeply internalized colonial relationships to the land and each other.
Check out these sample Territory Acknowledgments with KimMortal + JB The First Lady:
VIDEO
- Workshop Intro / Goals and Objectives – 5 minutes
- Diversity Brainstorm – 7 minutes
- Community Agreements- 8 minutes
WORKSHOP:
- Territorial acknowledgements – 5 minutes 5 min
- Workshop Intro / Goals and Objectives – 5 minutes
- Diversity Brainstorm – 7 minutes
- Community Agreements- 8 minutes
- Video Intro + “Relate, Resonate, Contemplate” Worksheet – 5 minutes
- Watch Video: “From…” – 12 minutes
- Feelings Activity – 5 minutes
- Reflection Exercises + Closing – 3 options (25, 45, and 60+ minutes)
PRE-WORKSHOP PREP Here
WORKSHOP INTRO Here
- We are going to be working together on the topics of the lands and cultures we are from and where we are now.
- We will be recognizing things that we don’t often talk about, but that actually matter a lot four our lives!
- It’s going to take some courage and some good listening, and you will have the chance to share your experience and your thoughts and feelings.
Include a personal intro here too, noting your personal connection to the issues being addressed if it feels right
Our Shared Territories: A short film featuring local Indigenous leaders that helps us to dig a little deeper into why Territory Acknowledgments are so important.
Baroness von Sketch, the all-female sketch comedy show, humourously calls out the ‘check-box’ approach to Territory Acknowledgements.
DIVERSITY BRAINSTORM ICE-BREAKER
[H5P or WP Accordian or pop up with Content on “Preparation – Jan 5” Doc]
COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS here
VIDEO + WORKSHEET INTRO
[H5P or WP Accordian or pop up with Content below including Worksheet PDF]
This is the heading
This is the heading
PRE-SET OPTIONS FOR COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS
Expect and Accept a Lack of Closure
The goal of this workshop is to be learn new concepts, develop questions, consider new ideas, and move along in your learning journey. In such a short amount of time and such diverse content, it is an unrealistic goal to expect closure on every topic Embrace the ‘life-long learning’ process.
Be Curious
We make better decisions when we approach our problems and challenges with questions (“What if we…?”) and curiosity. Allow space for play, curiosity, and creative thinking.
We Can’t All Be Articulate All of the Time
As much as we’d like, we just can’t. Often, people feel hesitant to participate in a workshop or meeting for fear of “messing up” or stumbling over their words. We want everyone to feel comfortable participating, even if you can’t be as articulate as you’d like, and create a space of learning and dialogue. This helps us move past the barriers of language, class, and institutional education access.
What’s Said Here Stays Here; What’s Learned Here Leaves Here
Respect confidentiality. Don’t share people’s personal stories outside of a workshop, but do share the lessons that you learn. Also, don’t use what you’ve heard to shape your full conception of a person or an organization.
Take Space / Make Space
If you’re someone who tends to not speak a lot, try to challenge yourself to speak up more. If you tend to speak a lot, try to listen more. Listening is often seen as a passive skillset and is often less valued – when you choose to prioritize your listening skills, you help the whole group.
No One Knows Everything; Together We Know A Lot
This means we all get to practice being humble, because we have something to learn from everyone in the room. It also means we all have a responsibility to share what we know, as well as our questions, so that others may learn from us.
One Diva, One Mic
Please, in both large and small groups, one person speak at a time. It can also be useful to ask people to leave space in between speakers, for those who need more time to process words, or are less comfortable fighting for airtime in a conversation.
Community Agreements with Kim and JB
Community Agreements with Kim and JB from Access to Media on Vimeo.
Community Agreements with Cicely
Community Agreements with Cicely from Access to Media on Vimeo.
Community Agreements with Valeen
Community Agreements with Valeen from Access to Media on Vimeo.
Community Agreements with Kim and JB from Access to Media on Vimeo.
SCREEN VIDEO
Remind people to fill out their worksheets as they watch the film- Simple but important: make sure everyone can see the screen easily and the volume is up high enough that all can really “take in” the video.
Small group dialogue : 10 minutes Groups of 4 people. Thank them in advance for the courage that it takes to speak sometimes, and sometimes even to listen is hard. That maturity shows a lot of strength: to be a good listener and to share your truths. Each person will get 2 minutes to share what they Related to, Resonated with and what differences they are Contemplating. Each group has someone willing to start? Set the 2 min timer and begin. Let them know when it’s 20 seconds before switching who is sharing.
Debrief: 5 min
Come back to the full group circle. Thank the group for dealing with subjects that many adults have a hard time with.
Ideas for closing debrief (open questions to the whole group):
- “Does anyone have anything that they would like to share with the group?”
- “How was it to share your truth? Was it hard?”
- “What are some of the things that came up multiple times in your group?”
Closing 5 minutes: Suggested activity and prompts:
“Hold an imaginary ball in your hand. This is an imaginary ball of energy, I’m going to pass it around the circle. Just like real life, you can help shape what comes to you, with your intention. We are facing some big big big systemic problems, ones that do not affect us all equally. And it’s up to us to grow and heal in our own ways, hopefully ways that help others too! So please think up one word for something that you think will help us keep growing and healing and de-colonizing. For example the word “accountability” for harm done by racism and colonization, or the word “celebration for our many beautiful cultures… any word that represents what will help us transform in a good way. We will go passing the energy ball around the circle, and when it comes to you, you can speak your word, nice and strong! if you don’t want to speak out loud, it’s ok, just take the energy ball, receive it, and pass it on. Ok, here we go (form the ball in your hands) – my word is _____. (Pass it on).
Small groups dialogue: 10 min (same as in Option #1)
Group debrief: 15 min.
Come back to the full group circle. Thank the group for dealing with subjects that many adults have a hard time with.
“Does anyone have anything that they would like to share with the group?” - “Anything you Resonated with even though your experience was different?”
- “Anything you Related to because you went through it too?”
- “How does it feel to contemplate the fact that your experience is really different from someone else’s?”
- You can also use the questions from group debrief described above in Option #1!
Step into the circle* 10min – need statements
Closing: 5min (see option #1)
Writing exercise: 15 minutes
These are speaking notes, they do not need to be followed exactly, but they will give you a sense of how to make this writing exercise captivating and safe for participation.
5 min: “Get a new page, let everything you heard sink in…we’re gonna take it further. Now I’m going to ask you some questions about yourself that are for you to respond to without even thinking too much and definitely without self-questioning, just trust yourself to write down the answer that comes to your mind, and the answers will pile up together at the top of the page.”
Leave a moment of pause between each question, and encourage participants to put down at least one word for each response, it doesn’t have to be special, it can be plain and it can sound strange, there are no rules for how to respond.
- What parts of yourself come from your family?
- What parts of yourself did you find on your own?
- How did you find them?
- What are the beautiful parts of your culture?
- How is your culture affected by colonization?
- Do you take part in colonization? How?
- What is the sound of your home culture?
- What is the colour of your home culture?
- What texture do you imagine when you think of your ancestors?
- What is the image you see when you see us taking care of each other?
10 Min:
Ok, nice work. Please look at the responses that you wrote during the video in the RELATE, RESONATE and CONTEMPLATE columns. Circle at least 3 that pop out to you, from any column.
Now look at all the things you just wrote about where and who you come from. Circle any 3 words that pop out for you.
Great! Now everyone has a bunch of words or phrases circled!
THE WRITING JAM:
“Now here is the next challenge and it’s fun! You have to try to get out of your own way for this, let yourself write, and you can write in your own language that is not english if you want, and spelling does NOT matter!
We will write without stopping for 5 minutes, and your goal is to keep writing the WHOLE TIME, it doesn’t have to make “sense”, and your challenge is to weave in all six words or phrases that you have circled, use them in what you write, somehow! You can also take words from the Diversity brainstorm or the Feelings brainstorm on the board.
When I say go, we will each start to write at the same time, every person in their own world, no self judgement, just let it flow! Okay, and…. Go 🙂
Let most of the time for the 5 minutes pass in silence, you can gently stroll around the room speaking encouraging reminders about “no self-criticism… doesn’t matter if what you write seems weird… no rules for spelling or grammar.”
Let them know when 30 seconds are left, to wrap up.
Invite them to finish the line they are on.
Congratulate the group!
Processing the writing
5 – 20 minutes (depends on your time, this piece is flexible for your leadership, but plan what you choose to do!)
2 minutes for personal review of what they wrote, underlining their 4 favorite lines or phrases.
Gather in pairs: “Please take me up on the challenge to work with a partner you have NEVER worked with before.”
Share about some of your similarities and differences from the video, and anything else you would like to say.
Offer that they can pass their paper to their partner and they can underline what they most like of the other’s work.
Join another group of 2, so you are in groups of 4: They can make a group poem out of their 4 favorite lines each.
Shareback of group poems, or write them down as a poem, or simply move to a closing round.
Closing Round 20 minutes opportunity to share some of your piece if you would like, or to say one thing that you are taking from the workshop.
Time: 7-10 minutes
Resources needed: Whiteboard, pens
Aims:
• Create a shared sense of wonder and celebration at the wealth of diversity among us
• To get people excited and ready to learn
- To get to know each other
Instructions:
This exercise is a hyped-up experience of beholding the extensive reach of culture, place of origin and language, it can be extended to other realms of our diversity as well. Facilitation of this exercise is best when it has a widely-welcoming vibe, being excited to hear every answer and celebrating every share. Participants get to be seen and heard voicing their cultural identities in a low-risk and all-inclusive quick exercise, it tends to make the group more ready for some tougher work, and it grows a feeling of unity in diversity.
Invite two volunteer youth scribes, make sure they are NOT both white (unless the class is all visibly white, which is rare these days!), or, just grab a sharpie yourself and get going with high-energy start to the activity. As they answer the questions, show full enthusiasm for the sharing, get the scribes quickly writing down every contribution in a huge cloud of words (not overlapping, just all together in no order at all), paying attention to not miss any (they ALL need to get written down), and also celebrating the many that come forth as they do.
“Let’s see who’s in the room, let’s see what we have among all our experiences!”
On the board, note:
- The languages we speak
- The languages our parents speak
- The languages our grandparents speak
- The languages our ancestors spoke
- Places we were born, places our family members were born
- Nationalities/ethnicities we carry with us
- Where our ancestors were from
What are your thoughts about the diversity in this room? Is there more than you expected?
– What does our diversity give us? Why?
– What other kinds of diversity is there amongst us?
Be sure to LEAVE it all up, to admire together and for future reference/additions
Take a photo of it if you want to project it on the wall in a later moment for use in a creative exercise
Testing Tooltip
Move the mouse over the text below: