youth voices guide - appendix (24-40)

Group Communication and Guidelines(Formally known as The “Rules”)

The objectives:

Identify factors that build an effective group

Learn about each other and participants communication styles Build trust

Develop group and individual responsibility and ownership over the project

Set group guidelines

Preparation: ‘wall’ handout & flip chart sheet

What makes an effective group?The setting of group guidelines is very important for any youth group. These will be the guide-lines that the group follows and should be created by the group and always displayed during meetings.

Hand out Brick wall sheet to small groups

Brainstorm in group “Let’s think about the groups that we have been in, both good and bad-sports, class, family, clubs, etc. What did you like? What did you not like?”

Fill in the spaces with what you think makes a good group- 10minutes

Come back into larger group

Facilitator puts up larger version of brick wall- flip chart paper or board “A group is like a brick wall. Its support and strength comes from its individual bricks; if one brick is not supportive then the wall will crumble. We are build ing a strong group when we discuss these issues. What do you think you need to feel good in a group?” Each person chooses top three (depending how large group is) and writes into larger wall brick spaces

Inspired by Warren, Nell & Associates (2000).

YOUTH VOICES (APPENDIX) 24

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ENGAGE APPENDIXENGAGE APPENDIX

25 YOUTH VOICES (APPENDIX)

Group Guidelines From this, the facilitator can work with group to create their Group Guidelines. Issues (e.g. safety, alcohol use, etc) that are important to the community organization and/or facilitator can be worked into conversation and/or presented at the end.

After completed, have everyone sign the Guidelines sheet that will be displayed at every meeting.

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Brick Wall Activity


Icebreakers/Warm-ups/EnergizersOn-Line

The following websites outline a range of icebreaker activities.www.lin.ca/lin/resource/html/ALCAP/RCC00017.pdfwww.youthwork.com/activitieswarm.htmlwww.residentassistant.com/games/icebreakers.htmwww.youthwork.com/activitiesdivide.htmlwww.adulted.about.com/cs/icebreakerswww.canadaonline.about.com/cs/icebreakeractivitwww.adulted.about.com/library/blicebreakers.htm

BooksEnergize! The Complete Book of Energizers and Other Cooperative Activities. Quest Interna-tional (1991). Order through www.thrivecanada.ca

The Encyclopedia of Icebreakers: Structured Activities That Warm-Up, Motivate, Challenge, Acquaint and Energize, Package (1982). J. W. Pfeiffer (Editor) Publisher: Pfeiffer & Co. 201 Icebreakers: Group Mixers, Warm-Ups, Energizers, and Playful Activities (1997). Edie West, McGraw-Hill Trade.

The Warmups Manual, Volume II (2000). Nell Warren and Associates, Toronto: Nell WarrenAssociates Inc.

Team Building ActivitiesOn-Linewww.youthlearn.org/learning/teaching/community.asp

Books Teamwork & Teamplay (1998). James Hallie Cain, Jim Cain, Barry JolliffPublisher: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

Team-Building Activities for Every Group (1999). Alanna JonesPublisher: Rec Room Publications.

Silver Bullets (1984). Karl Rohnke Publisher: Project Adventure, Inc.

Youth Leadership in Action: A Guide to Cooperative Games and Group Activities (1994). Project Adventure Publisher: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

Quicksilver: Adventure Games, Initiative Problems, Trust Activities and a Guide to Effective Leadership (1997). Karl Rohnke, Stebe Butler. Publisher: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

Youth on Boardwww.youthonboard.org


Youth Identfied Priorities for Youth Involvement(Identified by the TeenNet Program Youth Advisors)

Be Youth Friendly Personality of the adult is important Be easygoing and get along well with young people Be genuinely interested in getting to know us (youth) RESPECT is key

Make Projects Fun and Interesting Topics that are relevant to our lives

Opportunities to help other young people - to be a role model Opportunities to get to know other young people (locally and internationally) Interactivity, games and fun

Let Youth Be in Control Do not dominate We need to know that our opinions will count and will be acted upon Be honest - negotiate issues and boundaries together

Overcome Feelings of Helplessness Have something to focus on Start small and be realistic Give ways for youth voices to be heard Suggestion box - allows for anonymity Artistically/Visually - art, pictures, sounds, etc. Forums - face-to-face or online

Provide a Sense of Accomplishment and Recognition Opportunities to display and discuss our work Certificate or letter of achievement or reference Celebration of the project (Party!) Monetary stipend Volunteer hours

Provide Interesting and Positive Experiences Personal/Life Experience - working with peers, building community, learning new things, and making a difference Skills-Related Experience - teamwork, public speaking, and literacy (reading, writing, computer literacy, etc.)

Provide Direction but Do Not Baby-Sit Direction helps you to stay on track, and keeps group focused on outcomes Teaches how to start and finish a project But we don’t want to feel like someone is looking over our shoulders

Youth Engagement

Authentic Youth Participation

There are different levels at which youth can be involved in a given project. In order for youth participation to be authentic, it is important for all project members, youth and adults, to be on the same page in terms of the level at which youth will be involved in the project.

A good guideline for identifying/defining the level of youth participation is Hart’s Ladder of Participation. Steps 1 to 3 on Hart’s ladder are non-participation levels that masquerade as partici pation. These should NEVER be done by a project, as they do more harm then good. Steps 4 to 8 on Hart’s ladder are true participation levels. The higher up the ladder, the greater the level of youth involvement. It is possible to achieve authentic youth participation at any step from 4 to 8, what is most important is to be clear with youth about their role and what level of participa tion you can support. It can take a significant amount of time and resources to achieve the highest levels of participation. Even with the best of intentions, it is sometimes not possible to reach the highest levels. It is also possible to be at different levels during different phases of a given project. The Youth Voices process attempts to be at number 8 on Hart’s ladder of participation – Youth-initiated, shared decisions with adults.

Questions to Consider

What level of participation is needed? What level of participation is desired? What level of participation is possible? Match the stage of the project with the right amount of youth involvement Are there barriers to meaningful youth participation? How can they be overcome?


tip: An important factor is for facilitators and youth to be honest about where they see themselves on this scale and the barriers and facilitators to increased partnership and involvement

Youth-initiated, shared decisions with adults

Youth-initiated and directed

Adult-initiated, shared decisions with youth

Consulted and informed

Assigned but informed

Tokenism

Decoration

Manipulation

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Identify ActivitiesThe options for creatively identifying issues are endless. Below are some examples of techniques you may wish to try with the group.

Brainstorming with Post-it notes is a quick way of identifying issues and organising them. Give each member of the group a Post-it note pad and a pen. Ask them to take a few minutes to write down all the things that they like and dislike about their community. Prompt: family, school, work, friends, neighbourhood, etc. One issue per Post-it page. Then ask each group member to put their issues on a white board or wall, telling the group about them.

Once they are all in view, start grouping them in themes. The themes maybe related to the issue areas, such as health, social, environmental, etc. or related to places or populations, such as global, national, local, school, youth centre, etc. The group discusses these and forms a list of the key issues to them

Community Mapping is a method where youth draw a coloured map of their community featuring the most important places to them. This is a good way to get the group to think about local issues. Give groups of 2-3 youth poster paper and coloured markers. Ask each group to draw a map of their community, featuring places that are important to youth or where they hang.

Once they have finished, ask them to draw in the things that they like and dislike about their communities

Then each group presents their map to the group and talks about the places on the map.

Group discusses issue that they all feel is important to youth in their community.

IDENTIFY APPENDIXIDENTIFY APPENDIX

tip: Keep list of issues, either on paper or on poster paper, as it may be useful for the group to return to it later


Community interviews are a research method that can be used by the youth group to elicit youth and community issues. Group develops a short interview guide based on what they want to find out from youth and/or community members. Group discusses and selects locations to conduct the interviews and seeks permission if it is needed, e.g. schools or the mall may require permission. Youth decide on whether interviews will be taped or notes taken, and approximately how many they need. Interviews are conducted. Group decides how they are to be analyzed. Based on themes that emerge in the interviews, the youth group discusses and forms a short list of key issues.

tip: If the group is having a difficult time identifying the issues in their community, look at the Plan AppendixPlan Appendix for more exploration ideas


Using Youth Media for Issue IdentificationThe Example of Photovoice

Throughout the Youth Voices guide we discuss using a variety of media and technologies to enable young people to identify issues of importance in their lives.

One powerful tool for issue identification is photography. Cameras are relatively easy to use, and photographs can be a great starting point for discussion and reflection.

In order to capture the potential of photography as a tool for community mobilization, researchers at the University of Michigan (Wang et al.) have developed a useful guiding process known as Photovoice.

Photovoice is a photographic technique used in health promotion and community development to identify issues and act for social change. It involves community members taking visual images and accompanying them with stories of their community.

Photovoice has three goals.

To enable people to record and reflect their community's strengths and problems To promote dialogue about important issues

To communicate with decision-makers and act for social change

Main Steps in the Photovoice ProcessThe following are lessons learned about Photovoice during several Youth Voices projects with inner city youth in Toronto, Canada. This overview is provided as a guide to the process, not as a step-by-step formula. Stages can be modified or repeated as necessary.

1. Taking the Pictures Photovoice works best if each participant is given a cheap or disposable camera to take away and keep for about seven to ten days. Have youth take pictures of strengths and weaknesses of their community, things in their lives that they want to talk about or change, or simply ask them to show others how they see their world.

Before the youth begin to take pictures, it is important to have a discussion around the ethics of photography, in order to bring up issues such as invasion of privacy and misrepresentation. An overview of Photovoice ethical considerations can be found at the end of this document.

It is also useful to show the participants some examples of documentary photography or other Photovoice projects. This will help participants understand the goals of the work. Samples of photoessays can be found at www.globalyouthvoices.org.

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Photo (L-R): “No vacancies…Oxymoron – Affordable Housing” Perspectives of Inner City Street Youth - Beat the Street & TeenNet, 2003

“A gun was hidden away inside the garbage where kids play around the area… The kids could have picked it up and shot it at somebody.” Note: This is a real gun found by a youth near a playground

Regent Park Focus & TeenNet, 2003


At this stage youth should be given basic training on photography. Have an amateur or profes-sional photographer talk to the group about photography skills such as lighting, distance and picture composition. Make sure the youth know how to operate their cameras. It may also help to go out into the community as an entire group to do a practice picture taking session.

Before sending the youth off to take pictures on their own, make a plan for when they will drop off the cameras to have the film developed. It is also a good idea to provide your contact information, or arrange a time when you will contact them to see if they have any questions or need support while doing the picture taking.

Participants should develop a brief description of the project and organization contact informa-tion to hand out to the public if requested.

2. Selecting Pictures to Discuss and Analyze Once the pictures have been taken and developed, have each participant select two to four pictures that they want to focus on. Youth can select the pictures that they feel best depict the issue they are exploring, or they can simply choose the ones that they like the best. Remind participants that they will be asked to show the picture to others and to describe it in depth, so they should choose pictures that they are comfortable sharing and talking about.

3. Telling the Story of the Pictures In order to share their pictures with others the youth must tell the stories of their work by writing captions for each picture. Ask the youth to write about what is happening in the picture, why they took the picture and what it means to them.

Youth may need individual attention when writing their captions. Plan on having several differ-ent co-facilitators available to sit down one-on-one with the youth to help them write their captions. Care should be taken not to direct the youth, but rather to help them put their own ideas down on paper.

4. Identifying the Issues and Themes that Emerge Once youth have written descriptions of their pictures, bring the whole group together and have them share their work with each other. Each youth can present their pictures and read out the captions they have written for them. The whole group can then discuss each photoes-say together. As the discussion is taking place, have a group member or co-facilitator make a list of the issues that come up.

A good guideline for this discussion is the SHOWeD acronym (Wallerstein, 1992).

S What do you see here? H What is really happening here? O How does this relate to our lives? W Why does this problem or strength exist? eD What can we do about it?

The SHOWeD discussion may help bring out new and in-depth analyzes into the different pictures and issues represented. The youth may also find that they want to group certain issues together into common themes or patterns. Identification of common themes may lead the youth to come up with some main ideas or messages that they want to communicate to others, such as key decision-makers within their community.


5. Communicating the Results and Celebrating the ProjectAt the end of this process you will have assembled a number of photoessays describing issues of importance to the group members. You may also have generated some main themes or messages that have emerged from the work.

The issues, themes or messages that come out of the Photovoice process should be shared with others, in particular community members and key decision-makers. It is important to celebrate the work and allow the youth’s voices to be heard by staging exhibits or community forums, or by sending the results to policy-makers.

Photovoice results can also be used as a springboard for developing community action projects. For more on taking action on the issues identified see the Act stage of this guide.

Photovoice Ethical Considerations

PrivacyDiscuss with participants the need to get permission before taking someone’s picture. One option is to use photo release forms in which youth obtain written permission from a subject before taking their picture. Privacy can also be respected by taking pictures in such a way that the identity of the people in the photograph is not clear, for example by taking pictures from far away, or by blurring out faces after the picture is developed.

SafetyIt is important to orient group members towards safety measures when taking pictures. As a general rule youth should not take a photograph if they feel the situation is uncertain or potentially dangerous.

MisrepresentationDiscuss with the youth the use of photography as a tool for documenting the reality of their communities, and the importance of not misrepresenting individuals or issues. ConsentPhotographs should be considered the property of the photographer. Youth should get personal copies of all their pictures. Written consent should be obtained from the youth for the use of any pictures that will be displayed to others outside of the project.

Direction/suggestionAs a facilitator, take care not to direct youth towards photography of a particular subject area or issue.

Disempowerment Asking youth to document the realities of their communities has the potential to be emotional and disempowering if it is not done with a focus on giving youth a voice to speak out about issues in their lives. Even if tangible social change is not possible, ensure that the project ends on a note of empowerment and celebration.

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Further Reading on Photovoice Background on Photovoice, www.photovoice.com Wang CC, and Burris MA (1997) Photovoice: concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment. Health Education and Behaviour, 24(3), 369-387.

Wang CC, Wu KY, Zhan WT & Carovano K (1998) Photovoice as a participatory health promotion strategy. Health Promotion International, 13(1), 75-86.

Wang CC, Cash JL & Powers LS (2000) Who knows the streets as well as the homeless? Promoting personal and community action through photovoice. Health Promotion Practice, 1(1), 81-89.

Wang CC & Redwood-Jones YA (2001) Photovoice ethics: perspectives from flint photovoice. Health Education and Behaviour, 28(5), 560-572.

Wang CC (2003) Using photovoice as a participatory assessment and issue selection tool: a case study with the homeless in Ann Arbor, pp. 179-196. In Minkler, M. and N Wallerstein Eds. (2003) Community based participatory research for health, San Francisco, Josey Bass.

Starck RW, Magill C & McDonagh K (2004) Engaging youth through Photovoice. Health Promotion Practice, 5(1), 49-58.

Wang CC, Morrel-Samuels S, Hutchison PM, Bell L & Pestronk RM (2004) Flint Photovoice: community building among youths, adults, and policymakers, American Journal of Public Health, 94(6), 911-913.

“Sports is very useful for children, but it may be very dangerous for them if they do not have a

suitable place to play. A lot of children play in the streets and become victims of road accidents.”

- CIESPO & TeenNet Bedouin Youth Project, 2004

“When the colour of skin may have provided a struggle that kept these adults apart, they triumphed and overcame their barriers by

creating a family and uniting as one.”

- Regent Park Focus & TeenNet, 2003


Plan Identification ActivitiesThe following are examples of ways of working with youth to identify action ideas. Several come from the “Do Something” website: www.dosomething.org

Internet fun In pairs or individually, do a Internet search of youth action on the issues identified and/or youth led action projects. The purpose of this activity is to give the youth an understanding of what types of action are possible, what others have done that might apply to their community or issue, and get them thinking about ways they could act. After their research, each pair or individual reports back to the group about their search and presents a case study of the projects, initiatives or ways of acting that they found the most interesting. Alternative: Assign web sites to participants, individually or in pairs. Ask the youth to sum-marize the key actions that they particularly like in each site. If this cannot be done at your organization then Internet access may be available at a local library, school or at home. At the next meeting, have each youth individually or in teams report back to the group on the issue or the action they researched.

One-Minute BrainstormEach participant gets a piece of paper and a pen. At the command "GO!" they have exactly one minute to write as many action project ideas as they can on the paper. You can specify the area of focus (such as "our school" or "environmental projects") or let them think of any ideas that come to mind. At the end of the minute, share the ideas and vote on the most popular. Variation: Flip chart paper brainstorm. Using flip chart paper, a dry-erase board, etc., ask participants to call out all the projects they can think of. Record the responses until they are out of ideas. Decide upon projects from this list.

Go for a walkTake participants on a walk around the selected project "area" (the school, the community, the block, etc.) Ask them to think about or record places they see the potential for a project and/or action. If the group is large enough, assign small teams to different areas and let them share their observations with the larger group. Decide upon projects from the ideas gathered.

Newspaper scavenger huntHave participants read the newspaper to see what issues are important in the community at the present time. Record ideas and share the stories with one another.

Interview the community Encourage young people to interview community members and survey potential project ideas. Perhaps the school nurse would like to see the hallways cleaned. The local grocery store owner might appreciate a recycling program. Participants can share their discoveries and select projects.

Project ideas suggestion boxAn empty decorated shoebox in a visible place (with blank scraps of paper and pens next to it) can be used to collect participant project suggestions on an ongoing basis, inviting young people to think freely about project ideas. Empty and share the contents of the box on a regular basis.

PLAN APPENDIXPLAN APPENDIX


ACTION IDEAS RESOURCES

On-LineTeenNet Research Program- www.globalyouthvoices.org

Youth Action Net: Toolkit – This site has a toolkit for youth action that focuses on advocacy, fundraising and lobbying. www.youthactionnet.org/toolkit.php

The Innovation Center: Building Community: A Tool Kit for Youth and Adults - This site has a downloadable Toolkit for youth action (in partnership with adults) with sections that cover; core principles, building readiness, visioning and planning, moving to action, and change and sustainability. The Toolkit includes lots of useful activities and exercises. www.theinnovationcenter.org/bullitems.asp

BookYouth Health Action Handbook, McCreary Society, 1996. Published and available through the McCreary Society. The order form is online at www.mcs.bc.ca/yporder.pdf

Supporters, Stakeholders & Challengers Activity Have the group brainstorm who all the stakeholders are within their community. Partnering and creating coalitions can be a very effective way of making a difference in the community. This activity can be completed as a group, using a whiteboard or poster paper to brainstorm, or individually on work sheets and then have a ‘report back’ to the whole group.

After completing this activity the group may develop a shortlist of supporters they want to approach for assistance or support.

Evaluation Activity Go through each of the objectives and ask the group – How will you know if we have achieved this at the end of the project? Keep a note of their ideas so you can refer to them in the next stage.

How going to deal with

Supporters

Stakeholders

Challengers

Issue or agenda related to project


ACT APPENDIXACT APPENDIX

Action Task PlanThe group needs to break the project down into definable tasks and decide who is responsible for overseeing each task. This enables the work to be shared amongst the group and reduces the risk of doubling up or leaving out an important task.

An important part of youth action initiatives is participants taking responsibility and carrying out assigned tasks. Below is an activity that will help each member of the group get involved and take responsibility.

Activity Draw 5 columns on poster paper or a white board. Head the columns as below:

Check-In, Evaluate and Adjust ActivityHere is short list of questions you may want to ask the group at each meeting or individually during the implementation stage of the project:

How are you doing with your tasks? What have been the barriers, difficulties or is there anything you want to get off your chest? Are there things that you want to change or do differently? What have been the successes, or the things that have excited you? Have any new opportunities come up that you want to incorporate into the project? Are we on track with the project? If no, what do you think we need to adjust? Is there anything the facilitator(s) and the organization staff and administration can do to assist you?

Action Task TimelineWho’s

responsibleCost/

ResourcesNeeded

Community mobilization re: violations to city code – Picture gallery

Book venue – school hall

Prepare media release

Book by 6/1, for the 30/1

Mohammad

Naomi 27/1

Free

None


REFLECT AND RESEARCH APPENDIXREFLECT AND RESEARCH APPENDIX

Successes ActivityHave a brainstorming session where you have the group voice the successes for community, organization, group and themselves. Brainstorm all successes and then have the group divide up the successes as:

Community outcomes – Action related e.g. commitment for more youth program funding in your community

Organization outcomes - benefits to the youth organization, e.g. improved image of the organization, or increased awareness of the organization

Group outcomes – successes as a group, e.g. first time a youth action group has completed a project at the organization

Individual outcomes – benefits for the individual youth, e.g. first time involved in a group that has achieved something, developed project planning and public speaking skills, etc

Knowledge and Skills Learnt Activity Using Post-it notes or poster paper ask the group, individually or in pairs, to list the knowl-edge and skills they have developed or refined through this project. Then, have them report back to the group the skills or knowledge they have gained and how they maybe useful in the future.

tip: You may wish to keep a summary of these for reports or for presentations for the Board, reports, etc…


Reflect/Research/Ending ActivityHead, Heart, Feet & Hands

The purpose of this exercise is for the youth to evaluate the impact of the project on an individual level. It will assist in ending the project by reminding the participants about all the great work they have done on so many levels. The feedback from this can also be written up as research results. Draw a large human figure on flip-chart paper. Give out small pieces of paper Ask group members to write down what they have got from the project in these categories:

Head: New knowledge and understandings about the issue you tackled, your community, working in a group, etc. Hands: What skills you have learned Heart: New understanding of yourself and others on an emotional level- feelings/attitude Feet: What actions you are inspired to take

Give the group some time to think and write them down Then each person, one at a time, puts up their pieces of paper on the appropriate body part and explains (only if they are willing) what they have written Discuss

Adapted from Arnold, R., Burke, B., James, C., Martin, D & Thomas, B. (1991). Educating for a Change. Toronto: Between the Lines and the Doris Marshall Institute for Education and Action.

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Evaluation References

Y.E.L.L – Youth Engaged in Leadership and Learning prepares and supports youth to become knowable and active decision makers in their communities and schools. Y.E.L.L. has developed a great handbook for supporting youth lead community research. It has been developed by the John W. Gardener Center for Youth and Their Communities, Stanford California, 2001. Download workbook: http://gardnercenter.stanford.edu/sharing_what_works/pubs_tools/handbook.html

Youth in Focus is a non-profit consulting and training organization that pursues this vision by supporting Youth-led Research, Evaluation and Planning (Youth REP) www.youthinfocus.net. Download workbook: www.youthinfocus.net./resources_publications.htm.

Co/Motion Guide presents young people with the tools, skills, and strategies to work for change in their communities. It includes a useful evaluation section. Download workbook: www.comotionmakers.org/manual.html.

Development Leadership Network has developed a Success measures Guide. Download workbook: www.developmentleadership.net/smp/manual/toc.htm.

London, Jonathan 2002. Youth Involvement in Community Research and Evaluation: Mapping the Field. Discussion Paper, Wingspread Symposium on Youth Involvement in Community Research and Evaluation. June 7-9, 2002. Racine Wisconsin

London, Jonathan. 2000. Youth-Led Research, Evaluation and Planning. The Experience of Youth In Focus. Focal Point. Summer 2000.

Group Recognition Exercise It is rare that we tell each other how great we think each other is.This exercise allows for space and time for the participants to be complimented by their peers and the facilitators.

Bonus! Each person gets a keepsake reminder of how awesome they are.

Before the meeting, prepare an envelope for each group member (with their name on it) and as many small pieces of paper as there are group members.

Ask each participant to write a note to each group member. It can be a meaningful memory about the person, something they learned from them, something they appreciated or liked.

When finished, the group can stand in a circle and read them to each group member or they can give each person their note to be placed in their envelope.

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tip: as in all exercises, the facilitatorsshould participate

youth voices guide - appendix (24-40)

Documents

group activities

youth group

good group

effective group

group communication

group mixers

strong group

large group