Mind the Gap- Mind the Culture in Participation

A training course on realising participation in different cultural contexts

FINAL REPORT

9-15 April 2011 Adrasan, Turkey

IntroductionThe Youth in Action Programme is actively promoting young people’s active citizenship and participation through giving support to a number of projects across Europe. However, participation practices vary to different levels of autonomy and responsibility depending on a number of factors. Our CULTURE influences how we understand and realize partici-pation. This can cause misunderstandings and become a barrier in international co-operations, unless it is reflected and taken into consideration.

The training course “Mind the Gap – Mind the Culture in Par-ticipation” enabled participants and the team to explore and analyse different approaches and practices of participation in relation to different cultures.

It provided tools and methods for participants to increase their ability to realize participation considering diverse cul-tural contexts. This course was a pilot attempt to reflect and consider differences more carefully when realising participa-tion in various cultural contexts.

Training course brought together 22 participants from 9 Eu-ropean countries. Most of them had some experience with the Youth in Action programme being group leaders, youth workers, mentors, ex-participants of projects or trainers. The richness of diversity within the group was a source of learning and valuable contribution to the course realisation.

Training team:Handan Boyar, TCP officer at Turkish National Agency of the Youth in ActionProgramme, http://www.ua.gov.trIlknur Yüce – Action 4.3 and 3.1 officer at Turkish National Agency of the Youth in ActionProgrammeEvelina Taunyte – trainer, http://www.salto-youth.net/find-a-trainer/369.htmlGulesin Nemutlu Unal – trainer, http://www.salto-youth.net/find-a-trainer/363.htmlNerijus Kriauciunas – trainer, http://www.salto-youth.net/find-a-trainer/270.html

Venue and logistic support:Adrasan Training and Implementation Centre, http://adrasan.akdeniz.edu.tr/trSerap Yeter – Assistant responsible for Youth Initatives and Youth Projects

May 2011

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Aim and objectivesThe main aim of this training course was to develop youth leaders’ and youth workers’ critical awareness of the meaning and understanding of ‘participation’ in different cultural contexts and realities in this way contributing to ‘participation’ quality in the Youth in Action projects.

Specific objectives were:• To reflect and share participation concepts and

practices in different cultural contexts and realities of Europe through the exchange of experience in the international group – 90%*

• To learn tools and methods for critical analysis of interconnectedness between culture and participation – 90%

• To get knowledge on different participation concepts in order to develop informed understanding of participation – 71%

• To evaluate participation culture critically by analysing own projects, organization, community and society – 62%

• To explore values behind the idea of participation and establish the connections between personal,

organizational, cultural values – 81%• To develop contacts and ideas for projects/practices

which considers participations seriously – 67%

*This number shows percentage of people in the group who evalu-ated the reach of the objective highly (from 4 to 6, in the scale where 1 was minimum score and 6 was maximum score).

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“In my opinion, the participants should have a clear idea about “what do they want to learn”, “what are their objectives” and like that they can easily find

their answers and explore the field” Participant

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Concepts and understandingsThe training course focused on participation, cultural diversity and interconnectedness between culture and participation. The main idea was to become aware of various “gaps” created due to cultural differences – different perceptions, under-standings and practices of participation – and how these “gaps” influence participation.

CultureFrom the perspective of anthropology, cultures are defined as ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another. Participants were introduced with the Iceberg Model of Culture, which is often referred in youth work to explain the concept of culture. T-kit No. 4 Intercultural learning p. 18-20, http://www.salto-youth.net/tools/toolbox/find-a-tool/69.html

IdentityCulture is lived in a different way even by people coming from the same cultural backgrounds. Each person is the mixture of their culture, their own individual characteristics and their experience. Personal identities of people enrich diversity with in the shared culture. Participants reflected and shared their identities using the Onion of Identity. All different - all equal, Education pack p. 29-30, http://www.eycb.coe.int/edupack/default.htmShrek on Onion of Identity, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZnztwiWZo4

Media CulturesFrom the perspective of media and communication studies, cultures are distinct by the dominant way of communication, which ultimately defines specific characteristics of cultures and people. With the change from one dominant way of com-munication to the other, cultures and people develop new ways of perception and understanding of themselves and the world around them. One day in a programme participants were learning through storytelling of interactive theatre plays. Storytelling is regarded as learning way more common for oral cultures, which is still alive in many parts of the world.Marshall McLuhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man Walter J. Ong, Orality and literacy: the technologizing of the word

“In this course, nobody is going to give you a definition of any term. Like we are used to. But you’ll find out that your brain has really worked hard on

subjects which probably you haven’t so far. So you learn a lot.” Fatma

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Cultural CitizenshipThe concept of cultural citizenship stresses the centrality of culture for a concept of citizenship and is the response to the rapidly changing multicultural context of contemporary Europe. Cultural citizenship is not simply equated with na-tionality and is not about assimilation or tolerance, but in-stead is based on the recognition of the right to be different and to belong in a participatory democratic sense. Partici-pants were introduced with the idea that citizenship includes not only the citizen-state dimension, which is strengthened through learning rights and duties, but equally important dimension of citizen-to-citizen, which is learnt and exercised through everyday life situations.Gerard Delanty, Citizenship as a learning process, http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-06-30-delanty-en.html

OppressionOppression is the exercise of authority or power in burden-some, cruel, or unjust manner. Oppression may be exercised between the individuals, groups or even entire societies. A person may feel oppressed also because of the more pres-sure arising from the difference in personal identity and shared culture or because of a system, which disempowers people. Participants were exploring the notion of power and its appearance in abstract sense but also in daily situations where cultural differences play a role.Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, http://www.paulof-reireinstitute.org/

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Photo: interactive theatre play

“For the future, thanks to the course, we will be able to see how we are different and some in a lot of ways. And I can say that participation will be more meaningful for me.” Murat

Pedagogy of the OppressedPedagogy of the oppressed argues for education as a transformative process during which people get liberated from the roles of oppressor and oppressed and are empowered to overcome injustice relationship. This is possible through the education, which confronts reality critically, simultaneously objectifying and acting upon that reality. Pedagogy of the Op-pressed enable learners to unveil the world of oppression and empowers them to commit for the transformation towards more justice world. Participants experienced this kind of education through being involved in the interactive theatre plays.Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, http://www.paulofreireinstitute.org/

Systems Theory and Systems ThinkingSystems theory is an interdisciplinary study of the abstract organisation of phenomena attempting to understand its prin-ciples and functioning. Systems thinking is the process of understanding how things influence one another within a whole. It is an approach to problem solving, by viewing “problems” as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific part, outcomes or events. During the course several attributes of systems were explained, such as interdependence and regulation using as an illustration an exercise that points out the importance of the invisible relations and communication patterns between the parts of the system. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_thinking

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CyberneticsCybernetics is the study of feedback and derived concepts such as communication and control in living organisms, ma-chines and organisations. Its focus is how anything (digital, mechanical or biological) processes information, reacts to information, and changes or can be changed to better ac-complish the first two tasks. The ideas of cybernetics, pre-sented in this training course as a short input, was in order to encourage meaningful actions as a youth worker not only in assessing the needs of the target group, but also in ana-lysing these actions from a broader perspective of the soci-ety.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_theory#Cybernetics

Photo: group dynamics activity

“The course is the beginning of a trip… It will not give you a final answer but a lot to think about! You can see yourself in the mirror. And you can see others – just the way they are!” Veronica

Participants of the course experienced and learnt various practical tools and methods whilst addressing the topics of the course. During the course it was often stressed that different tools and methods should be used with a clear purpose in mind. In the choose of methods one should carefully consider the cultural context.

Practical tools and methods

Tools and methods for...

...critical analysis

...creativity...learning to learn

...cultural awareness

...other purposes

...decission making

...self-awareness

“You have been gapped! Do you jump in it or over it? When there is something wrong with the Euromood, who you gonna call? The Gapbusters!” Participant

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Participatory Observation MethodParticipatory observation is a type of research strategy. It is widely used methodology in many disciplines, particularly, cultural anthropology. Its aim is to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals (such as a religious, occupational, or sub cultural group, or a particular community) and their practices through an intensive involvement with people in their natural environment, usually over an extended period of time. Participants practiced this method by involving themselves in the field task in one of the districts of Antalya city.Sociology central, http://www.sociology.org.uk/mpoprint.pdf

Theatre of the OppressedTheatre of the Oppressed is a range of theatrical forms used as means of knowledge and transformation of reality in the social and relational field. In the Theatre of the Oppressed, the audience becomes active, such that as “spect-actors” they explore, show, analyse and transform the reality in which they are living. Participants practiced elements of such interactive theatre by creating, performing and reconstructing situations from real life where cultural differences play an important role.Augsto Boal, Theatre of the Oppressed, http://www.ptoweb.org/

Appreciative InquiryAppreciative Inquiry is about the co-evolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations, and the relevant world around them. In its broadest focus, it involves systematic discovery of what gives “life” to a living system when it is most alive, most effective, and most constructively capable in economic, ecological, and human terms. The four stages of appreciative inquiry are Discovery, Dreaming, Design and Delivery. Participants practiced first stage of the appreciative inquiry discovering successful practices of participation from their life and work experiences. Appreciative Inquiry Commons, http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/

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“It is a good way to realise that participation may have a broader meaning and may be understood differently by different cultures. “Mind the Gap” might also

become a tool to overcome it”. Participant8

Evaluation resultsParticipants evaluated how much topics met their learning needs and how much methods were appropriate to explore vari-ous topics. Numbers express the percentage of people in the group who evaluated topics and methods highly (from 4 to 6, in the scale where 1 was minimum score and 6 was maximum score).

Appropriate methods

Topic met needs

Topics and methods

62% 55% Picture Participation: Smile! Drawing and sharing in groups

67% 50% Values Behind Participation. Group work and interactive input

90% 85% Different Culture, Different Participation? Game with “golden steps”

67% 70% Systems and Power. Silent exercise and interactive input

67% 40% History and Presence of Participation. Timeline exercise and cases

71% 80% Successful Participation. Sculptures on the beach

81% 95% Identity Onion. Reflecting and sharing personal identities

71% 75% Fine Eye: Participatory Observation. Field exercise in Antalya

75% 79% Fine Eye: Participatory Observation. Reviewing experience in plenary

90% 95% 1000 and 1 Story. Interactive theatre plays by participants

85% 89% 1000 and 1 Story. Interactive theatre play by trainer’s team

85% 74% Open Kiosk. Workshops in parallel

71% 55% Impact of Participation in Youth in Action. Interactive input

90% 85% Realising Participation with Others. Facilitated exchange of ideas

71% 70% Introductions of the Training Programme. Walking on the floor

38% 30% Learning-to-learn. Personal diary and learning friend

95% 100% Group Dynamics. Mission impossible, map, stage, My flavorite night

“First I thought that I did not learn enough tools or theoretical stuff about the topic. But after the evaluation I recognised, how much I really gained and how much I could profit by participating in “Mind the Gap”!” Marie

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Shared youth work experience during the course Participated actively during the course

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Quality of the course organisation

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Received the needed information in good time before the course

The course was held in an environment comfortable to learn

Learnt from other participants during the course

Appropriate resources were available to use and take away

Possible to apply learning on this course back home in reality

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40%20% 60% 80% 100%0%

Participants appreciated most of topics and methods during the course. Individual comments suggested to balance bet-ter the rhythm and timing of the course. Participants wished to have more structured inputs, enough time to reflect and discuss learning experience, better balance the intensity of the course.

A need for proper reflection time was expressed by partici-pants in order to digest intensive learning experience. But the time with personal diary and learning friend was not suf-ficient, appropriate or in the right moment.

Interactive theatre methods were appreciated well because it suited best for exploring the main theme of this course.

The course organisation was well appreciated by partici-pants and the team. The venue, location and surroundings were evaluated highly suggesting this combination for the future courses.

“Participants were nice, I learned a lot about their personal life and the work life which was very interesting for me. Besides that we made some new contacts/networking and I see forward for future cooperation”. Participant

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Conclusions and recommendations

• To consider well the number of participants and length of the course. Participants commented that the group size was appropriate or could be even smaller. They men-tioned that having more days could have been better.

• To consider well the group balance ensuring equal repre-sentation of South-North Europe and more equal number of participants from each participating country.

• To revise the programme of the training course including more time for group building at the beginning of the pro-gramme and by shifting the heavy sessions of the first long day to the later of the programme. Include “gaps” in the programme enabling participants to include their content according to their learning needs.

• To introduce the training course at the very beginning of the first day enabling participants to orientate them-selves better and be informed about the objectives and the flow of the sessions in the programme. Spend more time on identifying better learning needs of participants enabling them to shape the “gap” sessions by offering their content and methods.

• To swap the focus of the course, beginning with the ex-ploration of culture and cultural diversity and only after that making links by exploring participation.

• To reduce the number of theoretical inputs introduced during the course. Priority should be made for depth of exploration and understandings. In this way it would be possible to balance better the learning intensity.

• To be sensitive to personal learning and development of participants since the course topic is very involving and touching. It is important to be aware that by reflecting cultures, where is often a risk to put people and cultures into boxes. However it is equally important to realise that learning of self and others is an intensive process.

• To pay attention that selected participants are working directly with young people. Their working experiences en-rich the course and enable them to reflect their practice and apply learning once back home to their realities.

• To consider the intensity of the course by reducing the planned sessions up to 3 planned sessions per day leav-ing “gaps” in the programme for participant’s contribu-tions to the content and/or digesting of the learning ex-perience.

• The course is emotionally intensive and participants need time and space in the programme to reflect and accumulate new learning experience.

During the final evaluation team made the following conclusions and recommendations for the future developments of the course:

“Don’t change very much. It’s good!” Participant

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Final programmeDay 1, Sat9 April 2011

Day 2, Sun10 April 2011

Day 3, Mon11 April 2011

Day 4, Tue12 April 2011

Day 5, Wed13 April 2011

Day 6, Thu14 April 2011

Day 7, Fri15 April 2011

Arrival of participants

8.30-9.30 Breakfast

Welcome and opening Different cultures,

different partici-pation!?

Fine eye: observing

participation culture

Review of the participatory ob-servation practice

Steaming out

Departure of par-ticipants

Getting to know each other

Realising partici-pation (person-

ally)11.00-11.30 Break

Transfer to Antalya

11.00-11.30 Break

Picture participation:

smile!

Participation Magnified:

systems and power

1000 and 1 story of participation:

case studies

Open Kiosk: shar-ing

resources for participation

13.00-15.00 Lunch break

Values behind participation: why participation at

all?

Historical developments and current practices of participation

Fine eye: Participant observation

practice in town

1000 and 1 story of participation:

case studies (con-tinued)

Impact of partici-pation in Youth in

ActionRealising

participation (with others)

16.30-17.00 Break

Free time

16.30-17.00 Break

Introduction training pro-

gramme

Successful par-ticipation in youth

work practice

1000 and 1 story of participation:

case studies (con-tinued)

Evaluation of the training course

Steaming outLearning to par-

ticipate19.30-21.00 Dinner break 20.00 Dinner out 19.30-21.00 Dinner break

Welcome evening My flavorite night Organisation fair Good-bye evening