During a period of intense social challenge, the rights and vindication of women during the #reclaimthestreets demonstrations have created a increase in voice around an important series of issues, whilst developing a void in communication. The tone and undertone of statement-based responses IS an opportunity. In youth work we have the privilege to be involved in these important discussions with young people and therefore have a responsibility to support learning in these spaces.
The ‘conversation’ no matter how challenging and how emotive at present is an important feature of moving towards equality and understanding of the need for change and action for change. This both personally and professionally as an active strand of practitioner development and to act as informal educator in Freireian sense to combat oppression and liberate through learning together with young people. #learnerasteacher
Whilst working alongside a group of young people recently, I observed the heated discussion around the topic in which dominance and volume appear to be the notional winners. Informal education as an arena should review the many types of potential approaches we could use to facilitate learning.
The key within this is to keep the conversation active, no matter how challenging. Promoting voices as facilitator, reconciling difference and offering positive challenge to misinformation and navigating holistically inappropriate falsehoods. The skill in developing an understanding of the personal and potentially hidden or unspoken issues, the social conflicts that encompass the challenge and conflict and the broader policies that influence the themes undergoing critique.
We should not act as referee within the interaction and showcase empathy with the personal, social and political elements of the discussion to learn and further respond – securing the intersections where opposing points connect to draw the conversational elements together and source connection in the debate.
Establishing outcomes are a good way to enable young people to examine the potential of resolution, solution or reconciliation as an ideal, question the motivation and developing aspirations that young people have. Is there a resolution that can lead to agreement on the conflict? Can solutions in steps or variable stages lead to reduction in conflict? The progression of reconciliation and building blocks offering individuals taking some responsibility for their active part in the conflict. In this space, we are able to support young people to critically think about the interests of self and others. We are able to engage and learn about young people’s views on the broader aspects.
The process of engagement in conflict is to establish the form of response that is most appropriate and may change based upon needs presented. Key terms that are skills based should be reviewed and applied. Crisis intervention to ensure the safety of all involved and dealing in the now in a responsive safe and slow way. Facilitation and enabling voice and agency and effective communication (listening first). Conciliation as a process of working toward resolutions with the notion of mediation. Advocacy and negotiating between debates that emerge whilst reducing the emotiveness through acknowledgement of this very real feature.
The steps in resolving conflict is through enabling voice and promoting each party opportunity to clarify and define the issues as they see them.
Opportunity to examine how they see potential solutions and what should be done.
Source and highlight the common interest and connections or goals.
Re-defining the issues to establish agreements.
Clarity facts, opinions, values about each issues within the conversation.
Determine resolutions for each issue presented.
Promote steps to engage in a willingness to implement solutions.
Often we are working with the confidence to speak and should be focused upon the environment and space to enable voices to be present and share views. This will take time to encourage access to the self in the issue dynamics at play. The impacts upon young people will affect responses, views and we should care for the individual needs that are present to ensure that we offer compassion prior to a process driven
Mary Wollstonecraft gave us the principle that “virtue can only flourish amongst equals”; this suggests that the role we have as informal educators is active and not passive and therefore, the role we adopt is essential with regards to the moral excellence that people have and should invest in to stay safe, retain dialogue and heal together we learn together.
Whilst we have much more to do and learn, the consistency of approaches that we employ work towards important topics being addressed that emerge on a personal to societal to global dimension. The #reclaimthestreets campaign gives an avenue to listen and enable young people to share their important voice in this to reach improvements in action and awareness around the rights of women and young women and the roles we can develop to a developed future.
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