Dolores Huerta: Revolution in the Fields / Revolución En Los Campos Resource Guide Contents
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Rev 1 DOLORES HUERTA: Revolution in the Fields / Revolución en los Campos RESOURCE GUIDE Contents WHAT IS DIALOGUE? 4 THE FACILITATOR 5 ARC OF DIALOGUE 6 DEVELOPING GOOD QUESTIONS 8 FACILITATION TECHNIQUES 9 TROUBLESHOOTING 11 ACTIVITY ONE A LIFE OF LEADERSHIP 14 ACTIVITY TWO COMMUNITY BUILDING AND CHANGE 18 ACTIVITY THREE ARE YOU AN ACTIVIST? 22 PROGRAM EVALUATION 27 Dolores Huerta: Revolution in the Fields / Revolución en los Campos Exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. This exhibition received federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. #BecauseOfHerStory cover: Dolores Huerta holds “Huelga” sign during grape strike, Delano, California, Sept. 24, 1965. Harvey Wilson Richards, Harvey Richards Media Archive Dolores Huerta speaking at a rally, 1974 Rudy Rodríguez. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of George Rodríguez in memory of his brother Rudy © Rudy Rodríguez 2 DOLORES HUERTA: Revolution in the Fields / Revolución en los Campos RESOURCE GUIDE ` COMMUnity ENGAGEMENT RESOUrce GUIDE Created by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, the exhibition DOLORES HUerta: RevoLUTION IN THE FIELDS / RevoLUCIÓN EN LOS CAMPOS features Dolores Huerta’s role in the groundbreaking 1960s farm workers’ movement in California. As laborers endured discrimination, below-poverty level wages, back-breaking work, and precarious living conditions, Huerta, César Chávez and the United Farm Workers conducted strikes, protests, and nonviolent demonstrations to galvanize national solidarity on behalf of the laborers. At a time when men dominated organized labor and Mexican American women were expected to dedicate themselves to family, Huerta advanced new models of womanhood as an energetic picket captain, a persuasive lobbyist, and an unyielding contract negotiator. She displayed great courage and dedication to helping farm workers—often at great personal sacrifice—but her story has seldom been told. According to the American Alliance of Museums, a museum has the potential to be a “center where people gather to meet and converse and an active, visible player in civil life, Host sites can a safe haven, and a trusted incubator of change.” Host sites for Dolores Huerta: Revolution in the Fields / Revolución en los Campos can become such a place, tapping the power of tap the power the exhibition to open new conversations about the often difficult subjects of effective of the exhibition leadership, activism, commitment, community engagement and social justice. to open new This community engagement resource guide is rooted in methodology utilized by members of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, a dynamic global conversations, network of museums, historic sites and memory initiatives that inspire millions of including often people each year to explore the parallels between past and present, build bridges of understanding, and take action on pressing social issues. Aiming to move visitors beyond difficult subjects. passive learning, Sites of Conscience use community engagement techniques to enable visitors to better access exhibitions, tours, programs, and social media. This guide provides basic grounding in Sites of Conscience’s application of community engagement through evocative questions, dialogic techniques and thoughtful responses. Additionally, there are three activities available within this community engagement guide. Two activities are intended for use as participants are viewing the exhibition and one is intended for use in a separate area after the exhibition has been viewed. These activities are designed for specific age groups, as listed, but may be adapted dependent on a host site’s primary audience. The resource guide also contains evaluation tools to help each host define and assess success. 33 DOLORES HUERTA: Revolution in the Fields / Revolución en los Campos RESOURCE GUIDE Dialogue is a mode of communication that invites people with varied experiences and differing perspectives to engage in an open-ended conversation, with the express goal of personal and collective learning. Dialogue is the foundation of this community engagement resource guide. Facilitated dialogue refers to an intentional process “led” by a facilitator. Host sites who employ dialogue in their work with Dolores Huerta: Revolution in the Fields / Revolución en los Campos will combine a shared experience, questions, techniques, and ground rules to encourage all participants to communicate with integrity. Dialogue acknowledges that there are different ways of knowing about any given subject, and it accepts that knowledge can be drawn from both personal experience and formal study. Participants in dialogue accept that it is possible for two markedly different perspectives to coexist and that it is not necessary to be entirely correct or entirely Dialogue is the incorrect. Because dialogue attempts to be a non-hierarchical mode of communication, foundation of this a facilitator’s primary role is to uphold equality among all participants. resource guide. Dialogue vs. Other Modes of Communication Below is a list of familiar modes of communication. While all modes of communication have a place in how we talk to each other, this community engagement resource guide will focus on dialogue. • Conversation - sharing information and ideas in order to express one’s views without any intended impact on the listener • Discussion - sharing information and ideas in order to accomplish a specific task • Debate - sharing information and ideas in an effort to bring others into agreement or alignment with one’s position or belief • Dialogue - sharing ideas, information, experiences, and assumptions for the purposes of personal and collective learning 4 DOLORES HUERTA: Revolution in the Fields / Revolución en los Campos RESOURCE GUIDE The facilitator is essential to helping participants engage with the topic and each other in a productive way. Facilitators will use the content of Dolores Huerta: Revolution in the Fields / Revolución en los Campos along with questions, techniques, activities, and ground rules to allow the group to better explore ideas of effective leadership, activism, commitment, community engagement and social justice. Facilitators are charged with many responsibilities: • Maintain group safety by setting the proper tone for dialogue and promoting an environment that encourages openness and suspends judgment. • Create and sustain a spirit of inquiry in the group. • Identify conflict and lead the group through it. • Facilitate dialogue without imposing their own beliefs or perspectives. • Remain flexible and allow a natural dynamic to occur within the group. • Ensure equality within the group and break down hierarchies. • Ask probing questions to encourage deeper individual exploration and the identification of larger truths. • Synthesize the main ideas that emerge during the dialogue. Who makes a good facilitator? Facilitators can be found among your staff, board, volunteers or community stakeholders. When considering who could make the strongest facilitators for the programs in this guide, look for people who: • Give equal value to emotional, intellectual, and spiritual ways of knowing. Facilitators • Exhibit a natural spirit of inquiry or curiosity. support • Listen consciously while reserving judgment. participants • Are aware and reflective about their own identity/identities. • Have organized, but flexible, ways of working and thinking. as they work • Show patience with diverse learning processes and learners. together to better • Hold themselves and others accountable for behaviors and attitudes. understand • Are aware of their body language and exhibit a non-defensive posture. themselves and others. 5 DOLORES HUERTA: Revolution in the Fields / Revolución en los Campos RESOURCE GUIDE Dolores Huerta: Revolution in the Fields / Revolución en los Campos The activities for this community engagement resource guide are carefully designed to be facilitated around an “arc of dialogue.” Developed by Tammy Bormann and David Campt, the arc of dialogue structure pairs a common experience shared by all participants (in this case the Dolores Huerta: Revolution in the Fields / Revolución en los Campos exhibition) with a sequence of questions designed to build trust and communication, allowing participants to interact with the exhibition themes in more relevant and personal ways. A facilitated dialogue can occur either after a visit to the exhibition OR dialogue questions can be asked throughout a visit to the exhibition at appropriate moments. Arcs are structured around four phases: community building, sharing our own experiences, exploring beyond our own experiences, and synthesizing/bringing closure to the community group. Phase One: Sample Phase One Phase One encourages connectedness and relationship-building within the group. Questions/ Starters The work done here underpins the successful creation of a space where all participants 1. Who is a leader that can engage. Phase One is comprised of four parts: introducing the roles of the facilitator, you respect? What do explaining the intent of the dialogue, establishing ground rules, and hearing all of the they have in common voices in the room. with Dolores Huerta? How are they different? To begin, a facilitator: 2. Based on the • Welcomes the participants,