Our Voices: Our Community CURRICULUM 2004 Revised Edition We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our touch, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit. —e. e. cummings VERMONT CHILDREN’S FORUM VERMONT RURAL PARTNERSHIP Contents PART I: INTRODUCTION 5 Welcome and Overview 7 Founding Beliefs 8 Guiding Principles and Practices 9 Youth-Adult Partnerships 9 Connecting to Communities: The Project 10 Learning by Discovery 11 Circles of Leadership Development 13 Positive Youth Development 15 Summary of Guiding Principles and Practices 16 About the Curriculum 17 How Did We Create Our Voices: Our Community?18 Who Is It For? 18 How Does It Accommodate for Diverse Learning Styles? 18 What Is the Optimum Class Size? 18 What Is the Time Commitment? 19 Is the Curriculum Linked to Vermont’s Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities? 19 What Are the Facilitators’ Roles and Responsibilities? 20 How Do Participants Serve as Leaders? 21 How Are Leadership Skills Presented? 21 How Are Modules Sequenced? 24 Conclusion 26 PART II: THE MODULES 27 Who Are We? Where Are We Going? Getting Going Together! 29 Exploration of Leaders and Leadership 69 Decision Making 91 The Project 117 Communication 145 Conflict Resolution 179 Team Building 203 Embracing Diversity 237 Systems and Change 291 4 CONTENTS PART III: FACILITATOR RESOURCE GUIDE 319 Relationship of OV:OC to Vermont’s Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities and Developmental Assets 321 Relationship of OV:OC to Resiliency Theory 328 Relationship of OV:OC to Developmental Assets 330 Sample Module Sequence 331 Sequencing Considerations: GRABBS Model 332 Experiential Learning Cycle: What? So What? Now What? 333 Session Guide for Facilitators 334 Fun Ways to Divide a Group 336 Facilitation Techniques 337 Icebreaker and Energizer Alternatives 342 Closings 348 Facilitator Module Feedback 351 Recruitment Making Accessibility Real 353 Information Release Form 385 APPENDICES 387 Appendix A: Bibliography 389 Appendix B: The Vermont Children’s Forum 395 Appendix C: The Vermont Rural Partnership 396 Appendix D: The Vermont Center for Independent Living 397 ACTIVITIES ADDENDUM PART I INTRODUCTION 5 WELCOME AND OVERVIEW elcome to the Our Voices: Our Community curriculum, a leader- ship development guide for young people. It is also a leadership Wdevelopment guide for all of us, for leadership is about how we live our lives every day. The curriculum requires participants to draw on their experience, build on their strengths, and work in partnership in order to bring to bear all their resources. It guides them through Circles of Leadership centering on the personal and extending outward to their community and beyond. And it concludes with the contribution individuals and groups make to the life of their community through a project. We wish you well and thank you for your efforts. When we commit our- selves to our neighbor’s health, we all benefit. Different points of departure. Different destinations. Varied Paths. Always moving in the same direction. Moving From Moving Toward I do not feel that others value my I know that what I have to say has voice. value. I am unable to take control of my I can set personal goals and reach own life. them. I do not believe that I can I am confident that I can make a make a difference in the world. positive difference in the world. I do not have the skills and/or the I have the knowledge or skills I need, or knowledge to be a leader in my life or know how to get these, to be a leader in the lives of others. in my life or in the lives of others. I do not feel valued by adults. I can and will work in partnership with adults to create change because my input is respected and valued. Therefore, I am silent and alone. Therefore, I speak, I am heard, I contribute, I am valued by my community. 7 8 INTRODUCTION As eleven young people and nine adults from throughout the state met for the first overnight retreat to develop this curriculum, there was one thing we were sure about: The only right way to develop a leadership curriculum for young people was with young people. —Helen Beattie Our Voices: Our Community has a rich history and clear beliefs. “Guid- ing Principles and Practices” describes five principles derived from the founding beliefs about leadership and learning present in all learning mod- ules. Finally, specifics about the curriculum, the role of facilitators, and themes throughout the modules are offered. The curriculum itself is divided into individual modules, each focusing on a fundamental component of leadership skill–building. These modules include goals, objectives, methods designed to meet a wide array of learn- ing styles and individual needs, self-assessment tools, and additional resources. This curriculum is extremely flexible and provides for a broad range of learning capacities and styles. It is a resource for you to use in a school or community setting to help participants’ identify and reach their goals. The following founding beliefs about leadership and learning shaped all aspects of the curriculum development: Founding Beliefs About Leadership • All people are leaders in their own right. • People learn how to exercise leadership through actively engaging in efforts to take charge of their own life and by improving their world. • There are certain known skills that will help a person be effective as a leader. • Positive relationships are key to leadership. • Self-awareness and moral integrity are key to building positive relationships. • It is more powerful to honor and build on strengths rather than to focus solely on fixing deficits or problems. • Leaders nurture others to take initiative, solve problems, and assume leadership roles. About Learning • Learning should be personally relevant and engaging. • People learn best through experience, discovery, and reflection. Welcome and Overview 9 • We learn from one another; facilitators and participants share opportunities to exchange thoughts, feelings, and ideas. • Instructional methods must be varied to meet a diversity of learning styles. • A positive learning environment is best fostered through cooperation versus competition. • Taking risks is an important ingredient for true learning to take place. • Trust, safety, and mutual respect are key to taking risks in learning. • Learning is thought provoking and fun. • Every person deserves to be known and heard. • Learning is empowering and builds confidence Guiding Principles and Practices The Our Voices: Our Community curriculum is extremely flexible in de- sign and use. However, the founding beliefs and the following guiding prin- ciples are considered non-negotiable because they are the curriculum’s source of power to promote positive growth: 1. Youth-Adult Partnership 2. Connecting to Communities: The Project 3. Learning by Discovery 4. Circles of Leadership Development: From Personal to Beyond 5. Positive Youth Development Youth-Adult Partnerships Further development of human society depends upon the existence of a continuing dialogue in which the young, free to act on their initiative, can lead their elders in the direction of the unknown. The children, the young, must ask the questions that we would never think to ask but enough trust must be re-established so that the elders will be permitted to work with them on the answers. —Margaret Mead Cofacilitation of the course by a youth and an adult models an effective youth-adult partnership. If the curriculum is used in a middle school, ide- ally a high school student can partner with an adult to cofacilitate, or a middle school student can take a significant supporting role. Youth are en- couraged to consider becoming cofacilitators after participating in the 10 INTRODUCTION course, creating a ladder of leadership opportunities within the Our Voices: Our Community program. Youth-adult partnerships are explored in the Systems and Change mod- ule. Age stereotypes are explored in the Embracing Diversity and Systems and Change modules. A goal of this curriculum is that facilitators and par- ticipants are messengers of the need to shift from doing things for and to young people to doing work with young people. Typically and traditionally in many cultures, young people have been excluded from efforts to rebuild their communities. This marginalization of our youth not only harms them and endangers our future, but it also cheats the world of a valuable resource. If we are to function effectively as local and even global communities, then we must incorporate all significant voices. —Youth on Board 14 Points for Successfully Involving Youth in Decision Making Connecting to Communities: The Project Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people that have come alive. —Harold Thurman Whitman Project work is a powerful way to anchor abstract concepts and skills in real-life applications while connecting to the community. Through the proj- ects, participants test and strengthen their new skills and learn how to work effectively with others in their community or school. Participants de- termine their projects based on their passions and interests, their needs and strengths, and their communities’ needs. The project helps partici- pants to develop connections with their school or larger community, be- tween themselves and others, and with some interest or issue they care about. Fostering helpfulness, providing opportunities for meaningful par- ticipation, and developing competencies all promote resiliency and are key elements of leadership development (Henderson, 1996). The project may be taken on individually, or in partnership with one or more classmates, or the entire class may choose a project to pursue.