EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITIES FOR A BETTER WORLD : A Guidebook for Facilitators, Teachers, Trainers and Group Leaders By Marilyn Levin, with Lea Arellano Foreword by Laurie Frank Experiential Activities for a Better World: A Guide Book for Facilitators, Teachers, Trainers and Group Leaders Copyright © 2010 by Marilyn Levin All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without proper citation of the author. ISBN 145379333X Dedication This book is dedicated to the brilliant, loving, passionate, creative, courageous being within you. May this book support the fullest expression of your soul’s purpose. TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS...........................................................................................4 FOREWORD ........................................................................................................6 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................9 INFORMATION FOR EVERYONE.........................................................................12 THE POWER OF POSSIBILITY: TRANSFORMING YOURSELF AND THE WORLD..........................12 CULTURAL CONDITIONING, NOT PERSONAL FAILING.............................................................22 RECLAIMING YOUR HUMANITY ............................................................................................42 TOOLS TO TRANSFORM EMOTIONAL CONTROL INTO FLOW ..................................................48 TOOLS FOR TRANSFORMING SCARCITY INTO SUFFICIENCY....................................................55 TOOLS FOR TRANSFORMING SEPARATION INTO CONNECTION..............................................66 BECOMING THE ONE’S WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR................................................................75 INFORMATION FOR PEOPLE WITH EXPERIENCE.................................................82 THE FABULOUS FACILITATOR WITHIN ...................................................................................82 TIPS AND TOOLS FOR THE FABULOUS FACILITATOR...............................................................99 THE SYSTEMS OF OPPRESSION ...........................................................................................111 ACTIVITIES FOR EVERYONE (LISTED ALPHABETICALLY) ....................................124 ACTIVITIES FOR PEOPLE WITH EXPERIENCE (LISTED ALPHABETICALLY)............216 INTRODUCTION TO HANDOUTS (LISTED ALPHABETICALLY).............................308 APPENDICES – REFERENCES AND RESOURCES .................................................343 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................354 ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR.......................................355 FOREWORD I have been fussing lately about the state of our world - what with oil spills, political polarization, and an economy that only seems to work for those who have the most. But this year, each time my fret level edged up to orange, I was served a healing antidote of hope through my work with people. To best describe how this book, Experiential Activities for a Better World, can truly make a difference, I must share the four touch points of my year: • I had the opportunity to spend a week at the United World College in Costa Rica where I interacted, dialogued, and witnessed little miracles of cross-cultural interaction between youth. This 2-year immersion program brings high school students together from 60+ different countries, and I saw how they strive to not only be together, but also to share, dialogue, and seek to understand. They have a passion for making their world a better place through collaboration and sometimes sheer will. I was inspired. • My partner, Bert, and I had the honor of working with the Inter-Tribal Student Organization at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Many of these students are the first from their families to attend college. Their struggles are similar to the trials and tribulations of all college students with the addition of what it means to be Native in a mostly Euro-American setting and world. I learned about their commitment to supporting each other to achieve their goals and experience success. I was touched. • Early in the year I was contacted by a rather new organization in Madison, Wisconsin called OPEN: The Out Professional Executive Network. They had only been around for a little over a year and were making great strides at creating a professional networking space for those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allies. They were interested in doing a workshop on cultural competence. Through many meetings and dialogues, we were able to co-create an event that had focus, depth, and purpose – something I could not have done alone. I was stretched. www.MarilynLevin.com Page 6 of 356 • Most recently, I had the opportunity to co-coordinate a week of leadership learning on a schooner through the Global Youth Leadership Institute. The week included intact groups from high schools in the U.S., and was joined with a group of young people from many countries in the Middle East through the Youth Exchange Program sponsored by the State Department. I was unsure how these young people would come together, and was even nervous about how it would go in such a short period of time. We simply provided opportunities for connection, and these young people took it from there. During the week a sense of community was pervasive and our task, as the adults, was to stay out of the way. I was humbled. All of these experiences made me a better person because of the connection with people who see the world as a place that includes them, and are willing to take risks to make it a place that includes everyone else, too. To do this, people need ways to come together in their plurality – to join together and make good things happen. This is what Marilyn Levin gives us in this gem of a book. She offers facilitation pointers, background, and most importantly, context on how to use activities for connections and exploration. She reminds us that the activities, in themselves, do nothing. It is the power of the process and how we use the activities as tools for connecting that is the real point. Since 1993 I have had the pleasure of calling Marilyn Levin my colleague. She brings an enormous positive energy to the table as facilitator, guide, and friend. Her fun and spontaneity come through when she busts out an interpretive dance or convenes a rousing session of the “Menagerie Card Game”. Participants in her workshops are treated to a disarming sense of humor that helps open a space for dialogue, and an ability to draw out issues for exploration through the timely use of activity and discussion. She teaches us all that when we wrestle with serious issues, we don’t have to draw a line in the sand – we need to find ways to gather together, find our common ground, and build it from there. Marilyn shows us that it is not simply about doing something, but our frames of mind, perspectives, and how we perceive both the world and ourselves that really count. We can’t let the detritus of competition, accumulation of things, and even hate overwhelm us because, when that happens, it is over. Only people can make this world a better place – and it must be done together in a spirit of collaboration, sharing, and love. www.MarilynLevin.com Page 7 of 356 Hope usually comes in quiet and unexpected places. It’s found outside of the spotlight, and through my experiences this year I was reminded that the future of our world does not rest in the hands of the politicians, the powerful, or the photographed. True change rests in the hands of those who are doing the difficult work every day. Experiential Activities for a Better World offers many tools to make it happen. It is our responsibility to make it work. Laurie S. Frank Experiential Educator and Author, Journey Toward the Caring Classroom www.MarilynLevin.com Page 8 of 356 INTRODUCTION Experiential Activities for a Better World delivers the information and inspiration you need to become a catalyst for personal and global transformation. It provides insights, methods, perspectives, tools and over 100 activities for facilitators, teachers, counselors, trainers, and group leaders – anyone who would like to transform injustice and inspire hope and healing in themselves and others. You can use the insights, tools and activities in this book to work with yourself, another person, in pairs, small groups and large groups. Many of the approaches, tools and activities in the book can be used by people with little or no experience. For people with experience, there are additional chapters of instruction and intermediate and advanced activities and handouts. Experiential Activities for a Better World provides an explanation of the experiential learning cycle, guidance in the facilitation of the activities and topics in the book, and instructions on teaching people to respond to personal and societal challenges with confidence, compassion and power. This book came about after a decade of requests for written versions of the approaches and experiential activities I use in my trainings. These approaches can make potentially divisive topics more fun and empowering – especially in working with people who aren’t drawn to topics like diversity, injustice, or transformation. I regularly get comments like: “Diversity is not my thing but if anyone gets permission to teach me about it – it’s you,” and “I was really dreading coming to this