A Typical Meeting
In the Youth Engagement Framework the activity is what is happening – so in this project that is the weekly meetings. Generally a good structure for a meeting includes:
- Opening/Check In
- Community Building
- Knowledge Sharing
- Discussion and Dialogue
- Closing/Check Out
- Evaluation
Opening/Check In
This is a short round where each person gets to say their name and how their day has been so far. Usually, we also ask participants to answer a question that is linked to the project or what we will be discussing during the meeting. For example "Who it the most important young woman in your life?". Answers can be brief, and give the participants a chance to feel like they have contributed to the discussion and the meeting, from the beginning.
This is also a chance for the facilitator to gauge the temperature of the room – how the group is doing overall. By listening you will be able to:
- hear how participants are doing/feeling/thinking,
- determine who/if any, youth require any specific support that night,
- what the mood of individuals is, and
- what the overall feeling in the group is.
Community Building
We are meeting weekly to talk about violence in young women’s lives – a very serious and sometimes personal topic for individuals. Regardless of the stage of process it is important for the group to feel connected and safe – supported by one and other. Community Building activities can help do this. There are many resources available to you to help you learn new activities you can do and you can always reach out the Students Commission to learn more.
It is important to remember that Community Builders – though fun and interactive – are not simply ‘a game’. Some good questions to ask yourself when thinking of what activity you want to lead are:
- What is the activity?
- What is the goal?
- What is the connection to the issue (violence in young women’s lives)?
- If there isn’t one that is obvious – is there a way to connect the activity to the issue?
- What do we require (time/space/supplies)?
- Can youth lead the activity?
Knowledge Sharing
A good goal of any week is to be able to share information – and not just the facilitators sharing information with youth – but in fact everyone having something to share / teach others. Though a big component of this year’s meetings will be Studying the Issue – you will need to determine each week what you hope participants take away and learn that night. When we put thought into this prior to a meeting it helps us plan a solid agenda for the meeting.
It is important to remember as Facilitators we might not (shocking!) know it all! We can provide resources and knowledge we have gathered, and the Students Commission can share with you resources about violence in young women’s lives – but it will also be important to pull on others in your community to come together to share their knowledge. Some places where you might look to find speakers, presenters or other ‘experts’ could include:
- Violence prevention worker
- A worker from a women’s shelter
- Community health nurse
- An experiential women from a local organization
- A representative from another youth organization
Discussion and Dialogue
Many young people have shared with the Students Commission that they don’t feel they have anywhere to use their voice – someone where talk and share experiences and ideas. This weekly group can be a place where youth do have that safe space to have discussions about an issue important to them. Though some meetings will be mostly discussion it is important to incorporate discussion into each meeting – a chance for youth to talk about what they are learning and experiencing that day.
There may be times where the discussion becomes challenging or different people’s viewpoints or ideas conflict with others. When done respectfully this is totally OK. We don’t have to always agree with one and other – and there is room for lots of discussion in this project. For many people talking through an issue helps them develop their knowledge and listening to others ideas helps understanding the experience and journey of fellow group members. Using the Four Pillars throughout the discussions will help ensure not only that they are respectful but also to help with the communication taking place.
Using a Talking Stick and Deep Listening can help ensure that everyone speaks and everyone is heard.
Closing/Check Out
Closing and check out are important parts of weekly meetings, giving youth a chance to a final say, let you know if they need anything or how they are feeling overall. It is also a great opportunity to close the circle or discussion. In Toronto there is a one person who does a “Rap Up”; summing up the meeting in a freestyle rap that highlights the discussion and work that done that evening. An excellent way to engage youth who have a skill such as that (freestyling) or want to build on an interest. In your meetings it could be a rap, a spoken word, a quick review – the closing just gives a chance to make sure everyone is on the same page – and feeling good.
Often, we use a short round, in the same format as the opening, where each person gets to say their name and how the meeting has been for them. Sometimes, we go around the circle and each person just says one word to sum up how they feel about the meeting. The facilitator writes down the words and then reads them as a sentence "Today's meeting was...."
Evaluation
That’s where research and evaluation comes in; how will we know we have done a good job. Our Head, Heart, Feet and Spirit sheets help us here. Each week we pay attention to the quality of the meetings - what’s happening in it? A quick checklist from research asks:
- Is it (the meeting) safe —physically, mentally, emotionally?
- Do youth feel like they belong?
- Do youth feel like they matter and have a sense of control?
- Are we providing supportive relationships for youth?
- Are there opportunities for learning new things? Building new skills? Learning from meeting people different from themselves?
- Do we have the right amount of structure in the program?
- Are we role modeling and providing positive values and norms?
- Does the activity connect to other activities in their lives that are being done by friends, family, school, community groups, government?
These are questions you can ask yourself and each other as you debrief each meeting – a chance for facilitators to connect and share what they had just experienced, determine who will follow up with anything (like typing up notes etc.) that needs to be done following the meeting.
