Date post: | 17-Jul-2015 |
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DIVERSITY
INQUIRY
Jeannie Grant
Epsom Girls Grammar
Philip Patston
Diversity NZ
Decaying identity to offer new and unique opportunities for alternative selves to grow
BACKGROUND – decoding the
matrixJeannie:
Health/PE Teacher – with curiosity and interest in complexity
of ‘self’ & identity but….
Frustrated with sexuality education ‘dis-ease’ focus
heteronormative, bullying…
Counsellor – Frustrated with limiting conversations about
diversity e.g. Invisibility/silence responses to ‘other’ diversity -
disability & LGBTIA-XYZ-%$*#
Philip:
Gay, disabled, white, male, counsellor, social worker,
comedian...what does this mean?
But wait there’s more! Social Entrepreneur, Leadership
Developer...who am I supposed to be? ‘Exasperated’?
A SYNERGY OF IDEAS
AND SKILLS BECOMES
DIV:INQ
• Philosophy For Children (P4C) – ‘Gently Socratic
Inquiry’
• Postmodern and post-structural thinking and concepts
• Breaking down of usual concrete mechanical metaphors
• Embracing ‘quantum’ ‘holographic’ ‘resonance’ ideas/metaphors
FERTILE SOIL AND TURNING IT
Who? – Senior students (16-18) ‘readiness’
How? – Philip present
When? – Out of class time
What? – Ice breaking conversations –developing core group & culture – expand by invitation ‘word of mouth’ (unplug – red pill)
Frequency? – 1x Month – weekly (demand!)
PHILIP – lets take a look at what he does best
DIVINQING – WORKING ASSUMPTIONS –
fertiliser?“An uncomfortable feeling is not an enemy. It’s a gift
that says, ‘get honest. Inquire.’” Byron Katie
DIVINQ Diversity - contradictory
Labels - useful to a point –limit understanding & create assumptions
No deficits/problems inherent in diversity
Humour opens space for fear and assumptions to be explored
Emersion and ever
‘becoming’ diverse
HOW DO I KNOW THYSELF?
Familiar approaches Diversity – consistent, fixed
and known
Labels help describe and
categorise difference – more
labels = better representation
Some diversity needs special
care, attention and work to
include ‘tolerate it’
Human rights are at stake –
this is serious business
Diversity at a distance
(objectified)
KNOW THYSELF!
DECAY IS
NECESSARY FOR
GROWTH TO
OCCURDecaying identity sensitively
Keeping an awareness of tension around values
Staying ‘comfortably uncomfortable’ is the aim
So WHAT is decayed?
• LABELS
• DUALISMS AND POLARITY
• CERTAINTY
• POWER
• KNOWLEDGE
Meeting together!
Use of science fiction (e.g.
Avatar and The Matrix,
SIASL-’grok it?’)
Facilitators who are
confident to ‘go there’
and represent actual real
people
Expanding connections-
dimensions online
(Facebook, Blog, Pinterest)
EXPLORING ‘SELF’
AS A SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTIONDeconstruction doesn’t just have to be an intellectually stuffy tool –
get creative, visual!
Shift the ‘lens’ & depersonalise
Doesn’t require ‘disclosure’ -use others stories, fiction, as (con)textual references
Careful use of humour–become ‘fallible’ & open with this
VALUES AND THE NZC “Values are deeply held beliefs about what is important or
desirable. They are expressed through the ways in which
people think and act.”
Values - NZC
innovation, inquiry, and curiosity, by thinking critically, creatively, and reflectively
diversity, as found in our different cultures, languages, and heritages
equity, through fairness and social justice
community and participation for thecommon good
ecological sustainability, which includes care for the environment
integrity, which involves being honest, responsible, and accountable and acting ethically
and to respect themselves, others, and human rights.
Additional values-new seeds
Uncertainty
Authenticity
‘Uniquity’ (as a
challenge to equity)
Appreciation
Humility
Wonder (form of
epistemic vulnerability)
‘Outrospection’
‘Joystheticness’
‘PLANTING’ DIVINQ IN SCHOOLS –
A FEW THINGS TO CONSIDERDIVINQ IS NOT: Group therapy – or any
therapy
School service group
An intervention in response to bullying of marginalised students
A lesson on inclusion
About blame, shame or guilt for getting ‘diversity wrong’
The silver bullet
A form of support group – e.gGay/Straight Alliance
Forced integration ‘getting along with each other in spite of our differences’
Counselling, teaching, coaching or mentoring
Values education
IS! A conversational process of deconstructing identity in a safe and
accepting way that acknowledges and validates all expressions of self
Opportunity to explore, observe, notice language, its effects and develop awareness of assumptions and responses to difference we encounter daily
A dynamic authentic expression of the Key Competencies of the NZC - “Students need to be challenged and supported to develop them in contexts that are increasingly wide-ranging and complex.”
Creative process – with a responsiveness in the moment
Site of resistance to dominant ideas about self and identity while respecting the contribution these have made to our understanding
Intentionally represents, names and locates marginalised experiences of diversity in order to provide unique perspectives -particularly around functionality and gender
Aims to promote change through gentle invitation to let go of fear and be aware of limiting beliefs about difference
Values alternative/fringe ideas, holding ‘lightly’ being in a contradiction and not knowing
A way of being in the world – that is ‘seriously fun’
Views the way change is made is one conversation at a time - that changing the world only happens through changing ourselves
EGGS DIVINQ’ers
"DIVINQ allows me to openly share my views
and opinions about the world with others and be
able to freely discuss them and challenge mine
and others thinking“ Vanessa Yr12
Nicole Yr 12
"DIVINQ allows me to see the world from a
different perspective. It has taught me to think
about things differently and not to always take
things for what society tells us they are. It has
also made me more educated and confident to
spark up a conversation/debate with someone
about issues/ideas in society”. Liv Yr 12
DIVINQ provides me with a way to feel 'normal'. It's
lovely to be a part of a group that appreciates my
'unusual' upbringing. My ideas are celebrated, my
beliefs are challenged and I'm constantly engaged in
the philosophy of "what is life?“ Josephine Yr 13
“DIVINQ is a group that
celebrates the differences. It
acknowledges the value of
mainstream attitudes, but
challenges the individual to go
beyond that. I'm constantly left asking more questions, than
when I enter the room, and
perhaps that is the best. I love to
be challenged, and found it's
been a hard but humbling gesture to admit fault. DIVINQ
prepares its students for the
conflicts in the wider society. It
gives you the freedom to speak
your mind without a word limit, a
central thesis or memorised list of
facts”. (Josephine)