CHALLENGING HIERARCHY AND DISCIPLINE

Socialist education challenges the notions of discipline and hierarchy and we believe that we should strive for all members of a group to have equal status, no matter age, background or experience. HOWEVER WE MUST BE AWARE THAT OUR GROUPS AND ACTIVITIES CAN REFLECT OUR SOCIETIES AND WE MUST NAME AND IDENTIFY POWER STRUCTURES IN ORDER TO BE AWARE OF THEM AND CHALLENGE THEM. Socialist educators are facilitators of a group and a self-organisation process rather than owner of knowledge. Being more experienced doesn’t mean that your opinions in discussion count more than those of others and every person should be open to being challenged constructively. HAVING OPEN FEEDBACK AND REFLEC-

TION STRUCTURES AS A MEANS AND SPACE FOR FACILITATING CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS A CORE TOOL IN CHALLENGING HIERARCHY. We want to encourage children to act, and we know that an emancipated person needs to be educated. Education is crucial for participating in society and one needs to know a lot about the world we live in to explain and - most importantly - change it. Our work aims at enabling children to formulate their own standpoints and interests and at giving them the courage to stand up for them.

TIPS:

Know Your Privilege

Privileges are traits that you are born with and that put you at an advantage compared to others, such as the wealth of your parents, the colour of your skin, your gender or your sexuality. Most white, middle-class heterosexual people never think about how privileged they are, and how these privileges give them power over others. It means that there are certain things that you don’t have to experience or have to think about because of who you are. We cannot abolish these innate privileges inside our socialist education spaces, but we must be aware of them and challenge the power structures that result from them!

> ACTIVITY: “POWER FLOWER”

> AGE: 12+ > DURATION: 30 min

OBJECTIVES: To reflect on one’s own privileges

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Hand out a copy of the power flower to everyone. Explain that this is their personal power flower: It has 12 petals, each representing one facet or category of their social identity. Every petal has one outer and one inner part.

2. Ask everyone to colour the outer part, if they feel they have an advantage compared to other people in this segment of life. If they think they are not privileged or have a disadvantage, they should colour the inner part of the petal. They can also choose a different colour for each category. For instance, when completing the ‘Ethnic Group’ category, it would not be too difficult to agree that ‘white’ should go in the outer petal. The same might go if their mother tongue is the dominant & official language of the country you live in. If they are a migrant or a refugee, your ‘Legal Status’ might be a disadvantage for you.

3. Ask everyone to meet in pairs and compare their power flowers.

DEBRIEFING:

Have you ever thought about your privileges before?

Were you surprised that you have a privilege (or not) in one of these areas?

What power do your privileges give you?

What disadvantage do you have when you do not have a privilege?

What can we do to achieve more equality?

Activity taken from IFM-SEI’S MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN TOOLKIT.

CHALLENGE: In organisations that often bring together leaders of very different ages - from teenagers to grandparents - generational handover can be tricky! The older leaders of course have far more experience, and they don’t want young leaders to “make the same mistakes” they had done when they started out. It can be hard to let go and accept that younger leaders need to make their own experiences and that new ways can also work, or even be better than how “things have always been”.

ANTI-PATRIARCHAL AND INCLUSIVE APPROACH

In socialist education we strive for equality of outcome and need; this makes sure everyone has the same outcome depending on the needs and starting point of everyone. We recognise THAT GENDER IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT YET RECOGNISE THAT WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF OTHER GENDERS ARE OPPRESSED IN OUR SOCIETY, AND WE STAND UP AGAINST GENDER STEREOTYPES AND BINARIES IN SOCIALIST EDUCATION. We actively challenge discrimination on all levels and use education to challenge and transform prejudices.

Dream our Local G Movement

Diversity and Inclusion Checklist

TIPS:

The DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION CHECKLIST has been created to identify best practices for promoting diversity and inclusion at IFM-SEI. The checklist is a simple self-assessment guide that will guide you step by step through issues linked with diversity and inclusion in youth projects and local youth work. It will provide an understanding of compliance, cultural awareness, respect for differences, and coaching for positive change towards inclusive practices for all young people.

THE CHECKLIST HELPS ORGANISATIONS TO:

Look back: reflect on your current practices and acknowledge what you are already doing to advance an inclusive approach.

Look at: start being aware of what still needs to be done.

Look ahead: think about next steps and identify concrete actions to foster diversity and inclusion.

> ACTIVITY: SORTING SHOES > AGE: 10+ > DURATION: 15 min

OBJECTIVES:

To understand how exclusion happens.

To explain the differences between integration and inclusion