Real Voice Guidebook by Trevor Johnson

Real Voice GUIDEBOOK

Using a Media Arts Strategy to Engage Youth in Social Change

Inspiring Youth with Creativity Opportunities to lead, learn and dream

What is

Real Voice? Real Voice is about

creating spaces and opportunities for young people to lead, learn and dream as they participate in the process of neighbourhood community development. The following pages document our processes and experiences.

Our communities need every single young person to feel valued and able to contribute. Young people are a gift to communities. They are naturally focused on the future, and talking with young people helps all of us focus on possibilities and our own collective vision of the future. However, the energy and creativity and optimism young people bring to our neighbourhoods can be squandered if efforts aren’t made to reach out and provide genuine opportunities for leadership, learning and dreaming. Real Voice is one way to provide this opportunity. We began with an idea of young people engaged at the neighbourhood level. Engaged to identify what is important to them, but also to create solutions and build empowering relationships with each other, with their community and with their school. We took it one step further by not only focusing on young people in neighbourhoods, but also using a group of young adults from a variety of backgrounds to serve as community energizers, mentors and facilitators in the groups. All of them collectively named themselves Agents of Change. The Real Voice Guidebook contains tools to help support other communities use a media arts strategy as a method of recruiting, and supporting their own agents. We focused on using the creation of “movies with a message” to create action-spaces with young people in neighbourhoods. The booklet provides a step by step description of the Real Voice process from discussing how groups form, to each stage of the group and some ways to promote learning and evaluate what’s happening. Real Voice inspires all of us with the potential and creativity an engaged and energized youth population can provide. Building upon the talents and energy of young people provides a spark, a sense of possibility and vital fun for neighbourhood community development. The ripples of this work will be felt for years. Enjoy the ride!

Trevor Johnson City of London

Yasmin Hussain

Boys & Girls Club of London

“

Real Voice is young people acting collaboratively to spark change in their neighbourhoods

Jeremy Jeresky

Foundation

Creative Director, The New School of Colour

The arts can play many important roles in our community. The arts can entertain, educate, ask important questions, spark conversation and bring people together. Our Real Voice process creates an opportunity to explore all of these roles in highly comprehensive and imaginative ways. While these “movies with a message” educated viewers about issues or challenges we all face, perhaps more profoundly, the filming process in and of itself educated the Agents and the group members in such a way that each changed on a personal level. Creating art can be about re-creating yourself and your world if we let it.

John Densky

Director, Medium London

At Medium, we were excited to be part of a project giving voice to young and aspiring filmmakers in our community. Whilst excited, I was not prepared for how profound an impact the project would make upon myself. I suspect it was I who learnt the most from this experience. I was absolutely humbled by the commitment and sheer raw talent of the people I worked with. My hope for the process was to identify and support participants who showed an acumen and desire to use multi-media to communicate and advocate. From the scripts, narratives and production end of the films to the energy packed festival itself, I felt both humbled and deeply inspired. A profound thank-you to the youth and mentors for allowing me to rest easy knowing that the arts, film and community health are in very capable and motivated hands!

The City of London’s Youth Community Economic Development Framework’s goal is for all young people to successfully complete secondary school and enroll in post-secondary education, apprenticeship or training. To support this, the framework identifies the following outcomes related to the Building Blocks of activity:

1 2

Young people wanting to participate;

Young people who have practiced skills to be successful in school and their careers; and

Young people who have resources and relationship networks to successfully navigate transitions in their life.

Young people creating their own solutions to community challenges;

The foundation of Real Voice is built on three pillars of community development based thinking. First, Real Voice is a project developed using the City of London’s Youth Community Economic Development (YCED) Framework as a guide. The framework suggests four Building Blocks of youth focused activity which must be present in neighbourhoods: Engagement activities, Leadership activities, SkillBuilding activities and activities which provide Links to My Future. Secondly, Real Voice owes a great deal to the work of John McKnight, Peter Kenyon and Jim Diers of the Asset Based Community Development Institute. ABCD is built upon the belief that utilizing the strengths, capacities and assets of individuals and community groups will provide a stronger and more sustainable response to community challenges than focusing on the problems. Peter Kenyon added a focus on young people’s creative responses to economic challenges. Jim Diers’s focus on the role municipalities can play in neighbourhoods and the importance of celebrating and making the work fun are important. Finally, Real Voice is infused with the work of Caroline Wang and Mary Anne Burris who were instrumental in the development and advancement of photovoice as a participatory method of inquiry. While Real Voice is not a “true” photovoice project, the use of media-art images both still and moving to express ideas, communicate subjective interpretations of reality and take action is fundamentally what photovoice and Real Voice is all about.

Movies with a Message

Our Approach

Real Voice frames our use of media arts as working towards creating “Movies with a Message.” This helps to provide a loose boundary to the project by setting a goal for groups to work towards, but also leaves enough open space for creativity and diversity within the process. This frame provides flexibility and openness for young people working in neighbourhood groups to shape their group collaboration, define their message(s), and envision the creative style of their movie. It also allows a variety of media arts to be employed within the creation of the movie. Groups can create their own soundtrack, write dialogue or credits, use photography or videography and polish everything up with editing software.

Growing Agents of Change

Project

Structure

Real Voice starts with generating meaningful spaces in which young people have opportunities to identify and define issues impacting their lives and neighbourhoods, and develop strategies for change. Young people are valued for the knowledge, ideas, skills and talents, and creative energy they bring to a process or project. This approach engages young people as partners. Working in partnership with young people means youth are playing a leading role in shaping the process and moving it into action. Emphasis is placed on generating spaces of action together with young people in order to grow strategies which positively impact youth and neighbourhoods.

Our vision was to guide a process of youth engagement marked by creative and collaborative energy

leading to action. In order for the sparks of this energy to be realized we had to start with framing our approach and process.

roup g e s er A div s g en t g er of A tron s a s ma ke th a e Wi i v o “M age” Mess

Building Action Spaces Real Voice Style!

The making of movies with a message serves as an opportunity for young people to collaborate in telling a story, and communicating a message that is important to their group. The process of making a movie with a message provided an active medium for young people to bring to life their collaborative visions, perspectives, ideas and leadership to share with the wider community.

Real Voice builds two intersecting levels of youth action spaces. We work in partnership with a diverse group of young adults (ages 18 to 25) who are hired as project staff. This group works to vision, design, and facilitate Real Voice. Our first team named themselves Agents of Change. Agents of Change develop and grow the creative and collective culture of Real Voice. An important part of the culture of Real Voice is the belief that all young people should have opportunities to experience themselves as contributing to their communities and as active agents of change. Within neighbourhoods the Agents of Change form or connect to local groups of teens. These groups work through the Real Voice Stages to build neighbourhood-based youth action spaces and Movies with a Message.

You may find these prompts helpful:

Celebrate your neighbourhood and/or celebrate youth in your neighbourhood.

Raise awareness on issues or concerns impacting and/or important to youth; raise awareness about your neighbourhood.

Advocate for change on a specific issue or concern.

Provide solutions or strategies for change to specific issues or concerns.

Let’s Get Started! Designate ample time for planning, designing, mapping out and organizing your

3. Photomontage 1. Group Building Get to know each other!

Carefully weave together film footage, music and titles to create a meaningful visual masterpiece.

Celebrate!

WEEK

6-8

specific goals and outreach methods.

Map out your movie! Create a visual map of the script to facilitate and organize the filming stage.

Develop a strength-based group focused on creativity and achievement.

objectives and plan

It’s all in the details!

Storyboarding

Combine images, movement and music to tell a story and communicate messages.

project; determine

7. Editing

5. Scripting &

Photography in motion!

WEEK

1-2

WEEK

17-19

WEEK

11-13

You did it! Celebrate your creativity and hard work, take pride as a group in what you’ve accomplished, plan a special screening event and share your movie with others!

These timeframe suggestions and milestones are meant to help guide project coordinators in planning their Real Voice project. While every project grounded in an authentic, community driven process will vary in terms of time, successes, and outcomes, these milestones and time estimates are important steps along the way. Based on this model, you can expect your Real Voice project to require anywhere from 16 to 20 weeks total time, including 6 to 10 weeks for film screening celebration event planning.

WEEK

3-5 2. Photo-Voice Postcards

You’re a photojournalist! Use photography to showcase your neighbourhood, express concerns, and send messages to others.

9-10 4. Story Circle

WEEK

14-16

Determining the message! Decide on theme and genre of your group movie. Share, brainstorm and collaborate in a safe environment.

6. Filming

Evaluation

Action! Let’s make a movie!

Throughout the project,

Learn about specialized roles, equipment, software; bring your important group message to life on film.

we recommend using fun, creative, engaging methods to evaluate outcomes.

Group Building Trus ting o th ers with your c a n vas gives us a chan to ta ce lk ab ou t team work and riskta kin g!

Goals and Objectives The fun is about to begin! You have a group of young people who are interested, curious and excited. It’s time to spark the journey by getting to know one another and building group relationships.

The following pages

document the stages and activities we engaged in as we implemented our Real Voice project. Please use this as a guide only and adjust to your particular group needs.

Try This! Drop Gravity!

Strategies

Stages

Group building activities serve to develop a resilient foundation for the collaborative process. Engage activities and strategies to create opportunities for group members to interact and connect in fun and meaningful ways. Icebreaker games and activities strategically foster group relationships and teamwork capacities.

Drop Gravity is a fun and easy group building activity developed by our Creative Director, Jeremy Jeresky.

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an vas, a in t, c old p : d e Ne s, Yo u’ll table cloth ic ic us ! plast and m , g in h clot

Key Lear nin of build g? Importance ing trus t & mutual respect!

m Place containers of paints at the centre of the table.

m Switch it up! Ask each person to pass their

m Provide each group member with a blank canvas and

ask each person to write their name on the back of the canvas.

m Each group member then pours some paint onto their

canvas and using gravity and motion moves the paint across the canvas. Encourage everyone to cover the canvas without any paint dripping off!

m Have each group member add a second colour after

1 minute; keep moving the paint across the canvas and watch for exciting patterns!

canvas to the right/or left, now everyone is working with a new canvas and adding new colours.

m Keep switching it up! After 45 to 60 seconds

continue asking group members to pass the canvas to their neighbours and add new colours.

m Once all canvases have been thoroughly covered in

paint and become unique and vibrant pieces of art, the activity has come to a close. Canvases will need to dry overnight.

Within the process of group building you are growing positive group dynamics to fuel collaboration and creativity, as well as creating a space for shared belonging and ownership. Some important steps: m Together review project goals, time

m Grow a shared sense of group owner-

m Ensure space for group members to

lines, details and expectations.

m Create opportunities for group

members to share with one another why they chose to participate & their hopes for the project.

ship and responsibility. Use a guiding prompt like: “In order to create a ‘movie with a message’, it’s important that our group…”

provide input and feedback throughout the project.

m Establish a group routine or process

for meetings.

Photo-Voice Postcards Resources

Goals and Objectives

m point and shoot cameras m SD or memory cards

Photo-voice invites participants to take photographs which document their everyday lives and communities. In a sense, photo-voice creates an opportunity for participants to act as photojournalists. By combining visual images with a story, young people have an opportunity to share what’s important to them, communicate messages and visions, convey perspectives and insights, raise concerns and spark dialogue.

Strategies

Here’s What We Did

m mission cards to frame assignments m postcard template m money for printing postcards m access to a projector and screen

le to ccessib s a y it iv t a Keep a c e camer ...pro vid e n o y r e v e ep. w or ke to borro

Re view sa fe ty a nd e th ic al guidelin es p rior to ea c h mission as sign men t.

Young people created neighbourhood postcards that conveyed messages and asked questions. Postcards served as an accessible example for youth to work with in developing their own visual narratives/messages. Agents of Change provided a question to group members in the form of a “mission.” Mission #1: Invite youth to take photos that represent places, spaces, and things important to their neighbourhood. Question: What do you think other people should know about your neighbourhood?

e ou tsid Th in k a x! Tr y the bo ger sca ven o t o h p r r othe hun t o ra ph y photog ng es. challe

Mission #2: One week later, invite youth to take photos that represent concerns in their neighbourhood. Question: What would you like to change, or see change, in your neighbourhood?

Re cord a ll them es, ideas, a n d s torie s durin g y our grou p discuss ions! Th ese w ill help la t er.

After each mission the group shared their photos with one another, and engaged in collective group dialogue and critical reflection. Postcards featuring their photos were then printed. Group members wrote their story on the back of the postcards, along with a question for youth residing in a different neighbourhood. A photovoice process facilitated dialogue and interaction both within and across neighbourhoods.

There are different ways of organizing a photo-voice process, but we found the following elements to be important to the process:

Pro Tip: Use the “Rule of Thirds” Imagine your picture divided in a grid like this. The most important object in the photo should be placed where the lines cross.

m Provide a question to guide the work

m Share what’s been produced, so that

of photo-journalism/photography.

m Create opportunities for group

sharing. Members can learn from each other and “see” things from different perspectives.

the visual images and story serve as an invitation (or point of departure) for further engagement and action.

Photomontage Resources

Goals and Objectives Ta ke ea ch phot usin o g th e same fra m e fo r a con s isten t o ve look rall , esp ecial for p ly ortra iture mon t a g es .

A photomontage is a short video consisting of a series of photos sequenced in a quick, dynamic and stylized manner. This fast-paced sequencing brings life to a story like drawings in a cartoon. Music, text and/or voice-over, and other special editing effects, can be added to enhance the visual rhythm, vibrancy, and narrative force of the photomontage. This is a great step toward making a Movie with a Message, since it requires a storyboard, roles both behind and in front of the camera, and editing! When editin g, consider sequen cing and pacing o f your photogr aphs.

Strategies

Here’s What We Did

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m most cameras will work to create a

Photomontage is a fun way for group members to begin working together to tell a story, share a message, and create a short video. To begin, it is important to identify a theme and frames for your photomontage. We provided two different missions, along with framing questions and prompts, to guide groups in the development of content. Mission #3: Group Promo. To showcase and introduce the group. Questions: “Who are we? Why did we join Real Voice? What difference do we hope to make with Real Voice?” Mission #4: Neighbourhood Message. Raising questions and sharing messages about their neighbourhood.

montage. We used our point and shoot

cameras

m a computer with video editing software m a tripod m any props you need to create narrative

details and original character

os in of phot t lo a e your Tak en ce for u q e s k quic ntage. photomo

Questions: “What if our neighbourhood...? Let’s make a difference by…” Next, it was time to outline and develop, or storyboard, the narrative and visual content. To guide your storyboard process, think through the following questions: What story or message are we conveying in our montage? How are we conveying this story in our photos? What are we taking photos of? How will the photos fit together? What is changing from frame to frame? After we took the photos we used the simple, usually free video editing software most computers are equipped with to turn the photos into a sequence to show.

Here is an example of a portraiture-based photomontage. The frame of the photo is a close up of an individual, and capturing changing expressions and movement from frame to frame generates the animated movement.

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Story Circle can ra ise Your mo vie r ad vo ca te fo awareness, ns! o ti lu o s tify change & iden

Goals and Objectives

Guidelines for a Real Voice Story Circle m Stress to the group all ideas are valid

The story circle provides a strategy for working as a group to find the story of the “Movie with a Message.” It should create a space and opportunity for all group participants to share their visions, ideas, and hopes for the Movie with a Message. It creates a collaborative space for sharing, visioning, and discussion. The story circle generates a space for the expression of passions and possibilities. Together the group is working to define their main message and the style/genre it will be expressed through.

and important. This is an opportunity to grow ideas for the movie together.

m Everyone must share their ideas, and

everyone has 2 to 5 minutes to talk.

m Everyone listens respectfully while

someone is talking.

m Once a person has shared, invite group

members to ask each other questions.

tra ck keep o t nd notes hts a Ta ke red thoug ie. a v of sh or the mo f s a ide

Strategies

Here’s What We Did Mission #5: Exploring the Story. We used a story circle to initiate the process of finding the message for the movie, and as a strategy to ensure that all participants had an opportunity to voice and share their ideas. Every participant has a vision for the group movie and ideas to contribute. We invited all group members to contribute their ideas by using the following prompt questions: Tell us about your ideas for the movie with a message? What is the movie about? What kind of movie will it be? This participatory process of voicing and listening is a first important step leading towards the full development of their story and script.

Mission #6: Defining Your Hype Content. We used this group meeting to define the main message and story of the movie. Hype content refers to the core message and story. Our Movies with a Message began with a simple, strong, and clear message. Layer the story and script upon this hype content. To strengthen the passion and clarity of the hype content, we asked the group the following questions: What is the heart of your story? Why is this message and story important? What do you want to show others with your movie? What do you want the audience to experience, learn, see differently, or be inspired by?

What makes a good story? As the group maps out the story and script expressing and showing their message, think about: m A narrative with 1 main message and

m A narrative that flows and is connected.

m Compelling characters that engage

two or three supporting ideas, points, details to convey this message.

m Movement in your story – What

is happening in your movie? What is changing? What’s keeping the audience interested?

Strip away those pieces or linkages that do not “fit” well, you don’t want to create a confusing narrative.

m Emotional charge of your story – What

is the feel and mood of your movie?

the audience and convey the message effectively – characters can be people, as well as a neighbourhood/place/ community.

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Scripting Storyboarding

Fin d ou t how your g roup w a n ts to w ork in on e la rg e g r oup, or in sma ll g roups , th en in tegra te th eir id eas!

Goals and Objectives Once the group has their main message Real Voice moves to scripting out the full narrative. This narrative script must then be translated into a storyboard or visual map of the movie. Film is about “seeing” your message and story as it is being told. A storyboard is a visual representation of your story in multiple scenes. A storyboard serves as an organizing guide throughout the filming process by providing important information and details.

The missions spent identifying hype content and main message in the story circle led us to scripting and storyboarding. During this process we continued to refine our message while also adding visuals or other elements.

To further develop different parts of the movie and scenes, many preferred to use a system of working in smaller groups. Each group focused on separate scenes or portions of the storyboard. Sometimes groups rotated between scene stations so everyone got a chance to contribute.

The process of discussing, defining, writing, piecing together and sketching out the movie can be messy and frustrating as group members work through all of their ideas and points of view. Working through the details of the script and storyboard collaboratively can be demanding, and not necessarily the most fun or exciting.

order to prod the scripting and storyboarding forward by drawing out and organizing group ideas on chart paper:

m Provide a visual of the current script and storyboard. m Highlight areas requiring further development; raise

questions that serve to refine parts of the storyboard and add missing details. Ask prompt questions to fill in gaps, provide further information, strengthen the storyboard and both prepare and organize the group for the filming stage: What’s happening in this scene? Where’s this taking place? Who is in this scene? Is there dialogue?

During this part of the project, it was important for Agents to continue to work hard and stay positive in

A strong storyboard facilitates a smooth and organized filming process! m A concise, detailed, organized story-

board ensures a prepared, strategic filming process. You don’t want to waste your time shooting unnecessary footage.

m Use the storyboard to plan out your

In Real Voice groups use different strategies or systems for developing their storyboards. Most groups start by working as a large group to map out the central unifying storyline and scenes.

Here’s What We Did

Strategies

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Flexibility is Key

filming process. Who needs to be on

set? What equipment/resources are required? Any special props?

m The visuals of a storyboard can be a

chance for fun! Use cameras for more engaging group work. Take photos of locations, angles, and interactions between actors.

Filming

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Goals and Objectives

It’s now time to bring your storyboard to life and put all of your hard work and ideas into action! The filming process is definitely a welcomed time of fun, excitement and creativity after the detailed and sometimes frustrating work of scripting and storyboarding. Magic can happen when young people have the opportunity to showcase and explore their talents directing, filming, acting, interviewing, and designing sets. Watch for your chance to highlight achievements, growth and acts of courage and risk taking.

A-Roll & B-Roll Footage

Roles & Responsibilities

When filming movies, especially documentaries and music videos, you want to shoot

both A-roll and B-roll:

m A-roll refers to the footage showcasing

the primary aspects of your movie.

m B-roll refers to the additional, descrip-

tive and supportive footage that adds variety, context, and interesting visual character to your film.

After ea ch sh download an oot, d orga n ize your f iles in to folder s.

Strategies

However,good films don’t just We happen. Here’s What DidIt’s important to be organized and intentional in your filming. Your storyboard is your plan and a deFilming is fun, but you need to be alert, focused and making can feel risky to some who don’t have tailed visual map of your story and script; your filming processFilm follows intentional in your work. Your storyboard is your plan experience. Here’s some tips: the strategic direction of your and a detailed visualstoryboard map of your story and script; your filming process follows the strategic direction of your storyboard. Before we started filming the scenes, we organized equipment and provided skill and information building for participants. We provided additional training and time to Agents of Change to help them feel more confident in guiding the process and act as supportive directors and videographers in their groups.

m Get to know video equipment and their functions. m Practice and play with the equipment. m Practice and prepare for the various filming roles

and/or scenes.

m Talk through the filming process and map out the

filming dates and times.

m Create a list of required resources and tasks. m Identify and define the different roles and

responsibilities throughout the filming, invite group members to sign up or audition for roles.

m Reference your storyboard to stay true

m Maintain consistent positioning of

to the story.

m Shoot in short clips – no more than 30

seconds at a time.

m Try to capture interviews in one take. m Pay attention to continuity – you want

your movie to flow and make sense.

Writes the story and script, develops storyboard and shot-list to organize the video making process

your camera between takes and film from a consistent point of view.

m Review your footage and retake if

necessary.

m Don’t be afraid to take some risks,

be creative, and have fun!

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Videographer

Works the camera to capture footage

Director & Assistant Director

Organizes day-to-day filming schedule, gives direction to videographer; Assistant scouts locations, schedules participants and equipment and generally assists the Director as needed

Photographer

Takes photos of the filming process, scenes, and/or footage for possible later use in video

Lighting & Sound Staff

Manages sound (mics) and lighting, holds reflectors during filming

Interviewer

Develops questions and interviews participants for the film

Film Participants

Those who are acting in, or being interviewed for the film

Tips for Filming:

Script-writer/Storyboard

Props - Stage Crew

Manages props or other items needed in the film, ensures that the set and filming locations are clean and organized

Editing Team

Edits all the film footage to create the final film; responsible for editing both film and sound

Editing

Invo

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Goals and Objectives

m Equip your central editing hub space

One last step in the process, it’s time to begin weaving together all of the various pieces to create your movie. Editing involves sorting through all of the film footage, and enhancing this footage by mixing in audio, special effects, text and/or photographs. Editing, like other stages of the filmmaking process, involves visioning, creativity, as well as thoughtful action. Editing is more than cutting and pasting, it’s a process of artistic decision-making that serves to enrich the dynamic delivery and impact of your movie. ard to stor ybo our Use the rga n ize y d! o u o y rte help d get sta otage an o f Here’s What We Did

Strategies

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Resources

Editing requires time, training and practice. Editing is best carried out by setting up and working within a system. Editing your movie together as a whole group is not easy and leads to frustrating results. We organized a system of small teams and stages to boost collaboration and get the job done. We created an editing team of Agents with some skill in editing to keep things moving along while providing opportunities to involve as many in the group as possible. We brought focus and created a fun, dynamic atmosphere by designating a space as a central editing hub.

with music, food, drinks and capable

computers, the newer and more powerful the better.

m Purchase and use semi-professional/

professional editing software if possible. There are free programs but they don’t have the same level of capability.

Sea rch for on line editin g tutorials fo r in forma ti on and inspira tion!

community. This relationship provides important opportunities for mentorship and support, and may be able to provide your group with access to specialized equipment and software. Group members provided information about the storyboard, the group’s vision for the movie and other creative input. The editing team then carried out the editing tasks to create a movie everyone felt part of. TIP: The editing process required 10 to 15 hours to edit each 3 to 5 minute movie, and exporting/rendering required 2 to 3 hours for each movie.

TIP: Seek out partnerships with professionals in your

Editing Steps m Import and organize the files for

m Build your story by piecing together

m Colour grade your movie, if desired.

your movie. Place all of your footage in one folder. Sort through, select footage and create sub-folders for different scenes, audio files, photo graphs, and text.

m Sequence footage/scenes with editing

software, in keeping with storyboard.

footage, adding transitions, and mixing with audio. This is the main part of the editing process.

m Colour correct your video to create

balance throughout. It strengthens the natural feel of movies by adding a uniform look.

This means adding additional colour to an image. It can give your movie or scene a specific atmosphere or stylistic look.

m Export and render your movie at the

highest possible quality.

Including Youth in The Process

Here’s How We Engaged Youth In Evaluation

An opportunity for reflection and understanding

Evaluate Evaluation is a valuable

opportunity to reflect on, and better understand the value of the project in your community. It provides ongoing feedback

To evaluate Real Voice, we used a multi-strategy evaluation framework which incorporated elements of both developmental evaluation and youth participatory evaluation. Youth participatory evaluation involves young people in evaluating the programs and services designed to serve them. As evaluators, youth can be involved in all facets of the evaluation process including: developing evaluation tools, facilitating the data collection process, analyzing data and developing evaluation reports. To engage youth as evaluators, choose a program staff member or evaluation consultant who will oversee the evaluation process, recruit youth to be part of the evaluation process and provide youth with the opportunity to share their experiences, work together as a team and learn evaluation concepts and practice their evaluation skills.

with respect to the process and work of the project in order to support ongoing, as well as future project decision making and planning.

Nicole Kovacs

President, Kovacs Group

Five Agents of Change from Real Voice participated on an evaluation committee. These youth expressed interest in participating in the evaluation aspect of the project and were compensated for their contribution. Agents of Change who participated on the evaluation committee were trained in evaluation techniques and participated in the development of the evaluation framework. Agents of Change who led neighbourhood groups also had a role in evaluation through the facilitation of focused conversations with youth participants at the beginning and midpoint of the project. At the end of the project, Agents of Change facilitated interviews with youth participants.

Making Evaluation Engaging, Fun & Creative

Tips For Integrating Youth In Evaluation

EVALUATION ACTIVITY #1: Sticky note activities

Demonstrate that the expertise of young people is valued by compensating youth for their time.

Engage an evaluation consultant or program coordinator to guide the participatory evaluation process.

Create processes and systems within project operations to ensure that evaluation is embedded into the project.

Develop an evaluation plan that prioritizes outcomes, inputs and activities as developed by the youth.

Training is particularly important to provide youth with the knowledge and experience needed to carry out evaluation.

Here are a couple of the arts-based strategies that we used:

Youth were asked “What are your hopes for Real Voice?” Each participant wrote their response on a sticky note. Agents passed a piece of cork board around the room and each person posted their response. The process was photographed and the result was a fifty-two second video of the process and the results.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY #2: Thought bubbles re: Wa tch our video he m/ co www. youtube. realvoicelondon

Youth were asked to answer the question “How has Real Voice impacted you?” by recording their answer on large cut out speech bubbles. Youth took turns taking photos with their speech bubble responses.

Celebration Objectives

Fun with a Purpose!

Celebrate Celebrations are

important. They mark the next step when Real Voice goes public!

r on fo oca ti ha t is l a t Selec ebra tion t ible! s el th e c and acces l a cen tr

It’s time to celebrate what the group has accomplished! During this stage two events should happen. First, an informal, relaxed gathering of the Real Voice group itself to recognize their accomplishment. Secondly, a “Filmfest” for the public, showing the Movies with a Message. We encourage groups to create a fun and memorable party! Bring in a popcorn machine, rent a theatre, spotlights, smoke machines and lasers! You name it! However, there are also important Real Voice related purposes to all this celebrating. It is particularly important that Real Voice uses the celebration stage to “switch up” the conversation about young people in our neighbourhoods. For many people, the only time they talk about young people is in the context of what they are doing wrong, or what they aren’t doing at all. The celebration stage is all about the strengths of youth, their creativity, their skills, the issues they are interested in talking about. This can be the springboard for a wider neighbourhood conversation about our own priorities, our own strengths, our own aspirations for our community. Don’t lose sight of it in the partying!

Real Voice Celebration Tips

Here are a few pointers to ensure a successful celebration:

Build a team with diverse and complementary skills.

Create a comprehensive action plan that outlines event planning and marketing activities for the 3 months leading up to the event.

Assign a team member(s) to be responsible for overseeing the action plan and ensuring milestones/deadlines are being met.

Celebrate in a way that is meaningful and appropriate for the youth group members (intimate gathering vs. large scale open-to-the-public showcase).

Give Agents a chance to practice leadership and planning skills in a different way by organizing the event. ALL of it if possible.

Provide an opportunity for the public to engage with young people in a way that highlights their skills, energy and creativity.

Broaden the discussions started by “Movies with a Message” to engage with others in the neighbourhood.

Celebrate and recognize the achievements of the Real Voice group.

Recognize and celebrate the contributions of funders, and partners.

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Tips for Facilitating Real Voice Groups

WOW!

Words of Wisdom From Agents,

Use creative, collaborative and actionoriented processes to allow for dynamic spaces which young people can make their own through collective visioning, play, and learning. Young people appreciate such opportunities and take the work in exciting directions!

Value the contributions of young people: their knowledge, skills, talents and leadership by creating opportunities for paid employment/positions along with volunteer leadership opportunities. Paid employment and/or honoraria serve to act on principles of partnership with youth.

Group Members and Facilitators

As Agents of Change Our Top Priorities Were:

There are many different facilitation styles – know your style and strengths.

When working with a co-facilitator or community partner, know and appreciate their style and strengths. Together you are modeling communication and collaboration skills for the group.

Start by building a relationship with group members and by building relationships within the group.

Be curious as you facilitate and engage with group members. Appreciate all participants.

Remain attentive to group dynamics – observe and notice what is occurring.

Learn from your mistakes – we all make them!

Learn to trust your own creativity and energy when facilitating.

8 9

Trust the energy and life of the group! Work with what the group puts out there – follow their lead and together ignite sparks!

10 Have fun within the group!

m building relationships, group capacity and skills within the group; m working with and including partners from the neighbourhood or community; Engage a peer-based approach. Create roles and responsibilities for young people to lead community development processes and engage with other youth. Engage the the leadership and passions of young people meaningfully; create opportunities for young people to experience themselves as active agents of change.

m ensuring a safe, respectful and inclusive space for group members; m planning group meetings, coming to the group prepared, organized and grounded; and m providing group and project stability by working within the overarching framework and timelines.

Project Partners

Wrap Up

The success of Real Voice was based on partnerships and collaboration. We’d like to thank the partners and contributors who made the development of this possible. Thank-you to the over 100 youth who responded to the invitation of Real Voice and ignited many sparks in neighbourhoods with their talents, dedicated enthusiasm, and collective acts of imagination.

Real Voice was made possible through the contributions of the City of London and the Boys and Girls Club of London with funding from the Child and Youth Network and Ontario Trillium Foundation. We’d like to offer a big “thank-you” to Cheryl Smith, Chris Harvey and Yacouba Traoré for their guidance and commitment.

Agents of Change Real Voice owes its success to the Agents of Change who in the beginning met as mostly strangers, grew together as a team, and opened their arms to over 100 young people across London. They created the content, the culture and the style of Real Voice. Congratulations to: Kathryn Callahan Martha Elliot Alia Eltayeb Yafet Gebremariam Nicole Gonzales Arthur Gonzales Jim Han

Curtis Kechego Samantha Laliberte Leon Mboko Asha Mohamed Michael Mollenhauer Kay Nadalin Stefan Sago

Idil Said Sosina Tilahun Yasmin Hussain Jeremy Jeresky Trevor Johnson Shauna Kechego-Nichols Anne MacDougall

Our Community Real Voice benefitted greatly from the commitment, support and expertise of community organizations. We started first with the endorsement of the Child and Youth Network. Partner organizations such as non-profits, institutions, schools and resident groups contributed expertise, played valuable leadership and mentoring roles and carried on the momentum created by the Real Voice teams. We couldn’t have done it without you: London InterCommunity Health Centre Northwest London Resource Centre YMCA of Western Ontario Westmount Family Centre London Public Library

Life Resource Centre Sexual Assault Centre London Thames Valley District School Board Carling-Thames Family Centre Nate Warren

Let’s talk! To obtain additional copies of the Real Voice Guide, download resource pages or for any other inquires please visit:

www.london.ca/youth or call the City of London at:

(519) 661-5336 ext. 5366

Notes Use this space for

dreaming, imagining, thinking, planning, highlighting, wondering, ranting, expressing, designing, learning...

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Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talk! To obtain additional copies of the Real Voice Guide, download resource pages or for any other inquires please visit:

www.london.ca/youth or call the City of London at:

(519) 661-5336 ext. 5366