• Actively working to acknowledge and shift power towards inclusiveness, accessibility, equity and social justice.
  
  
• Ensuring that anti-oppression is embedded in everything that you do by examining attitudes and actions through the lens of access, equity and social justice.
  
  
• Being conscious and active in the process of learning and recognizing that the process as well as the product is important.
  
  
• Creating a space where people are safe, but can also be challenged.

• What has to happen for the group to succeed?
  
  
• How should the group resolve conflicts?
  
  
• What happens if someone is being disrespectful?
  
  
• Who gets to decide what is disrespectful?
  
  
• Is the facilitator bound by the same rules?
  
  
• How do we amend the social contract?

• Engage youth in a dialogue. Encourage participants to think and to reflect by asking questions: "What did you mean when you said . . .?" "What do you think about this song/video/movie?" "What do you mean when you use the word . . .?" Discussions do not need to take place as a separate training or workshop. They can be integrated as part of overall the learning process.
  
  
• Speak with credibility, not with authority. Authority is based in power. Credibility is rooted in experience and knowledge. By sharing your thoughts and reflections, you demonstrate your familiarity with the concepts and the depth of your understanding. It is not about always having the "right" answers. Do not be afraid to acknowledge ambiguities and contradictions, but indicate how you would explore and resolve the issue.

• Use the diversity of their experiences to demonstrate the complexity of identities and of oppression.
  
  
• Participants who have a more advanced analysis make great allies. They can be invited to teach and lead discussions.
  
  
• Remember too that anti-oppression is a learning process. Participants need many examples and opportunities to put ideas into practice.

• Ensure that it is a safe and supportive learning environment. When participants are better acquainted and share a level of trust and understanding, it is easier to open up, explore beliefs and surrender old assumptions. People need to feel they are safe from personal attacks. Revisit the social contract and emphasize the importance of a respectful learning environment.
  
  
• Sequence activities from lower risk to higher risk. Organize activities in order of increasing level of self disclosure. Another way of progressively increasing the level of risk is to move from individual reflection, to speaking in pairs and small groups, before engaging in a discussion with the whole group.
  
  
• Clarify the distinction between individual, institutional and cultural manifestations of oppression. Many believe that oppression occurs as a result of individual acts of prejudice or intolerance. It is important to explain that oppression operates on multiple levels:

• Differences in power. Different social groups have unequal access to power and privilege. Even stereotypes are not equal - consider the assumptions society holds of young black men (e.g. aggressive, lazy, prone to criminal behaviour) in contrast to young Asian women (e.g. docile, hard-working, good at school). While all individuals are capable of prejudice, abuse, violence and intolerance, only privileged groups have the power to enforce their prejudice at the institutional and cultural level.
  
  
• Anti-oppression is everyone's responsibility. It is important to explain that the purpose of anti-oppression education is not to assign blame but for everyone to take responsibility in confronting social injustice. The focus is on understanding how systems of oppression operate, who benefits, why and how to transform them.

• Beliefs reflect values. No one should be made to feel isolated or alienated, but it is important to think critically about beliefs. Beliefs are value-laden. They are loaded with judgment on what is right and wrong, and what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. In your discussion, raise the following questions:
  • Do all religions or cultures believe the same thing?
  • What are other sources of values and opinions?
  • Do these beliefs help us work better work with one another and include one another?
  • Can we agree to suspend or at least examine the beliefs that prevent us from including one another and working together?
  • Change behaviour if not beliefs. You cannot always alter people's beliefs or change how they feel. But you can change behaviour towards one another. The behaviours that should be encouraged are those that encourage the full participation of all youth.

• Identify and alter the power dynamics in the group. Initiate reflections on how the group is working. This can occur through group discussion or by asking participants to represent artistically how the group is working. Invite participants to reflect on who plays what role in the group. Possible roles could include leader, follower, mediator, devils advocate, idealist, loner, etc. As an exercise, assign a different role for each participant to play during a meeting. How does this alter the group's dynamic?
  
  
• Recognize and reward co-operation. Society tends to reward individual success. It is important to recognize, validate and give incentives for counter-values like cooperation, consensus, and teamwork.

• Youth workers need to monitor their own feelings and to seek support when necessary. Talk to an ally or supervisor or seek additional training to handle the situation.
  
  
• Participants may make statements or behave in oppressive ways that youth workers find offensive. Facilitators need to identify the things that make them uncomfortable especially when they find themselves passing judgments on the participants. Tell the youth what they are struggling with. For example, "I am struggling here because . . . I see this . . . but I also see this . . .
  
  
• Engage participants in a dialogue to come to a collective solution.
  
  
• Supervisors also need to recognize what their staff needs. Consider regular performance reviews that are constructive, rather than punitive. Highlight achievements, establish goals and identify development needs.

• Recognize the difference between intent and impact. Sometimes staff may intend to create a safe space but the impact of their actions is to create an unsafe space for some youth because of the stereotypes and pre-judgments which they bring to the process.
  
  
• Check your perception of your personal safety. Naming and claiming your own safety parameters and the multiple mental maps that helps to frame it, will enable an openness and willingness to "check oneself" and take steps to make changes. It is important to understand and acknowledge your own personal boundaries.
  
  
• Check your perception of youth. Which youth is the space being made safe for? What perceptions of young people are guiding attitudes, procedures and policies about safety or lack of safety? Can these perceptions unknowingly result in youth anger and further marginalization?
  
  
• Brush up on anti-oppression training for staff and policy-makers. Anti-oppression is a learning process. Youth workers and policy-makers can benefit from routine anti-oppression training that sharpens their knowledge and skills in analyzing and understanding everyday situations.

>>>> Chapter 6

InvolveYouth 2: A guide to meaningful youth engagement is broken into section chapters on the web. See the Chapters list for links to all chapters. You can also download the PDF of this document. You will need to have the latest version of the  FREE Acrobat Reader on your computer to view. To order a printed copy of the guide send an e-mail to safety2@toronto.ca or call 416-397-0442.