This weeks session really shone a light on what you think you know is best and what really is best. A few weeks back i had suggested doing somthing like an anti-drug piece for our final project. At the time of the suggestion, because i was so enthusiastic about this idea, because the group said okay i thought that everything was. But now as i reflect back to that class i can subconsciously account for the uneasyness that this idea left the guys with. And it wasn't until the discussion this week that their feelings were brought to light. And thank god because as the guys stated in class the anti drugs piece could have been a complete disater for not only the group but potentially for the centre too. One person in particular voiced their extremly valid concerns about the potential danger a piece like this could bring in an obvioussly drug tinted communiy. The people using and deaing drugs could easily see this as a direct attack on them, and as a result vandalise or damage the centre as a retaliation. Something i had never even considered. So swiftly we erased this from our plans and started planning something, different, personal, something for the guys to express theselves through.. so you will have to wait and see the result...
But seriously when you think about it the consideration of the group, their ideas and opinions is the most vital element of having a successful group, it is easy for someone coming from the outside and suggesting ideas that they don't relly have to live with. But when you really emerse youself into these peoples shoes you begin to see problems that you never saw before, but also as a result you begin to formulate more effective solutions!!
Best session to date, a great learning curve for me!!
Keep ya posted,
Ste
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Changin' it up after a bite in the face!!
Thurday 25th March
So this week was an extremly good session for the group- and even more so for me , it gave me a great chance to reflect on what interacting with a group in this way really is, what the important underlying dynamics of working in a community of people are, how you must adjust the way you work to be sure to include all those who want to be, and then progress forward in a positive way. So just to track back a bit, the reason i have been so interested in doing my class around graffiti is because i knew that it is something interesting and relevent to my generation, it has an edge to it, something which i know appeals in large to a younger group of people but also something self expressive, a chance for people to say what they feel. And after 6 or so weeks of this class i have noticed excellent participation and development in this area, but still some no-shows. This is no fault of the people who don't sit in on the sessions, there are completly voluntry, but i felt like i was excluding some people by pushing forward with something that didn't really appeal to them. So i felt i had to do something different, something to get everyone around the table again, so the solution as simple as it may seem was tattoos. An area i knew the group as a whole would take interest in as some already have tattoos. So I used this session to design ones for the people who wanted some done and i soon realised that it was a success, i looked around the table-a very full one i might add to see the group as a whole really interacting with each, more that they had for a few weeks.
So on reflection as someone who is interested in working with community groups, i now know you have to be flexible, be able to freshen up the class if need be, and worry less about the actual body of work that is being produced and instead focus on how the group as a whole are working out, after all it is a community.
I have learned that the content is not as important as i first thought, although it is a vital factor in pulling a groups interest, but instead its the team building, the interaction between people, and their progression over time.
Keep ya posted,
Ste
So this week was an extremly good session for the group- and even more so for me , it gave me a great chance to reflect on what interacting with a group in this way really is, what the important underlying dynamics of working in a community of people are, how you must adjust the way you work to be sure to include all those who want to be, and then progress forward in a positive way. So just to track back a bit, the reason i have been so interested in doing my class around graffiti is because i knew that it is something interesting and relevent to my generation, it has an edge to it, something which i know appeals in large to a younger group of people but also something self expressive, a chance for people to say what they feel. And after 6 or so weeks of this class i have noticed excellent participation and development in this area, but still some no-shows. This is no fault of the people who don't sit in on the sessions, there are completly voluntry, but i felt like i was excluding some people by pushing forward with something that didn't really appeal to them. So i felt i had to do something different, something to get everyone around the table again, so the solution as simple as it may seem was tattoos. An area i knew the group as a whole would take interest in as some already have tattoos. So I used this session to design ones for the people who wanted some done and i soon realised that it was a success, i looked around the table-a very full one i might add to see the group as a whole really interacting with each, more that they had for a few weeks.
So on reflection as someone who is interested in working with community groups, i now know you have to be flexible, be able to freshen up the class if need be, and worry less about the actual body of work that is being produced and instead focus on how the group as a whole are working out, after all it is a community.
I have learned that the content is not as important as i first thought, although it is a vital factor in pulling a groups interest, but instead its the team building, the interaction between people, and their progression over time.
Keep ya posted,
Ste
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