NEW NARRATIVES - Shake's Social Policy Seminar

For four months, we at Shake! knocked about the idea of what the content for our “Social Policy seminar” should be. We rigorously discussed how it should function as a tool for change. 

It only came to light after two months that we had an  issue with the title - social policy seminar. Not because we didn't know what the words meant, or what they all meant placed next to each other, it was that, for us the term didn’t quite fit Shake! as a concept. Shake!’s mission is to address the experience the Shake! young people would have with our invited policy makers, youth service providers and 
educators.  

All of us have engaged with sessions before, where they are quite dry with speeches and some discussion. We found that by calling our sessions ‘social policy seminars’ we fell into a scripted pattern of speech and dialoguing forms that limited how Shake as a project sought to refresh discourse about the needs and voices of young people. It was Farzana who said, “we are trying to create new narratives” around how young people are provided for by including them in important conversations, where it matters. And that was it! Everything fell into place - we decided to use the term and title ‘New Narratives’ when referring Shake’s the “social policy seminar” sessions.

How do we create New Narratives? By investigation, interrogation and 
by being reflective and innovative.

Shake! uses creativity to take a immersive and deeply resonant journey into themes of race, class and generational inequality, power and it made sense to stick to it. We use creative tactics to unpack and reveal the underbelly of the injustice and inequality; we use memory and brainstorming to re-imagine the alternative to the systems we live by today. Through a collective artistic experience, we immerse participants in to the issues we are discussing. Why do it differently?

So we advised the Shake!rs who showed keen interest to practice workshops they had tickling the backs of their minds to be as creative as possible based on what they had experienced in the Shake! intensives August 2013 and Feburary 2014. They took up the gauntlet to facilitate dynamic interactive and participatory sessions around the youth vote and race representation,homelessness, mental health and well-being in education.

Over a period of a week Nathaniel Chapman, Layan, Orla Price and Khafi Kareem came to the Platform office for training days with the core team, here we merely acted as sound boards for their session ideas. It was exciting for us to see how they had already thought of some very innovative techniques that involved sketching, writing, and creative prompts  for discussion around the sensitive and weighty issues they picked. It was a pleasure to witness and be a part of, as they had evidently done so much work before hand, knowing this was not only an opportunity to express but to educate and lead in a way that was enabling for them.

Nathan and Layan brought an inspiring session, asking all involved to challenge their perceptions of homelessness by sketching what we thought it looked like, asking us to embody different types of homelessness sitautions and then making us budget our money in those situations accordingly. 

It was interesting to see how many of us, though not all, when asked to sketch a homeless person, drew an old man with a dog. No one thought to trace out sofa-surfing, how young people relying on friends to put them up for a period of time, is a form of homelessness. No one thought to sketch those hidden in homelessness discourse because of their racial backgrounds, where domestic issues are not really generally spoken about publicly. Few of us thought to scribble images of homeless young women who were at risk on the streets because of gender based violence and abuse.  Did we even consider those who had roofs but were constantly under threat of emotional and violent abuse with no support in those ‘homes’?. We had to stop, think, re-configure our consciousness.

Orla delivered a brilliant back-to-front poem about a boy who loved school finding himself ostracised by neglectful parents scorning his educational vigilence – “don’t worry, he’ll grow out of it.” Teachers were fed up with his studiousness - “why are you trying so hard?” And friends couldn’t understand why he’d prefer to do homework rather than party. Eric, The Boy Who Loved School was eventually institutionalised for doing everything right. We critiqued the story and began a discussion exploring well-being in education. How testing, exams, and job prospects are pressures creating so much anxiety and impact our well-being.  We examined how societal conditions and capitalism are making us physically and mentally unwell.

Khafi gave a very sophisticated and insightful account of her experience as a young Labour party candidate, what it was like to campaign and how people responded to her as young woman of African descent who was so into politics, she bravely ran as a political candidate in the last elections. Regardless of whether or not you believe in the voting system, Khafi’s interactive group activity got us thinking about political education for young people and giving them the opportunity to truly play a part in our world, rather than accusing them apathy.

The New Narratives day proved to be very worthwhile investing in as a concept. We, as the Shake team, took a back seat and only contributed to the day with a short free-flow writing exercise to highlight our role as being bridges between the generational methods of engaging with policy making and the needs of young people. The free flow lead into an “actions list”, personal ‘to-do’s” by those attending, influenced by what had been learned on the day. Following this we had a session on direct actions, where each attendee pledged to 3 bold steps they would take in their work  or practice to engage and implement what they had learnedand  experienced in the sessions that day.

We received glowing feedback from participants and youth-facilitators and now we are  even more excited to start this journey into creating new narratives. From there engaging our new narratives in policy design to restructure, even re-imagine society.

“First of all I think the idea of an 'experimental social policy seminar' is great. I really loved the mix of creative experminentation/dialogue and presentations. I thought the contribution from Orla, Nathaniel and co were great. The presentation/mini session about homelessness was great in shifting our preconceptions about homelessness and who it affects. The fact that the two leaders could speak from experience about the subject made it all the more effective, tangible and real....I'm really glad that a programme like Shake exists within the current cultural landscape, as I think the landscape is in dire need of politically engaging, bold, imaginative and sustained youth focused programmes such as Shake.” John Pinder

"The New Narratives social policy seminar blew my mind. The sessions led by Shakers on homelessness and youth political engagement in the UK influenced how I'm framing our public campaigning around energy democracy and fuel poverty in the coming year. Those leading the workshops were incredibly articulate, and had planned an impressive participatory programme" Mika, Platform

AmaZulu Free Write Review

Last Thursday we held a screening of AmaZulu –Children of Heaven at the Platform office. As usual at Shake! we don’t do things normally, after watching the film, we all participated in a short free write. Free writes are exactly what they say they are; free writing. No thinking, no processing, just pen on paper.  We find free writes are a great creative tool and an easy way to get all the thoughts floating in our heads out on paper, they even help frame some interesting discussions. 

Post film discussions with Jordan and Nathaniel

 Here are two examples of free writes by  Shake!r’s Umaru and Lucas after watching AmaZulu:

AMAZULU- CHILDREN OF HEAVEN

When I see life lived the hard way, the other side of living, the other side of life itself, which I don’t have to go through, its hard and I do count myself blessed for the things I take for granted… a home, family, friends even food.  Its taught me that it is hard but you have no choice but to follow your dreams, because if you don’t its like the Amazulu children going to school without singing their song. What’s the point? But It’s great when you can leave a place of labour where you have made great friends for life and hear the words  “well done”you have done your job, mission accomplished, yeh mission accomplished.  In South Africa there is a long way to go before we hear those words- mission accomplished but the children of Amazulu showed us that it is a start.  Its massive steps back when guys spread HIV to girls without even thinking about the consequences, but children of heaven keep singing your song, because we all need to hear it. -  By Umaru Saidu
 

AmaZulu  warriors are children from above supporting people and singing as they go into exams is truly real love. I am amazed by their personalities and warming attitude. They are really inspiring and compel me to muse. Similarities and differences form their country to ours, their cheerfulness is really contagious and makes me want to give them flowers.  The ins and outs of African lifestyle is truly sublime and I love to right about them paper with a lot of rhymes. –By Lucas Kelly

I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate - Suli Breaks

Great Video about how some young people are wise to some of the failings of the education system. 
Virtually every line hits a point of observation to provoke thoughts about how education catergorizes people, and lacks true bearing to the current affairs in the real world. 
A serious comment on the future for young people.

Thanks to Nathaniel Chapman for the heads up on this one

Shake! vs School?

Ed Lewis is part of the Shake! team, focusing in particular on political education. Here discusses the significance of the project for him and reflects on the most recent Shake! course, held at the Stephen Lawrence Centre this February.

I spend most of the working week as a teacher in a secondary school. I experience the pressures, challenges and limitations of working in compulsory education, as well as the rewards and pleasures that can come from doing so. Experiencing Shake! alongside my working life has been hugely interesting. Schooling can encourage teachers to have a restricted view of the capacities of young people – when their engagement is limited and their answers are one word long, cynicism can easily develop. Some teachers, myself included, are also disappointed when they encounter many of their students approaching their education in a fairly narrow way, seeing it ultimately as an economic investment, and the value of time in class to be judged in terms of how it will contribute to their exam results (there is a tendency for teachers to see things in these narrow terms too). There are a range of reasons why this is the case, but part of the answer is to be found in education itself. An obvious but too easily forgotten fact is that the content of formal education is overwhelmingly externally imposed – students are not encouraged to pursue their own interests, to develop intrinsic motivation around learning. And the mechanics of schooling – such as the relentless focus on target grades – and the rhetoric employed – such as the use of sports-style aspirational language – encourage the investment-oriented outlook of students.

So my first experience of Shake!, back in 2010, was a liberation. In a context devoted to thinking, learning and exploring in its own right, defined in many ways by the participants themselves, fusing political inquiry with creative activity, I saw an energy and engagement from several of my own students that I hadn’t encountered before. As an educator, it was a release to have the freedom to discuss and explore ideas without the confines of a highly prescribed curriculum. What’s more, I felt that I was able to utilise my skills – for all its problems, formal schooling does equip one with some valuable knowledge and capacities – in the service of critical political education in a way that is very difficult to achieve in school.  I’ve worked on Shake! ever since, buoyed by the energy of that week, and looked forward to re-launching the project, which we finally did this February (not that things were quiet in the interim – we did loads!).

Blown away by visit to Shake!

It's Friday 22nd of February and I walk up to Stephen Lawrence Centre wondering what the showcase for Shake! will be like. I worked on the pilot in 2010 so had some idea...

I walk into the main workshop space and the vibe is hushed, focused, calm. 6 or 7 young people are busy writing, editing, thinking. Facilitators wander in and out, checking things are happening and on time. The walls are covered in fascinating mind-maps, post-it notes, drawings, key words, poems. A table is groaning with books and publications, posters and flyers that participants have been sharing. Another table has fruit, biscuits, tea. There's a fascinating cardboard washing line of dirty cardboard linen that was clearly a revealing exercise. We've all got some.

I catch up with Farzana, the coordinator, who is still relaxed and full of energy, after a full-on week. We go upstairs and find the video group busy planning and rehearsing. Another productive vibe.

Taz Rasul and Doreen Thompson-Addo from Stephen Lawrence Centre join us, together with a journalist from BBC Radio 1 who is doing a programme about young people, politics, and music. The showcase begins and it's

Supporting Malala, supporting girls' rights to education

(If you want to go straight to her interview, it starts at 1min 4 seconds. She speaks in English)

Malala Yusufzai, 14, who has been campaigning for girls' education and against religious extremism since the age of 11, was shot in the head last week in Pakistan, by members of the Taliban.  This assassination attempt shows not only the intense power of young voices, but also the depths to which oppressive forces will go to get rid of intelligent protest. Malala is a highly effective campaigner who has shown incredible courage in the face of armed intimidation on her streets, day after day, week after week, for years. Through her acts and writings, she has galvanised thousands at home in Pakistan and abroad. The BBC picked up on the campaign in January 2009 and helped it gain international profile by publishing Malala's blog on their website. 

Malala is gravely injured and undergoing treatment here in England. There are some signs of improvement. Her cause must not be silenced. 

HERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN DO FOR HER AND THE 10,000's OF GIRLS WORLDWIDE SEEKING AN EDUCATION:

Join the protest called by EdEqual Foundation, in central London, this Saturday 20th, 12.30 - 3.30pm

Sign a UN petition on girl's education "I am Malala"
or
AVAAZ's petition "We Support You Malala" calling on the Pakistan government to arrest her attackers and end violent extremism in Pakistan.

Check out and support campaigns for girls' education like "Girls Education International" 
or UNICEF.