Victoria Jupp Kina Brunel University, UK v ictoria.jupp.kina@brunel.ac.uk

1. Making the invisible visible in children and young people’s participation: using PAR as a means to uncover issues of emotions and power Victoria Jupp Kina Brunel University, UK victoria.jupp.kina@brunel.ac.uk University of Central Lancashire 5th - 7th September 2012

2. ‘Doing’ participation: what about the adults? Now broadly recognised that: • participation is a relational process • the role of adults is crucial • involves complex issues of emotions and power YET, despite this recognition we do not understand: • how adults influence the process • the difficulties that they face when facilitating participatory processes

3. Exploring the role of adults in children and young people’s participation • PAR project working with practitioners in São Paulo, Brazil, to explore the difficulties that practitioners have in developing and implementing children and young people’s participation • Used a process of reflection and action – or praxis – with both practitioners and young people through a combination of introductory and final interviews, participant observation and staff workshops

4. PAR workshop series Workshop 1 – Where are we at? General evaluation Workshop 2 – No, really where are we at? Focused evaluation Workshop 3 – Addressing tricky issues Discussion of institutional barriers Workshop 4 – Exploring what’s possible Discussion of new ways of working Workshop 5 – How can we get to where we want to be? Planning session Workshop 6 – But how do we do it? Learning participatory tools

5. Workshop 1 – Where are we at? General evaluation • Included all staff – independent of role – and young people • Introduction to participation – theoretical models • Ranking of current level of participation within organisation • Group discussions • Sharing of views (Photo – removed to reduce file size)

6. Workshop 2 – No, really where are we at?Focused evaluation • All staff and young people • Focused discussion on what the team would like participation to be • Carousel method • Why? Who? With who? When? Where? (Photo – removed to reduce file size)

7. Workshop 3 – Addressing tricky issues Discussion of institutional barriers • Power highlighted as key barrier within previous workshops – reinforced by my own observations • The ‘Pot of Power’ reflective tool • Adaptation of the Chapati/Venn diagramming method as tool for group discussion • Highlighted differences in perceptions of power between staff and young people (Photo – removed to reduce file size)

8. Workshop 4 – Exploring what’s possibleDiscussion of new ways of working • During workshops and observations identified tendency to look towards others to find solutions – ‘paranoid fallacy’ of power • Required reflection on responsibility of participation • Interactive drama – enacting a real event identified by groups • Then working together to identify ways in which outcome could have been altered – and re-enacting it • Based on the experience groups then identified their own principles of participation (Photo – removed to reduce file size)

9. Workshop 5 – How can we get to where we want to be?Planning session • Return to focus on implementing participation as an institution • Used principles identified from the interactive drama – narrowed them down to create an organisational ‘menu of participation’ • Focus on how to turn the principles into practice – through the identifying the ‘recipes’ and ‘chefs’ for participation (Photo – removed to reduce file size)

10. Workshop 6 – But how do we do it?Learning participatory tools • Participatory Methods Booklet – examples of twenty participatory and visual methods with explanations of how they can be used in organisational practices • In groups, the staff and young people chose one method and tried it out on the unsuspecting public

11. But… the unexpected outcomes • In final reflective interviews it became clear that the workshops went further than just creating space for discussion of participation • They had a clear personal impact on participants

12. Unexpected outcomes…Learning what participation is ‘Sim. Porque o meu pensamento a respeito de participação era completamente diferente. Para mim, participação só era quando uma pessoa falava ou como... mas com essas oficinas percebi que participação vai muito além do que falar, mas traduzida em palavras escritas, gestos e até mesmo símbolos.’ ‘Yes. Because my thinking with regards to participation was completely different. For me, participation was only when a person spoke or how... but with these workshops I realised that participation goes much further than speaking, but translated into written words, gestures and even symbols.’ (Susana, Youth Mediator)

13. Unexpected outcomes…Learning what participation is ‘Eu vou participar do meu jeito agora. Eu vou escrever, ficar mandando para as pessoas o que estou escrevendo, até me desenvolver totalmente para falar em público.’ ‘I’ll participate my way now, I’ll write, keep sending people what I’m writing, until I completely develop [have enough confidence] to speak in public.’ (Susana, Youth Mediator)

14. Unexpected outcomes…Learning what participation is ‘Eu me sentia bloqueado antes. Eu acho que não conseguia expressar tudo que eu pensava e falava ‘ai, você vai falar besteira, por que eu vou falar? Deixa eu ficar calado porque ganho mais e aprendo mais ouvindo mesmo’. Mas não, entendi que é falando que a gente aprende mesmo, que é participando que a gente aprende, né? E é isso que eu estou tentando fazer até hoje.’ ‘I felt blocked before. I think that I wasn’t able to express all that I thought and I said [to myself] ‘ah, you’ll talk crap, why say anything? Keep quiet because I’ll get more [out of it] and learn more just from listening.’ But no, I understood that it’s through speaking that we learn, that it’s through participating that we learn, isn’t it? And it’s this that I’m trying to do today.’ (Thiago, Youth Mediator)

15. Unexpected outcomes… participating ‘with myself’ Thiago: ‘I think it was good because I started to have ideas that I could use not just in the library but for me, for my own knowledge. I think it helped me a lot.’ Victoria: ‘How did it help you? Outside of your work?’ Thiago: ‘That’s it. In my studies. My bedroom is my study, I stay there studying, researching something and participation helps me in a way not... there won’t be anyone to participate with, but participating with myself. I don’t know if you’re able to understand, but I think it helped me a little with this thing of being able to express what I feel. Before I didn’t express myself, after the first workshop that we had with you I started to have a few more ideas, having participated. I felt part of the team. I think it helped me a lot.’ (Thiago, Youth Mediator)

16. Unexpected outcomes…Making the invisible visible - seeing what’s ‘real’ ‘Muitos extremamente interessados, interesse não só profissional mas também pessoal assim, em relação com a vida, com o que acha que tem que ser, como a própria vida tem que ser. E outras incomodadas, incomodadas no mesmo sentido que tem a ver consigo, com a instituição, com a vida e tudo mais. São as coisas que não dá para ver, não dá para sentir, mas que mexeu bastante… na pesquisa teve essa influência que eu vejo como positiva. Sei lá, não acho que vai resolver o problema mas deu uma, transpareceu, apareceu algumas coisas de algumas pessoas, de alguns grupos que fazem as outras pessoas entenderem melhor o que é real mesmo.’ ‘Many were extremely interested, not just a professional interest but a personal one as well, in relation to life, with what I think has to be, how my own life has to be. And others were uncomfortable, uncomfortable in the same meaning that it has to do with you, with the institution, with life and all that. They’re the things that you can’t see, can’t feel, but that mess with you a lot… the research had this influence that I see as a positive. I don’t know, I don’t think it’ll resolve the problem but it gave a, transparency, a few things appeared in a few people, in a few groups that made other people understand better what is actually real.’ (Fabio, Nucleus Coordinator)

17. But what created the personal impact? The use of participatory methods ‘When you look at the experience that you have, the way that you did it, you can look at your own performance and you can identify ‘this we did in this way, but people bring as their contribution other questions that we hadn’t thought of’, because for me this was what was really strong when you divided the whole group of [project name] in groups and everyone could say, talk a little about participation and when you did this rotation. When I passed through each of these points [stations], my thinking was maturing. It was constructing itself in a different way because it brought questions that I hadn’t stopped to think about yet. What stayed really strongly with me about the purpose of the research was to be able to look at ourselves, to be able to see these questions.’ (João, Nucleus Coordinator)

18. But what created the personal impact? Respectful and inclusive facilitation: Victoria: ‘Do you think that this work should continue? Do you want to have more meetings like this?’ Suelita: ‘Do more, but when there is someone who explains clearly and has patience. You have all this, but it doesn’t help wanting to do something if you don’t have the patience to teach, if you don’t like that we ask questions. It doesn’t help, there’s no need to continue.’ Victoria: ‘There are people that don’t like to ask questions?’ Suelita: ‘There’s no need to continue, leave it as it is. If someone cool comes, that teaches, that explains, that we can understand, who we can ask questions, you can have loads. More the better. But someone that won’t teach properly, that won’t have the patience and that isn’t clear, it doesn’t help to continue because I’m not in this, you see?’

19. Victoria: So for you, one of the most important things is the person, the skill of the person that’s facilitating, to have these qualities that you spoke of?’ Suelita: ‘That has patience, respect, understand? Not you explaining and Tanda who is a volunteer asking you something, and you don’t pay attention because Tanda is a volunteer ‘she won’t understand anything’. It won’t help, it’s better to not put me in the groups because I’ll participate and I won’t participate with body and soul, I’ll participate only in spirit as an obligation. I won’t be interested. I’m very much like that, if I see that someone doesn’t give me the ball, I also won’t give the ball to them. It could be the Queen of England, if I see that she doesn’t respect me, I also won’t respect her. I won’t disrespect with words, I say ‘hi, how are you’, I have to meet my obligations, I’ll meet them and done, but only as an obligation.’ (Suelita, Staff Member)

20. Final thoughts • For me, the ‘unexpected outcomes’ of the workshops highlighted a number of interesting points: • The need for ‘safe spaces’ for reflection and discussion to allow the invisible barriers to become visible • The need for spaces that allow people’s understanding to evolve over time • The impact that experiencing participation can have on our understanding of it • The personal nature of participation – both for participant and for facilitator • The need to recognise the ‘pre-conditions’ of participation - in other words, what needs to be in place before we start doing it • And finally – can PAR have a role in creating these spaces?