A l l y S k i l l s Wo r k s h o p F a c i l i - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

A l l y S k i l l s Wo r k s h

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F a c i l i t a t

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T r a i n i n g

Valerie Aurora Director of Training The Ada Initiative http://adainitiative.org contact@adainitiative.org All materials CC BY-SA Ada Initiative

F

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ma t

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t h i s c l a s s

• 10:00am Introduction
• 10:10am Example Ally Skills Workshop
• 11:00am Review of teaching techniques
• 12:00pm Lunch break
• 1:30pm Students teach a scenario with teacher

feedback (with break)

• 4:00pm Question and answer session
• 4:30pm Freeform discussion

Wh a t i s t h e A l l y S k i l l s Wo r k s h

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?

• Focused on teaching men how to support

women in their daily lives

• Audience: volunteer-only, agrees sexism

already exists, wants to end it, 20-40% women ideally

• Mainly small group discussion, alternating

with all-workshop report-out

• “Ally skills” vs. “allies”: focuses on actions

rather than self-identification

Wh y f a c i l i t a t i n g t h e A l l y S k i l l s Wo r k s h

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i s f u n

• People love it! “Can we get more training

like that?” actual comment from student

• Get to watch people have “Aha” moments
• Taking action to end social injustice is

super fulfilling

• Highly interactive, time flies
• No two workshops are ever the same

Wh y f a c i l i t a t i n g t h e A l l y S k i l l s Wo r k s h

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i s h a r d

• People ask tough questions
• People say discriminatory things without

realizing it

• If you teach it long enough, you will have

to kick someone out

• HR really wants you to say things that

help the company, but your focus is the people

E x a mp l e A l l y S k i l l s Wo r k s h

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P r e p a r i n g y

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r s e l f f

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t e a c h i n g t h e wo r k s h

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• Read the facilitator's guide:

http://supportada.org/allies

• Read Geek Feminism Wiki:

http://geekfeminism.wikia.com

• Read “Feminism is for Everybody” by bell

hooks and “Women, Class, and Race” by Angela Davis

• Practice reframing questions

Wo r k s h

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s t r u c t u r e a n d p a r t i c i p a n t s

• Participants must be volunteers
• Avoid large power differences between

participants

• Ideal class size is 20 to 30 participants
• Aim for 20-40% women
• Ideal time is 3 hours (2 can be done)
• Take breaks each hour or so

T y p i c a l wo r k s h

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f

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ma t

• 20 minute introduction
• 50 minutes discussion of scenarios
• 10 minute break (with snacks)
• 50 minutes discussion of scenarios
• 10 minute break (with snacks)
• 50 minutes discussion of scenarios
• 10 minute wrap-up

Wh a t t

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r i n g t

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h e wo r k s h

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• A clicker and video input/output converter
• A stopwatch or timer (to time the

scenario discussions)

• A bell to signal the end of scenario

discussions

• Printouts of the Ally Skills Workshop

handout for all participants

C h

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i n g s c e n a r i

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• Scenarios are real-world examples of

situations in which people can act as allies

• Start with easy scenarios
• Example slides include more scenarios

than you can cover in 3 hours

• Ask participants for suggestions in

advance and/or take requests during workshop if you feel prepared

I n t r

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u c i n g t h e wo r k s h

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• Introduce yourself
• Optionally stall for time by asking why

people came to the workshop

• Give credit according to the terms of the

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license

• Describe the high level format and

schedule

D e f i n e t e r ms f

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g e n d e r

• Workshop designed for men who want to

support women, which can lead to the assumption that those are all the genders that exist

• Easy to get cis-sexist in this workshop
• Define “cis” before “trans”
• Also a good chance to discourage using

“girls” and “females”

E x p l a i n t h e f

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u s

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me n a s a l l i e s

• Reduce self-doubt
• Increase likelihood of taking action
• Introduce concept of male privilege
• Set higher expectations for responses

S e t t h e s c

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e

• The workshop is for people who already

believe sexism is a problem and want to help

• Even with volunteer-only policy, people

will show up who don't agree

• Arguing Feminism 101 will take up too

much time and probably not change anyone's mind, so don't do it

S e t r u l e s f

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c r e a t i n g a s a f e r s p a c e

• Workshop only works if people feels safe

asking genuine questions and making mistakes

• Don't record the workshop
• Ask people not to repeat unflattering

things

• Lead by example

D e s c r i b e d i s c u s s i

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f

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ma t

• Participants cannot be told enough times

what to expect

• Split into groups of 4 - 6 people
• Listen to scenario
• Discuss scenario 3 - 5 minutes
• Report out to whole workshop
• Brief closing
• Optional post-workshop discussion

B r e a k t h e t e n s i

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• Everyone is pretty nervous! Talking about

sexism, sex, gender is super hard

• Use cat photos or some form of

inoffensive unrelated humor to break the tension

• If it doesn't work right away, keep talking

about how awkward the awkwardness is until the tension does break

G i v e b a s i c g u i d e l i n e s

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r e s p

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d i n g t

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e x i s m

• People have tons of self-imposed rules for

responding to sexism: must be witty, compelling, well-researched, etc.

• Identifying and lowering these standards

increases chances of taking action

• Participants are usually relieved

E n c

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r a g e p e

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l e t

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m g r

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p s

• Most people hate this
• Point out that this is a room full of

volunteers for an ally skills workshop

• Emphasize importance of diversity in

groups: gender, other axes if possible

• Be ready to help people make decisions,

swap people around, etc.

• Don't assume gender based on

presentation

H e l p g r

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p s f

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m a t i n y b i t

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s t r u c t u r e

• Participants want a little more guidance
• If someone is dominating their

conversation they don't know what to do

• Ask them to pick a “gatekeeper” to

moderate the conversation

• Ask them to pick someone to report out
• The person to report out can and should

rotate per scenario

G u i d i n g s c e n a r i

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i s c u s s i

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• Each scenario takes about 12 - 15

minutes total

• Read the scenario
• Tell them to discuss for 3 - 5 minutes
• Pay attention to rhythm of discussion, if

someone is dominating, etc.

• Give 30 seconds warning before ending

discussion

G u i d i n g s c e n a r i

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e p

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t

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t

• Ask everyone to stop talking (they won't)
• a bell may be useful
• Starting with a different group, ask them

to report out major points of discussion

• Briefly affirm good suggestions
• Briefly explain bad suggestions
• Wait till end of report-out to add any

missed points - give participants a chance to discover them first

I n t e r s p e r s e u s e f u l t i p s

• Certain questions almost certainly will

come up in certain scenarios

• Example slides come with “tips” slides in

between scenarios

D i s c u s s i

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l e a d e r s k i l l s

• Let participants come up with answers

first

• Summarize missed points at end of

discussion

• Use real-world examples when possible
• Affirm and praise frequently

D i s c u s s i

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l e a d e r s k i l l s

• Interrupt people when necessary
• Reframe questions when necessary
• Be willing to say “I don't know”
• Practice saying “Let's take that off-line”
• Be compassionate and understanding

R e f r a mi n g q u e s t i

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s

• Will get genuine “But this is a logical

contradiction!” kind of questions

• Affirm the validity of the question
• Look for the assumptions that turn anti-

sexism into a logical error

• Reframe the question with feminist

assumptions

R e f r a mi n g q u e s t i

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s

• “You say you want us to treat women like

everyone else, but then you want us to act differently. That's illogical!”

• Assumption: the way men treat men in

this field is the norm and they like it

• Reframe: Want people to treat everyone

with respect, need to redefine “norm” as not just white straight cis men in an abusive culture

R e f r a mi n g q u e s t i

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s

• “Making jokes about sex isn't sexist.

Women like to have sex too.”

• Assumption: Societal attitudes about sex

are the same for women as for men

• Reframe: In the context of societal

attitudes about women and sex, talking about sex shifts the conversation into an area where women are by default

• bjectified, shamed, and victimized

R e f r a mi n g q u e s t i

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s

• “You are infringing on free speech, and

how can we have an open and free society without it?”

• Assumptions: people should (and already

do) feel safe speaking their minds, have legally protected right to do so anywhere

• Reframe: Safer spaces increase speech of

marginalized people, legal rights only apply to government censorship

E n d i n g t h e wo r k s h

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• Explain more advanced ways to continue

education in ally skills

• Give pointers to more resources: Geek

Feminism Wiki

• Thank everyone for participating
• Stick around for questions and discussion

L u n c h b r e a k

• Be back at 1:15pm
• Next: practice scenario discussions
• Not enough time for everyone
• Choose your scenario from the list in the

handout

E x a mp l e s c e n a r i

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• Volunteers to lead one scenario

discussion each

• You may choose your scenario

O p t i

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a l d i s c u s s i

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a n d Q & A

All resources are at: http://supportada.org/allies Valerie Aurora http://adainitiative.org contact@adainitiative.org All materials CC BY-SA Ada Initiative