Add (New) Information: Knowledge Building

Positive body image was a key theme for Girls’ Club, addressed in multiple activities and through various media. For example: “The girls learned to create digital collages that represented positive body image … not only did they learn a new skill using a different medium, they also demonstrated a new form of communication.”

‘Zine-making was also used as a means of self-expression that is outside the mainstream of regular media channels. Girls’ Club addressed body image issues through activities designed to have girls articulate social expectations of beauty and body image, and then critically reflect on these.

~ Girls Action Girls’ Club Evaluation

 

“Adding (New) Information,” is the portion of the popular education spiral where you seek out new information as a group and start to answer the questions that have arisen during programming. The key is that this need for information originates from the girls. Girls are not passive (and should not be treated as such) in the process. Whatever knowledge building you do together will therefore relate to where the girls are at and not from your desire to “teach” them something. In this way, popular education works from a positive perspective that trusts in the girls’ capacities, resourcefulness, and ability to ask good questions.

 

At this stage, girls are encouraged to develop their own knowledge as a political process leading to collective action in the community. We think it is important to take an asset-based approach: one that values what girls already know and the ways that they learn. This approach means recognizing that girls face certain structural barriers in learning, such as institutionalized racism, poverty, and homophobia, among many others. In this way, we aim to bring critical perspectives of how these systems work into our learning.

 

In other words, the foundation of the new information we bring into the group needs to be grounded in anti-oppression frameworks. Modelling this kind of learning is an important way to understand issues holistically and to practise critical-thinking skills.

 

 

What counts as knowledge?

Another key aspect in this portion of the popular education spiral is to question and challenge what we have been taught to consider as credible sources of information. Often we are taught that only experts with specific credentials know anything and as such, to know something we must listen to them.

 

For example, psychologists may say certain things about what is important to girls or how girls develop. Girls need to trust what they are feeling and know that this also provides “expert knowledge.” In reality, knowledge exists in many places, especially in our lived experiences. There are many places to connect with information for knowledge building.

 

Recognizing knowledge or expertise within a group and/or community can be a very empowering and engaging process. Examples of group or community sources of information are:

 

• The group itself

• Mentors that the girls want to introduce to the group

• Volunteer workshop facilitators or speakers from other community agencies

 

For more information on how to work safely and effectively with volunteers, please see Section 1: Volunteers and Guest Facilitators

 

 

To help you seek out new information grounded in anti-oppression, we have compiled information sheets, on themes such as healthy sexuality, violence prevention, self-esteem and more in Appendix 3. They provide just a few examples of thematic areas where the girls may need or want to explore new information.

 

We know that the information here will not meet every need you might have for knowledge-building; we could write a book about the issues girls and young women want to talk about and learn about – learning is a lifetime process for us all! We hope these information sheets will create the groundwork for what you need to know when questions arise and inspire further exploration with your group. We also hope that the activities suggested will help you promote meaningful discussions and inspire you to design your own activities.

 

Here is a quick preview of the information sheets we have prepared:

 

 

Anti-Oppression

 

Our mandate is to work towards equity and to create a just society. Our girls’ programs, publications, and resources aim to empower girls and an anti-oppression framework is at the heart of this work.

 

An anti-oppression approach is one that seeks to actively address and understand the varied causes and effects of power, privilege, and marginalization in girls’ communities. This approach means being actively reflective in our work and asking questions about how our practices reinforce or help overcome multiple forms of oppression.

 

In terms of programming, this kind of reflection can translate into a number of potentially productive discussions on how power and privilege play themselves out in group dynamics during workshops, activities or in the kinds of knowledge we share. The addition of any kind of new information into your girls’ group should take into consideration how all the multiple oppressions (all the “isms”) affect us on an individual and community level. Anti-oppression is the basis of the framework for all of the information provided in this section and in this Manual as a whole. We have also provided the Knowledge-Building Info-Sheet: What is Anti-Oppression? in Appendix 3 in order to help expand this concept.

 

Anti-oppression means recognizing historical inequities and working in a way that names power imbalances and works to transform them. The world as we know it divides people based on the notion that some are “better than” and some are “less than.” We are taught to believe that some of us are deserving of privileges and opportunities, while others are less deserving. Who becomes “other” is determined by values that define social norms and organizes us into social hierarchies.

 

Interlocking oppression is a helpful way of understanding how oppressions are linked together and inseparable. Systems of oppression come into existence in and through one another; they are not separate and distinct. This means that class exploitation could not be accomplished without gender and racial hierarchies; imperialism would not be possible without class exploitation, sexism, heterosexism, and so on.ⁱ In other words, oppression and privilege are two sides of the same coin; one cannot exist without the other. Having a grasp of anti-oppression theory and frameworks is critical to girls and women meeting across their differences and working together.

 

 

Self-Esteem

 

We recognize that self-esteem – feeling able to cope, feeling worthy, and feeling whole – is the starting point or foundation for girls to realize their potential.

 

The knowledge building information sheets and activities that we have provided try to reflect this idea, and are meant to provide resources that can be drawn on at any stage in your program. The suggested activities can also be used and adapted at any stage of programming when issues of self-esteem (or lack of self-esteem) arise with the girls in your program.

 

 

Sexual Health

 

An issue that comes up frequently in girls’ programs is relationships, sexuality, and sex. Girls are naturally curious about these aspects of life and growing up and often the girls’ group is the safest place they have to ask questions and learn about relationships and sex. As a facilitator, being comfortable and informed on these topics is important for modelling an empowered and centred approach to these issues. Modelling this kind of attitude can provide great incentive for girls to become more proactive about their own health and well-being.

 

Discussions and workshops on these issues can help counter stereotypes that discourage girls from taking a lead in their own health and encourage them to become an advocate for friends or family who face challenges such as accessing information or resources. We hope that the activities and information sheets provided will help girls become empowered in their sexual health.

 

 

Violence Prevention

 

Girls can experience violence in complex and intersecting ways. We call this the violence continuum, which ranges from personal violence (self-harm, substance abuse, and so on); relational violence (sexual abuse, emotional or verbal abuse, physical abuse, bullying, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and so on); and systemic violence (poverty, discrimination within institutions, policies or laws, sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and so on). Violence can occur on one, two, or all of these levels simultaneously and has proven to be detrimental for young women’s health and emotional development.

 

Girls require preventative approaches that address these multiple forms of violence without perpetuating a climate of fear that can be intimidating and silencing. In all activities and conversations, it is key to intersperse time for processing these difficult issues with time for celebrating the ways we are strong!