Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant Communities - ILRC

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant CommunitiesJanuary 2003third days of the training were designed for staff, ambassadors and immigrant leaders.Approximately 35 people participated.For a complete copy of the agenda for the training please see Chapter 12.Day One of the TrainingThe goal of the first day was to train the staff members and ambassadors to learn some of thetraining techniques that we would employ during the next two days of the training so they couldhelp as co-trainers. Day one therefore included a presentation on how to negotiate with agovernment agency and a mock INS-community negotiation session, and a discussion of thenegotiation strategies everyone had learned during the mock session.Following the negotiation session we talked about how to conduct a successful brainstormingexercise. Then we modeled a brainstorming session on what makes learning experiences good orbad. The group came up with a list of suggestions for making a leadership training as effective aspossible.After the brainstorm session, we discussed how to give proper feedback to leaders participatingin the training. We talked about this because all trainings must include time for feedback so theparticipants can learn from what they did well and what they could improve upon. We talkedabout the fact that there are important rules for engaging in a constructive evaluation andfeedback session. Then a trainer modeled a feedback session of the brainstorming session we hadconducted.Next we did a presentation on the different training techniques that are explained in Chapter 1.After the presentation on training techniques we held a panel discussion on choosing andworking with leaders. At the end of the day we discussed the importance of doing evaluationsand how to do evaluations. Then the whole group did an evaluation of the day’s activities.Day Two of the TrainingThe second day of the training included all the participants from the first day plus all theimmigrant and refugee leaders. The purposes of the second day of the training included buildingtrust among the participants, discussing the differences between North American cultural valuesand those of immigrant groups, and developing leadership skills.In the morning we let everyone introduce himself or herself, and spent some time introducing thescope of the training and the agenda. Then everyone participated in an icebreaker exercise calledcultural bingo, a copy of which is located in Appendix 2-A. Following the icebreaker exerciseeveryone participated in a role-play and small group discussions about how immigrants withvarious cultural values cope in the United States. The underlying premise of this training sessionis that if recent immigrants are to survive and thrive in North American society, it is essentialthat they have a rudimentary understanding of basic U.S. dominant social values. The intent ofthe session, however, is neither to venerate North American values nor to denigrate or demeanthe values the leaders bring to the training, but rather to promote mutual respect and greater2-5
Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant CommunitiesJanuary 2003understanding. An underlying goal of the session is to promote mutual respect and greaterunderstanding among racial, ethnic, religious and gender groups in North American society. Itshould also affirm the fact that understanding and integrating into North American society isindeed a challenge and a skill itself. For example, a parent trying to understand what ishappening in her child’s school must not only translate between English and her native language,she must also translate between cultures to accommodate the differences between education asshe experienced it in her home country and education in the United States.During the afternoon of the second day we focused on skill building. The afternoon activitiesincluded the following:• A presentation on how immigrants can be involved in helping to make legislativechange on issues that affect them.• A group discussion, presentation and model of how to give a good speech.• A discussion on how to negotiate with governmental agencies, followed by an actualmock negotiation exercise with the INS. The negotiation was similar to the one theCBO staff and ambassadors participated in during the first day. Thus the CBO staffand ambassadors were able to be co-trainers during this exercise.• A discussion on how to prepare for and conduct a press conference followed by amock press conference that some of the participants held.During the evening of the second day all the participants were divided into six subgroupsaccording to the cities where they live and work. There were five cities represented, but onegroup was large enough to split. The groups were challenged to develop a civic participationevent and prepare a presentation for others during the third day of training. The event could bealmost anything in which people in their community would be interested. The idea was that thegroups would be able to start thinking about and practicing events for the immigrant leaders todo when they left this training and returned home. Examples of some of the mock events thegroups prepared for and practiced for presentations the next day included these:• A press conference announcing and describing a comprehensive after-school youthprogram for immigrants from a variety of countries.• A press conference aimed at convincing people in the community to oppose theconstruction of a new INS detention facility nearby.• A legislative visit with members of Congress to discuss a piece of legislationaffecting certain groups of immigrants.• A community meeting on some of the cultural differences between people from theSudan and the dominant cultural values of those living in the United States.• A negotiation with the INS on INS policies in the community.Day Three of the TrainingThe morning of the third day of the training was devoted to letting the six groups present thecommunity events they had prepared and practiced the night before. Each group was paired withanother group and given 40 minutes to give its presentation. Two trainers were also included inthe audience. A feedback session followed each presentation.2-6
Page 1 and 2: InspiringLeadership inImmigrantComm
Page 4 and 5: Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant C
Page 6: Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant C
Page 74 and 75:
Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant C
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
Page 80:
§ 8.9 ConclusionInspiring Leadersh
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
B. Critique of the brainstorm sessi
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Some possible answers to share with
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154:
Page 157 and 158:
Page 159 and 160:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 176:
Page 179 and 180:
Page 182:
Page 185 and 186:
Page 187 and 188:
Page 190 and 191:
Page 192 and 193:
Page 194 and 195:
Page 196 and 197:
Page 198 and 199:
Page 200:
ilrc700 Light Street,Baltimore MD 2
show all

Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant Communities - ILRC

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?