Day: March 5, 2010

http://www.development-ethics.org/merida_declaration

Achieving meaningful and effective community engagement

Objective:

By the end of the session, students will have heard from our guest speaker, Leah Walker, on frameworks on how to achieve respectful community engagement and consultation, while being aware of cultural complexities and power dynamics. Final presentation proposals will be presented and feedback will be given by the class.

Bridge:

From the speaker, students understand best practices on how host community interests can be incorporated in program evaluation and project planning processes, and incorporate the knowledge they gave gained to evaluation of the organizations they have chosen for their final project.  By receiving feedback from the class on the presentation proposals, each student will receive new perspectives and ideas on how to analyze each of their organizations’ mandates and projects through the theoretical frameworks that they have chosen.

Engaging the Group:

Activities (in order of how they will be carried out):

• 9:00-10:20: Presentation and discussion of detailed final project proposal
  • For each student:
    • Student presentation: 5 minutes
      • Organization and project, theoretical frameworks s/he intends to use to analyze the projects, what types of probing questions these frameworks will generate, and how these questions tie into course themes
  • Class suggestions and discussion: 10 minutes
  • 10:20-10:30: 10 minute break
  • 10:30-11:30: Leah Walker, from the division of Aboriginal People’s health at UBC, will discuss how better interactions between service learning participants and host communities can occur.
  • 11:30-11:50: Re-visit the final presentation rubric and dates, discussions on any adjustments that need to be made.

For each person to bring to class:

• Hard copy of final project presentation proposal for oral presentation (see above)
• To do before class: E-mail Dr. Dharamsi (shafik.dharamsi@familymed.ubc.ca) a copy of Journal #5 and detailed final project proposal by 9 AM, Wednesday.
• Assign journaling assignment #6: reflection and response to presenter.
• Final Project: begin research and drafting of contents.

Closing/Summary:

• Assign journaling assignment #6: reflection and response to presenter.
• Final Project: begin research and drafting of contents.