Monday, October 31, 2011

WORKSHOP 14-YEAR TWO-MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE

Our first session since the summer break and Beginning Year two of Building the World We Dream About

After sharing what our first year of workshops has meant to each of us, we discussed thoughts that have come to us about this work over the summer break.  Focusing on Multicultural Competence we shared in small groups the differences and similarities among us using our own personal identity maps.  At the end of our two hours together members gave thoughtful feedback:

What did you find compelling from today's workshop?
  • I liked the fact that the group makeup has continuity from last year.
  • I liked the identity map sharing, it is a helpful communication tool for teaching listening and learning.  I felt that it might have worked at the beginning of our time together, too.
  • I felt the definitions of cultural competency and the skills associated with it were important and the reading for today by Kat Liu was compelling and inciteful.
  • What do we as Unitarian Universalists need to do to help ourselves and our congregation to embrace multicultural openness?
  • It was compelling to observe the key questions asked today, such as "What do we do to address people on the margins?"
Do you have any concerns or puzzlements from today?
  • How will we involve the folks from the Long Range Planning committee & the Growth Initiative group and the Board in the ideas that we are learning?
  • How will we put ourselves in situations this week that push us outside our comfort zone?
  • I am thinking about the various ways that Unitarian Universalists might be viewed by a variety of types of people, we may be "off-putting" to some.
  • We may not appeal to diverse groups.  We need to develop competencies in different cultures and learn how they may veiw us before we can embrace them.
  • Some religions may appeal more to young people than others, I find that fascinating.
Do you have any suggestions for our group and coming workshop sessions?
  • No, this is well done just like last year, thank you!
  • The more people in the congregation we can get "on board" the better we will do.
  • I would like us to facilitate events for the wider congregation, such as maybe showing the Tim Wise video with discussion afterward and other events such as this.
  • I would like us to learn more about the demographics of the local area, about Latinos and African Americans.

4 comments:

  1. Bob and I are co-chairing the Long Range Planning Committee and will certainly bring insights from BtWWDA to that work. We have already sent them Kat Liu's article to read. First for her sensitivity to language from a person who doesn't see herself as the norm among UUs. We want to bring a multi-cultural and sensitive focus to our deliberations over wording for updated mission and a vision statements. Secondly we highlighted her excellent definition of a prophetic church for discussion about goals for social justice at UUFCC. Hopefully each of us will bring our new ah-haas to all the other work we do in the congregation.

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  2. The above was written by Sue ... if we use anonymous to enter comments we do need to remember to sign them. :-)

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  3. I was impressed with the growth we experienced as a group and individually last year. It was evident in the comments and sharing that took place at this workshop. I look forward to continuing the growth with our workshops this year.

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