Organizing more inclusive learning spaces

The video is available on our YouTube and Instagram channels.

In this short video, Amel Yacef argues that lived experience, especially from marginalised communities, is essential wisdom for learning spaces. Amel talks about three different ways of being as a facilitator: being in the world, being with self and being with others. These ways of being raise questions, such as: In what systems of oppression are we embedded? Who was a space designed for? Who can shape it? How do my own identities and experiences show up? What power do we hold? What biases or emotions are we carrying? Are we prepared to respond when harm happens? Do people feel seen and valued in the space I am facilitating? Can people question, name or challenge discomfort safely? Amel challenges us to ask ourselves first: Why do we want a space to be diverse, inclusive and equitable?

Amel Yacef (she/her), an Algerian who made Ireland her home for the past 25 years, describes her practice as transformative and compassionate justice. She has extensive experience in organising and mobilising young people, women and grass roots community leaders coming from communities marginalised by systems and institutions that were not built for and by them. Amel has managed and coordinated projects with a focus on social justice, racial justice, gender justice, equality and human rights. She has served in multiple Boards of organisations working towards social justice, in Ireland and Europe.
She is passionate about facilitating processes that enable those voices in the margins to sit in their power, and impact political discourse, believing in the importance of creating and holding spaces of radical transformation and healing justice for the individuals and communities harmed by oppressive systems.

Tips for instructors

The way we learn about societal developments is changing – and with it our educational media. Global Citizenship Education is increasingly taking place online, but how can transformative education be transferred to everyday formats such as social media? Teenagers and young adults in particular are progressively acquiring knowledge via social media channels such as Instagram, Twitter or Tiktok. This opens up a window of opportunity for Global learning: By engaging with the audience in their everyday lives, they gain low-threshold access to global approaches. Also, their own role and self-efficacy is emphasised.
As a result, we have transformed some of our methods into small, digital learning units: Memes, infographics and short videos on climate justice, global inequalities and distribution issues. They enable small learning increments that use playful and humorous elements to facilitate reflection and engagement with larger learning objectives. These so-called microlearnings can be used as a discussion starter for a workshop, given as a follow-up or recommended for independent research.

Possibilities for further work

Click here to watch Amel Yacef’s talk “Creating and Facilitating Diverse and Inclusive Learning and Thinking Spaces” from a decolonial and feminist perspective (1hour and 18 minutes).