Key competences in the context of anti-racism and civic courage
Duration: Approx. 20-30 minutes
Introduction
After introducing some terms with the ‘BINGO’, we want to highlight and explain the key competences in the context of anti-racism and civic courage. For the training it is important to have the same definition and interpretation of the words that are essential for the training. Beside the main terms ‘anti-racism’ and ‘civic courage’, we would like you to think about the competences of active listening, showing respect and work inclusive. Take some time to think about the following terms and write down your definition and thoughts. There are no wrong answers. As a help, you can think about the ‘do’s and don’ts’ for your definitions.
exercise
Debriefing
Thank you for taking your time to think about the essential terms for this anti-racism and civic courage training. As we said, it is important to know about the common meaning of some terms for working together. In the following, we would like to give you our definitions and interpretations of the words. After reading the definitions, use the emojis to respond to them. Do you agree with what we have written or not? Are you irritated, are you missing something, or do you want to highlight something?
Anti-racism is the active process of identifying and combtting racism by changing systems, organizational structures, practices, and attitudes, so that power is redistributed and shared equitably.
Civic Courage are the actions of a person or group where they intervene or take a stand in a social situation to combat injustice, usually at great social, political or professional risk.
Active listening involves taking a reserved position by approaching the person speaking with empathy, attention, appreciation and authenticity instead of giving advice. First and foremost, it is about listening, with the aim of understanding the other person and being able to empathize with their position. With these principles, the potential for finding one’s own solutions is activated.
Respect means appreciation for a person, an opinion or way of life without necessarily adopting the corresponding view or outlook on life. Together with acceptance, respect is considered the central basis of peaceful and successful coexistence in modern, open democracies. In contrast to acceptance, tolerance is fundamentally a power imbalance. The statement ‘I tolerate you/your opinion’ goes hand in hand with the fact that I am in the superior position or think that I am. The statement ‘I accept you/your opinion’ does not open or strengthen a power imbalance.
Inclusion are the processes of enhancing someone’s participation within society, particularly for people who are disadvantaged, through enhancing opportunities and access to resources (-> social inclusion).