What's The Point?

Changeist is a non-profit that educates middle and high school students about social justice issues. Each year, Changeist trains 30+ Team Leaders to run weekly full-day sessions to equip young people as creative thinkers, risk takers, and agents of change. This Research Source examines the best practices of Team Leader training.

Team Leaders (age 18-24) must prepare to engage students (age 11–18) in honest, inclusive discussions about issues from mental health to climate justice. At the program's end, students create legacy projects or take externships based on one issue they care about.

Field Notes

@Jenny Liu Zhang:

• The first activity was to form a community agreement about the space. First we discussed in pairs, then table groups, then the full room.
• Interesting points in discussion:
  • "To me, a comfortable learning environment doesn't have white walls. White walls feel like a prison, not a classroom. I need more color, it helps me understand."
  • "I respect your personhood. I might listen and I might respond, but I definitely will accept and welcome you as your whole self."
  • "Voice and choice."
  • "Make space, take space."
  • "We need more than just a 'judgment-free zone.' We need a 'brave space,' where honesty is encouraged."
  • "We need to put aside biases and listen with our heart, mind and soul."
  • "We need to listen without feeling like we have to respond."
  • "We should value accountability, but also understand our limits and be truthful about our personal roles."
  • "If something bothers you, we should be able to say, 'we gotta talk, something you said tickles my biases!'"
• After much brainstorming, we agreed to: enable each individual's "voice and choice;" speak with intent and be aware of impact; listen to each other with our minds, bodies, and souls; be truthful about our roles; be inclusive; be thankful.
• This Marshall Ganz quote was highlighted in the introduction of why storytelling is important: "A story communicates fear, hope, and anxiety, and because we can feel it, we get the moral not just as a concept, but as a teaching of our hearts."
• Quote by Rabbi Hillel: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? And if not now, when?"
• I was told by Manijeh that the Changeist program took 3 years to develop. It's inspired by a few narrative frameworks, including more by Marshall Ganz (see the Research Source on Ganz' Public Narrative framework here).
• Changeist employs several interesting facilitation traditions like:
  • "Bio breaks," or biology breaks for bathroom visits, stretching, or getting snacks and water.
  • "Brain breaks" for listening to chill music, meditating, drawing, or napping in a breakout room.
  • When someone makes a mistake, whether in a presentation or group activity, they pause and put their arms up and say, "Ta-Da!" to celebrate mistakes and ease tension.

Program Structure

• Changeist adapts Marshall Ganz' Public Narrative to describe how our social systems affect us: System ("Story of Now") → Community ("Story of Us") → Self ("Story of Self").
• Therefore, the program is organized into 3 sections:
  • "Story of Self" is 6 weeks long for middle and high schoolers. These sessions include identity webs and Council (see Research Source).
  • "Story of Us" is 11 weeks for middle schoolers and and 8 weeks for high schoolers. These sessions include Root Cause Trees and community site visits.
  • "Story of Now" is 5 weeks for middle schoolers and 8 weeks for high schoolers. These sessions include legacy project planning and externships.