Inspired: Experiences at the ACE Institute and USA Cooperative Youth Council Youth Cohort by Meredith Bruster

A blog post reflection written by Aynah’s summer intern, Meredith Bruster, a junior at Luther College and a leader in Luther’s Aynah chapter.

Inspired. Experiences at the ACE Institute and USA Cooperative Youth Council Youth Cohort

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”

                                                                   -Helen Keller

Cooperation, as voiced by Helen Keller, proves essential to enacting impactful change. To understand how the cooperative model offers opportunities to foster change, one must look to cooperative education. The Association of Cooperative Educators Institute and USA Cooperative Youth Council both gathered cooperative members, educators, and activists through shared learning about the cooperative movement in exchange of resources for shared education about cooperatives. This blog post explores cooperative education experiences among youth and cooperative educators by promoting future intergenerational collaboration, youth leadership, values-based relationships and inclusive spaces. Collectively, these values foster a culture of cooperation.

Inspired by vision and driven by values, these passion-evoking cooperative education experiences offered insight on leadership, teamwork and personal development by means of seven learning points that I can apply as an chapter leader and as a young leader in the co-op movement.

TOP SEVEN LEARNING POINTS

•      Icebreakers offer fundamental opportunities to energize and refocus

o   Icebreakers are activities that begin to help the group unite as a team. Icebreakers can be a simple and fun way to promote group bonding and check in. Whether group members are or are not familiar with each other, creating opportunities for group members to get to know each other and refocus will  promote group relationships and teamwork.

•      Gauge, communicate and ask about needs at the beginning

o   Begin an activity, meeting, or event by asking about individual needs. Whether needs are physical or emotional, communicating needs at the beginning is very important to fostering an open and inclusive space in which the group can grow. For example, at the end of the CYCs several individuals mentioned feeling tired. Orientation facilitators responded to this feedback by shortening the session to provide the group with extra time to recharge. In this instance, adapting the agenda to meet the needs of the group demonstrated respect for individuals’ time and energy levels, and helped foster an environment in which people communicate their needs.

•      Engage with different learning styles

o   In one session we learned about four different learning styles: visual, auditory, kinesthetic and demonstration. According to Esteban Kelly, a worker-owner of AORTA and a co-director of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, only 10% of auditory information is retained. Many people learn best by seeing, moving and practicing—or a combination of all three. By engaging in different learning styles, presenters, teachers and leaders can involve the group right away and provide for more opportunities for individuals to learn.

•      Learn about the communities in which you would like to work

o   Expressing interest and taking the time to learn about the communities allows the project to become collaborative and relevant. Without expressing interest and willingness to learn, building sustained relationships and joining together to create positive change is not possible.

•      Structure conversations around values

o   Networking is all about making connections between people—these connections are often more successful when individuals share their values and find meaningful ways to connect these values to a vision.  Avoid  listing accomplishments, projects, and goals. Effective networking begins with reflecting upon personal values and discovering ways to connect personal values, passions, experiences, and future aspirations

•      Search for alternative ways to explain concepts

o   Some words or concepts, such as “cooperative”, may be stigmatized, offensive or misunderstood by certain groups. Finding alternative ways to explain to explain key concepts and teach to the group may provide more opportunities for individuals to stay focused and learn without diverting attention to “road block” words and phrases.

•      Collaborate through communication of shared vision and values

o   Vision and values develop from within, however, true positive and impactful change takes root when individuals join together in shared values and vision.

Truly, the CYC cohort and ACE members who attended the ACE institute embody the energy, passion and values of cooperation. With newfound energy and relationships to guide our path, Aynah can collaborate with other educators in the cooperative movement—and together we can do so much.

Best Practices – Some Things We Learned Leading a Cooperative Education Experience

Aynah trips are kind of like cooperative summer camp on wheels. Which sounds like the best thing ever. It’s also really hard. Several people having fun in a van talking about cooperation and social justice on long drives requires careful planning and intention. And also some times when you don’t plan or use any intention. We did some things really well this time around. We also fell short a number of times. In both cases we did a lot of learning. Here are our takeaways for future cooperative education experiences:

Orient Yourselves – Leave ample time at the beginning of the trip for folks to get to know each other and understand what they’re all bringing to the space. As tempting as it is to just jump right into the heart of what we’re learning about, group learning isn’t going to go well if the group hasn’t formed well.

Form a Knowledge Base – An introductory workshop on the topic of the trip is essential. Identify some basic knowledge everyone should have before the trip starts, turn it into a set of learning goals, and then create a space to achieve those goals together. Make it long enough to really dig into questions and insights that come up.

Check-In Often – At least once daily, create a space for folks to talk to each other about how things are going. Is there more basic information folks are wanting now that things have really started? How is everyone feeling? What things are going well? What could go better? Cooperation, justice, and group dynamics are all tough journeys, not one time events. Make sure you’re headed in the direction you want to be headed.

Create an Equitable Basic Living Situation – Figure out everyone’s needs for sustenance, comfort, health, and happiness. Find the highest common denominator between them and make sure that is the standard of living for your trip. Be careful not to call out anyone’s specific needs in creating this.

Move! – Lots of folks will give presentations that involve a lot of sitting and standing for young cooperators. Make sure to include some workshops or skill shares that involve more movement, play some games to start and end your day, and/or include walking/hiking in your daily schedule. It’s not really an experience if you’re passively taking it all in.

Keep a Basic Physical Care Kit Handy – Sometimes people fall when you’re trying to take the perfect group jumping picture. Sometimes they have sinus issues and struggle with a neti pot. As a leader, you should have access to basic first aid and cold care necessities for the little stuff that comes up. Being healthy is a necessary first step to doing some serious learning.

Vary Your Perspectives – Learning requires variety, especially when you’re digging into complex topics like cooperation and social justice. Prepare to engage in experiences that represent different understandings of the world, and potentially even contradict each other. Definitely make sure to experience examples of all the things you want students to take away. If they don’t experience it, they probably aren’t going to learn it.

Have Some Flexible Fun – Having fun is a given. We’re talking about cooperative summer camp on wheels, remember? But fun is different for everybody. Schedule some free time into your itinerary. Also schedule some intentional flex time that can be free or used for a fun group activity or can result in a spontaneous learning experience you plan together. Concrete plans and a mostly fixed itinerary make it possible to achieve learning goals. Some flexible fun time mixed in is what’s going to make the trip memorable and worth re-creating.

Expect and Accept a Lack of Closure – It’s not going to go perfectly. Not this time. Not any time. Everyone will be left with things they still want to know more about, things they wish they’d had more time for. This is all part of the education journey. Don’t try to create a perfect experience, try to create a worthwhile experience. Then learn what you can and embark on the wonderful life journey of constant improvement. What kind of educators would we be if we didn’t take our own learning seriously?

7 Things We Want to Do as a Result of the #Aynahtrip

What’s education worth if it doesn’t lead you to new perspectives and action? We’re not really sure. So we asked students what they were inspired to do after a week of exploring cooperatives in North Carolina. Here are the top 7 things they identified:

1. Make our student chapters an exhibit of cooperation by operating democratically and bring cooperative education to
   people that don’t know.
2. Incorporate cooperative principles into our everyday lives.
3. Seek out cooperative businesses in our lives at home.
4. Find ways to really be a part of community.
5. Present the idea of cooperation in any situation where we, along with other people, identify acommon economic, social, or cultural need.
6. Go on future Aynah trips.*
7. Move to North Carolina.

*We swear we didn’t plant this one. But it is our favorite. 🙂

7 things to look forward to on the upcoming Aynah trip

1. A conversation with Cooperative Energy Futures on the role of cooperatives in the energy sector in Minnesota and the need for the US to change its attitude about its own development before taking development abroad
2. A tour of the urban farm lot of Stones Throw Agricultural Cooperative
3. A presentation at Eastside Food Co-op on one of the only investment cooperatives in the United States. We’ll learn how cooperation is changing the landscape of Central Ave in northeast Minneapolis
4. A conversation with Land O’ Lakes dairy cooperative on their international development initiatives in East Africa.
5. A conversation with Blackbird Music, a collectively-owned music store and instrument repair shop, about their next steps towards incorporating as a cooperative.
6. A tour of Mercado Central and a presentation about the Latino Economic Development Center and their support of Latino business owners in Minnesota
7. A conversation with Mary’s Pence, a local non-governmental organization encouraging cooperative enterprise among women’s groups in the Americas

For more information and to register for the Aynah trip please visit: http://www.aynah.org/index.php/students/aynah-trips