Introduction
The National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) provides anti-racism and intercultural awareness training to government and statutory bodies as a priority.
Approach
The overall approach to the training is participative and non-threatening. Participants are actively encouraged to get involved in the sessions and the NCCRI strives to ensure that a forum is created where a constructive debate can be facilitated.
The training session is usually adapted to the participants, according to their hopes and expectations. The NCCRI training seeks to draw on the experiences of the participants to bring the training as close to the their reality as possible.
The NCCRI organises anti-racism awareness sessions in a way that helps participants acquire the necessary tools and understanding required to deal with the implications of a multi-ethnic society. We usually start by providing general information on the different processes and manifestations of racism and conclude by encouraging participants to work towards adopting approaches to combat racism and promote Interculturalism.
Where appropriate the training would seek to involve representatives from groups working with the minority ethnic community in Ireland.
Aim of the training session
The primary aims of the NCCRI anti-racism training is:
- To help participants acquire the necessary awareness to understand and meet the challenge associated with living and working in a multi-ethnic society.
- To provide information on the processes and the manifestations of racism and the strategies to address it.
- To encourage organisations to adopt policies, good practices and action plans to combat racism and promote Interculturalism.
- To promote anti-racist practices and encourage sensitive and appropriate service delivery to minority ethnic groups, including asylum seekers and Travellers.
CONTENT
Part one: Raising awareness
- Introduction
- Images and assumptions
- Definition of key terms
- Exploring different approaches to ethnic minority groups including Travellers
- Reasons to combat racism
- Acknowledging our privileges
- The role of the Media
Part two: Changing behaviour
- Institutional racism: Travellers and Asylum seekers
- Intersection between different forms of discrimination
- Anti-racism in the workplace
- Strategic Planning
- Case study and/or video analysis
- Evaluation
The trainer
The trainer is Kensika Monshengwo, Training Officer of the NCCRI. Kensika has extensive experience in anti-racism awareness raising in Ireland, including undertaking training with the staff and board of the Equality Authority, four regional health boards, hospitals, government departments and non-governmental organisations.
Kensika Monshengwo was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has lived in Belgium, the USA, Canada, Switzerland and France and holds a postgraduate degree from the Sorbonne in Paris.
Cost
A minimal fee is expected depending on staus.
Part one: Raising awareness
Images and Assumptions
The aim of this exercise is to explore our prejudices and stereotypes about other people. Instead of simply informing the participants that we all live with images and that we all make assumptions, this exercise allows us to demonstrate it. Once it is clear to everyone, then we can actually move on to explore the definitions of key terms. Needless to say that images and prejudices are major components of the definition of discrimination and racism.
Definition of key terms
This section will help identify the level of knowledge and awareness of participants in relation to the use of terms such as 'race', ethnic groups, Discrimination, sectarianism and Racism. We will also show how the notion of race is socially constructed. This section gives us the opportunity to conduct an in-depth analysis of the notion of racism, be it cultural, institutional or individual.
Exploring different approaches to ethnic minority groups including Travellers
In this section, we actually define the type of society we are hoping to create, a more intercultural society. This section also looks at the shortcomings of other approaches such as assimilation and multiculturalism.
Reasons to combat racism
Here, we browse through the different requirements that justify the fight against racism: Legal, moral, economic, etc.
Acknowledging our privileges
The aim of this section is to understand the implications of being part of the dominant group and to raise awareness about one's position in the society.
The role of the Media
This section allows the participants to acknowledge and understand that we all live with images inherited through various media.
The aim of this section is to raise awareness about the way the media depict minority ethnic groups and to identify subliminal messages that can be sent to the majority or dominant ethnic group.
Part two: Changing behaviours
Institutional racism
In this section, we will also use videos and role-plays to help participants understand the reality faced by Travellers and/or asylum seekers, to promote empathy in relation to their situation and to initiate discussion about their legal, social, cultural and economic situation.
Intersection between different forms of discrimination
This section will draw parallels from other forms of discrimination.
Anti-racism in the workplace
This section focuses on practical steps to ensure that staffs acquire the awareness and skills needed to work in a multi-ethnic society, where clients and/or co-workers can happen to be from minority ethnic groups.
We will also reflect on the hurdles apparent in Organisations, which sometimes reflect the values and attitudes of the majority or dominant ethnic group.
Case study and/or video analysis
We will conduct an analysis of the content of some videos or embark on a case study.
Strategic planning
This section gets participants to reflect on strategies to adopt in order to create an atmosphere of inclusion in their workplace.
Evaluation
Training will be evaluated by the participants.
