Activity 3.2 | Co-creating Responsive Communities

Cultivating Safe Spaces

Elaine Alec is a member of the Syilx (Okanagan) and Secwépemc (Shuswap) Nations.

She is the CEO of Naqsmist (nux-meest) Storytellers Inc. and a social justice advocate. She created the framework “Cultivating Safe Spaces.”

In this activity, you will learn about the Cultivating Safe Spaces framework and how love-based practices can counter the fear-based practices embedded in colonial systems, including leadership.

At this point in the course, we will look beyond dismantling systems of oppression and look towards leaders who are practicing in ways that promote holistic wellness of individuals, organizations, and communities. These practices are pre-colonial, and celebrate the resistance and resilience of the cultures, teachings, and traditions to Indigenous People on Turtle Island.

The Cultivating Safe Spaces framework illuminates the potential for love-based practices to connect us back to our internal ways of knowing and relating to the world beyond the imagined permanence of settler-colonialism, beyond hierarchies, and toward interconnectedness.

In this podcast, Jen Greenway explains the Cultivating Safe Spaces framework and how leaders can apply the agreements and protocols into practice to support a vision and practice of justice. Listen to the podcast.

After listening, take some time to read Jen Greenway's blog post, "Decolonizing Leadership: Qualities of a Better Leader (2023) before proceeding to the reflection on the next page. 

References

Alec, E. (n.d.). Cultivating Safe Spaces. Naqsmist Storytellers Inc. https://www.cultivatingsafespaces.com/

Green, J. (Executive Producer). (2023, January 13). The Four Conditions (Episode 6) [Audio podcast]. In Cultivating Safe Spaces Podcast. https://cultivatingsafespacespodcast.buzzsprout.com/2250470/episodes/13625012

Greenway, J. (2023, May 7). Decolonizing leadership: Qualities of a better leader. Go Smudge Yourself. [Blog]. https://www.jengreenway.com/post/decolonizing-leadership-qualities-of-a-better-leader

Calling Yourself In: Exploring Love-Based Leadership and Multiple Perspectives

Take time to reflect deeply on your role as a child care manager and leader through the lens of love-based practice and multiple perspectives. This is an invitation to slow down and call yourself in, not from a place of judgment but with curiosity and compassion.

Begin by considering the ways you currently lead:

• Where do you notice love-based practices in your work? 
• Where might fear-based habits still be present? 
• How have your lived experiences shaped your ways of knowing and being?
• What patterns or reactions do you notice in yourself, and what might they be trying to teach you?

Now, shift your focus to the people around you. Think about your team, those you are in a position to lead, and those who lead you. Think about each person individually:

• What perspective might they bring to their work? 
• How does your image of them change when you consider this? 
• Can you begin to identify the unique gifts and the unique needs each person carries?

Drawing on the Four Perspectives framework and the British Columbia Early Learning Framework, consider how the idea that “every child is a gift” can extend to every member of your learning community. 

When grounded in love, leadership honours each person's full humanity.

Ask yourself:

• How can I intentionally cultivate spaces where multiple perspectives are seen, valued, and integrated?
• How will I articulate my commitment to love-based leadership in ways that invite others into this way of being?
• What opportunities exist to illuminate the unique contributions of my team collectively?

Let this be a practice of ongoing reflection.

Leadership grounded in love and inclusive of multiple narratives is not a fixed destination, but a path of continual growth.

References 

British Columbia Ministry of Education. (2019). British Columbia early learning framework. Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Children and Family Development, & Early Advisory Group. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/early-learning/teach/early-learning-framework  

Greenway, J. (Executive Producer). (2023, September 20). Explaining the Four Perspectives (Episode 1). [Audio podcast]. In Cultivating Safe Spaces Podcast. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0gliUKytRm8zytMQ53QDiG?si=iRJJFJp8SVmJVBRQQGi2Pw