Each one teach one: peer-to-peer as a participatory approach

Inclusive hip-hop project TALK, adis e. V., Tübingen/Reutlingen

Participation is one of the defining features at adis. The association is committed to empowerment and anti-discrimination. In the rap and hip-hop dance workshops of the TALK project, young people learn from one another and participate in decision-making, including on the safeguarding policy against sexualised violence.

A training course on child and youth safeguarding is dealing with tips on how to behave in difficult situations. Afterwards, the participating staff members and young peer-to-peer coaches from the TALK project look at each other wondering what to make of it. “We quickly realised that we needed to adapt these tips to fit our own situation,” says Maria Kechaja. “In certain situations, calling the police isn’t always a great choice for young people who have experienced racism.”

Maria Kechaja is an empowerment coach and coordinates the TALK project for adis. In the project, young people aged between 14 and 27 learn to express and process their experiences of discrimination creatively through rap or hip-hop dance. They are supported and encouraged by professionally trained people such as Maria Kechaja or the former dance coach and co-founder Teresa Ceran. They also learn from trained peer-to-peer coaches who are the same age as them.

Peer-to-peer coaching puts participation into practice

“The idea for peer-to-peer coaching came from the young people themselves,” says Maria Kechaja. The principle is called “each one teach one” and involves young people teaching each other not just skills such as writing rap lyrics or hip-hop dance steps but also respect and how to deal with painful experiences.

Former participants gradually take on responsibility, initially as co-coaches and later as coaches, until they are ready to lead workshops independently in pairs. The professional coaches introduce them to subjects such as artistic didactics, project planning and funding and involve them in important decisions. “For us adult coaches, this means not taking ourselves too seriously,” says Maria Kechaja. The young people have to grow into their roles. They are not used to being allowed to make mistakes and not being judged for them. The result is that they gain more self-confidence. Rap co-coach Lenzio surprised himself, “I never thought I could teach others anything.”

A safeguarding policy for young people with experience of multiple forms of discrimination

In the end, it is one of the peer coaches who suggests, “We urgently need a suitable safeguarding policy.” The right policy will focus on the particular vulnerabilities of the young people. Participants who face multiple forms of discrimination based on their skin colour, background, disability, sexual orientation or gender are often also subjected to sexual harassment, abuse and violence in their everyday lives. Maria Kechaja describes how girls from ethnic minority backgrounds [also referred to as BIPoC in Germany] are objectified and receive “extremely disgusting” messages from men, including dick pics. Incidents of abuse and rape are also widespread. Boys from a perceived or actual migrant background feel under general suspicion of being perpetrators, not least because of reports in the press, such as those following the events on New Year’s Eve in Cologne.

A participatory process for the safeguarding policy

To ensure that the young people’s needs and experiences are at the core of a safeguarding policy that addresses discrimination, the team designed the entire development process to be participatory. In a series of meetings, the whole team, participants and peer coaches first looked at the safeguarding policies of other organisations. “Then we also talked about our own experiences,” says Teresa Ceran. An incredible number of examples came up in the process. 

We want to explore this in depth and let everyone have a say.

Maria Kechaja, Empowerment-Coach

“The fact that, unlike ourselves, the peer coaches know the views of the participants, co-coaches and coaches from personal experience is also helpful for our joint work on the safeguarding policy,” says Maria Kechaja. All these aspects are now to be incorporated into the policy. This takes time. Time that those involved are willing to spend. “We want to explore this in depth and let everyone have a say.”

These issues require time and sensitivity

The fact that the young people speak openly about their experiences of discrimination as well as painful experiences of sexual violence is down to the trusting relationships they have built with one another during the project. The rap and hip-hop dance workshops run for a whole year. “We give them plenty of space to speak. At our weekly meetings, everyone can share their highs and lows of the week. That brings a lot of experiences to the table,” says Teresa Ceran. It takes great sensitivity to deal with the sometimes traumatic experiences in a thoughtful manner so as not to reopen old wounds. The coaches offer the young people the opportunity for one-to-one sessions, but they can also share their experiences with the rest of the group or process them creatively through rap lyrics or hip-hop moves. It is up to them to decide; anything goes. Those who choose to go down the creative route are encouraged to find their own voice to express their experiences.

This fosters a relationship of trust between the participants, the professional coaches and the peer coaches; a bond that some compared to the one they would like to find in the kind of family they wish they had but often do not.

Discussing the pitfalls

A safeguarding policy within such trusting structures requires a great deal of honest self-reflection. This applies to identifying both pitfalls and strengths according to Maria Kechaja. In close-knit, family-like structures, it can sometimes be much harder to recognise one’s own boundaries and express them to a person in a position of trust, for example, when somebody touches you. Dealing with closeness and distance is not always easy for the peer-to-peer coaches, either, for instance, when it comes to partying with participants or making friends. Together we have drawn up a code of conduct that everyone must adhere to,” says Maria Kechaja.

Lessons learnt: how participatory safeguarding processes can succeed

To co-ordinator Maria Kechaja and co-founder Theresa Ceran, genuine participation means handing over power and responsibility to peer-to-peer coaches and participants. “The atmosphere is different when I’m in the room. I deliberately step back, even if they initially want me to stay. This creates a space where they can really learn to take responsibility by themselves,” says Teresa Ceran.

“There’s no question that hierarchies and power can generate power imbalances and violence,” adds Maria Kechaja, which is why cultural organisations should honestly reflect on just how participatory their structures really are. Only those who are prepared to fundamentally question themselves and their hierarchies will be able to design genuinely participatory processes.

Text: Christina Budde; Translation (english): Alex Emerson