In this section:
• What is The Yarn?• Why have a Yarn?
• Who is The Yarn for?
• How to purchase the Let's Have A Yarn With Yarn® package
What is The Yarn?
For centuries man has shared his camp fire and his stories with friends and family. Aboriginal culture has nurtured this practice and handed it down through the generations giving young people, Elders and everyone in between: a voice. A voice to be shared and a voice to be heard. In today's modern world we can do the same, passing on our knowledge and our stories in a Verbal Learning Circle where we can: Have A Yarn With Yarn. The Yarn enables the participants in the Circle to share their journey, their knowledge and their experiences. The Yarn seeks to enhance: our communication skills, leadership qualities and the strength of our relationships.
The Let's Have A Yarn With Yarn® program is a verbal activity, needing no written material, and has three main areas:
1. Yarning Topics
There are various Yarning topics that the participants in the Circle share over a period of weeks. For example the topics include:
• Let's Have A Yarn About Our Story. A great way to start, this Yarn develops the dynamics and individual identities of the group.
• Let's Have A Yarn About Rules In Our Lives. Rules are essential in our society, this Yarn develops an understanding of those rules and why they're there.
• Let's Have A Yarn About Good And Bad Choices. We've all made them — but do we understand them? This Yarn develops our skills towards better judgement.
• Let's Have A Yarn About How I Can Be A Better Friend. Friendship is a wonderful thing but is often difficult to hold on to, this Yarn talks about nurturing our relationships.
• Let's Have A Yarn About Feelings. Our feelings can be overwhelming and sometimes confusing, this Yarn develops our awareness of how we feel at different times.
Each topic has ten sessions that the group can choose to discuss; developing various skills throughout the weeks. In total there are fifty Yarning sessions which the group can share within the safe environment of The Yarning Circle.
Each Yarn requires a trained facilitator to achieve the maximum benefit from the program. Included in the package is a Facilitator's Handbook to assist the facilitator and guide the Yarning process.
2. Team Building Activities
Using oral communication and working together, the group performs various team building activities that continue to develop throughout the Yarning process.
3. After Yarn Activities
These activities allow the group to utilise what they have learnt while exploring Yarning topics and empower the expression of individual views and identity.
Why have a Yarn?
Each of us comes from a different background and we all have a unique contribution to make to each other's lives. By sharing our stories and experiences we open lines of communication allowing those contributions to increase our knowledge and effect change in our daily lives. Peer learning is a powerful tool and leads us to care about each other's contributions and inclusion in the group. By discussing our views and patterns of behaviour, together, we can discover alternative solutions, create greater choices and instil power into our everyday lives. Each individual will take away something different from the group.
The members of the group will feel more comfortable as time progresses and, with the guidance of the facilitator, each participant will develop a stronger voice. The Yarn shared between the group will also become stronger. Each week as topics change, the group will continue to grow together, gaining confidence and building skills, such as: understanding, communication, patience, and attentive listening.
Within The Learning Circle there are no right or wrong answers. The Yarn encourages talking and listening, having a voice and being heard. This is done in a Tender (The), Loving (Learning) and Caring (Circle) environment, to nurture each individual within the group.
Who is The Yarn for?
The Yarn is for Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere.
The Let's Have A Yarn With Yarn® program captures the ethos of Aboriginal Yarning Circles and is transferable to any situation. The skills learned and used within the Yarns are cross-cultural and universal. There are no barriers that age has brought to the Yarning process. There are no barriers for those with physical, visual, speech, learning or hearing difficulties; all such members have successfully participated in the Yarn. With the assistance of the group and the facilitator, inclusion becomes a natural part of the Yarning process, however, The Yarn and After Yarn Activities may need to be modified to suit the members' abilities within each group.
Yarning benefits our young people, our Elders and everyone in-between.
The Let's Have A Yarn With Yarn® program is suitable for all of us. It is designed to work within group situations, the family home and a variety of organisations such as:
The Let's Have A Yarn With Yarn® program is applicable to everyone regardless of age, culture or gender. Highly valued within the educational system, our communities and the family home; this traditional learning method leads to inclusion, participation, value of the individual and access to contemporary outcomes in today's modern world. Empower the group you belong to by giving a voice to its individuals, in a safe, relaxed and comfortable nurturing environment.
The Let's Have A Yarn With Yarn® program is:
Education Through Communication
•
Understanding Through the Telling of and Listening to
Our Stories
How to purchase the Let's Have A Yarn With Yarn® program
To purchase or enquire about The Let's Have A Yarn With Yarn® program please contact Lee Townsend by email, phone or fax. The program's use is under a licensing agreement which can be discussed further upon contact.