Assignment Purpose The purpose of this assignment is to design a Medicine Wheel

Assignment
Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to design a Medicine Wheel and use it to facilitate a real or imagined conversation about meeting a challenge within a family or community.
Course Outcomes
This assignment provides documentation of student ability to meet the following course outcomes:
CO5: Explain principles of non-Western healing methods and wellness approaches and compare these to Western principles of psychosocial treatment.
CO6: Integrate non-Western healing and wellness methods into psychosocial interventions with individuals, groups, and families.
Requirements and Guidelines
Using 8 ½” x 11” paper that can be scanned, or using Microsoft Word graphics features, create a Medicine Wheel with four quadrants and a center. Label each quadrant according to traditional Native American qualities, using the module content and readings as a guide. Then, identify an issue that you would like to address on a family, community or organizational level and write it above the Medicine Wheel. This issue should be expressed in systemic, non-blaming terms. The issue may relate to colonization, but it doesn’t have to. Three examples:
“We have difficulty communicating about issues related to power and decisions.”
“Undocumented families are afraid to report crimes in our neighborhood.”
“LGBTQ individuals feel they cannot be themselves in our school.”
If you are currently working in a setting conducive to group discussions, you may ask permission from your supervisor to facilitate a meeting using the Medicine Wheel as a discussion guide. If a group of peers or your family has an issue to address, then you may ask their permission to hold a talking circle. Otherwise, you will need to use your knowledge of a community concern to imagine the responses to your questions. See the video resources for ideas.
For each quadrant, design one question about the issue that is relevant to the focus of that quadrant. Feel free to reach out to your instructor (or someone who knows you well) if you need help coming up with useful questions. You may follow the guidance in Absolon (2012), but feel free to deviate if the steps do not align well with the chosen issue. What is important is to relate the qualities of the four quadrants to your questions.
Option 1: Group Meeting
Set up a safe space and time within which to have a conversation. An hour and a half to two hours is recommended. Have between four and eight people. Be sure to brief each person on the format and purpose of the discussion and answer any questions. Provide information on the nature of the assignment and the course. You may provide this verbally or in writing. Ensure privacy by stating that you will not share any identifying information. Prepare participants by providing the image of the Medicine Wheel with the questions in each quadrant and the center ahead of time. Ensure that everyone can attend, especially if you are starting with a small number. Set up procedures for cancelling. Let everyone know that if someone is going to arrive more than 15 minutes late, they should cancel. Allow for up to 15 minutes before you begin.
Facilitate the discussion using the following steps:
1. Greet and thank everyone.
2. Begin with an invocation, blessing, prayer, meditation, or moment of silence. Be respectful of potential differences of beliefs.
3. Review the purpose and format of the meeting. Pass out copies of the Medicine Wheel.
4. Based on the time allotted, indicate approximately how much time will be devoted to each direction and to the center. Note: the center may take the longest.
5. Name the issue that is being addressed. Do not elaborate or begin discussion.
6. For each direction: a. Have a participant ask the question. After each question is asked, have the group sit silent for a few minutes. b. Go around the circle, passing an object clockwise. Whoever holds the object may speak to that question or pass. All others observe respectful, attentive silence. c. If a round takes a long time, remind the participants of when you are ending and ask that responses be briefer.
7. After all participants have had an opportunity to speak to the questions from all four directions, talk about the center being a place to bring it all together. Ask all four of the questions below together and sit silent for four to five minutes. Then consider each question in turn. At this time, cross talk is allowed, but participants should be reminded first to not interrupt each other and to speak from their own experience rather than judging others’ thoughts, feelings, or experiences.
8. Bring the meeting to a close in whatever way seems fitting. You may wish to sum up the final discussion. You may wish to stand in a circle and thank the participants for their insight, honesty, and courage. You may wish to thank the wisdoms of the four directions for their guidance.
What have we learned from each direction about this issue?
What changes will we make as a result of this discussion?
What inner qualities must be cultivated as we make these changes?
How can we stay true to our commitments?
Option 2: Introspection/imaginary group setting
Set up a quiet space and create an optimal environment for introspection. Choose a time to hold each question in mind, sitting quietly for at least five minutes and allowing responses to come to you. If it helps, you can visualize asking the questions of a group from the community. Write down your impressions afterward on a separate paper or document. You may complete all four directions at once or break them up. For the center, hold the questions above in mind as you visualize yourself standing in the center of the Medicine Wheel.
To complete the written assignment, include a title page in APA format, a description of the issue you chose to focus on, the Medicine Wheel on a separate age, all of the questions and responses to those questions from your group meeting or your introspection. Conclude with your comments on what you found valuable and challenging as you went through this process, and how you might see yourself using this method in social work practice with a colonized community.
Grading Criteria
Criteria
(1) Medicine Wheel/Questions
Description– Medicine Wheel is clearly designed with appropriate labels, colors, and questions for each direction.
Criteria
(2) Four Directions: Insights/Actions
Description–
-Insights express understanding of conditions of oppression and liberation.
-Actions fit with the goals of the group and with decolonization praxis.
Criteria
(3) Center: Integration of Four Directions
Description–Responses to the three questions are meaningful and integrate insights and actions from the four directions.
Criteria
(4) Process Commentary and Application
Description–Description of introspective process or group process meaningfully captures complexity of the issue and reflects thoughtfully on application of process to colonized communities.
Criteria
(5) Clarity of Writing/APA format
Description–
Title page and body of paper are in APA format.
Presents information using clear and concise language in an organized manner (NO errors in English grammar, spelling, syntax, and punctuation)