Debrief: Girls' Groups Project - Spring 2010

During the Spring, Assistant Professor Amy-Rutstein Riley organized Lesley's first Service Learning course: Girlhood, Identity, and Girl Culture. The course was designed to combine the theory of Girls' Studies with an experiential learning component. Twenty Lesley undergraduates successfully planned, organized and facilitated two girls' groups for middle school girls from Cambridge.



Group 1, Week 2

Lesley students worked with middle school students in small groups to make media collages. The collages reflected positive vs. negative images that are portrayed about women in the media and was a powerful introduction to media literacy for both Lesley students and the young girls. The girls presented their completed media collages to the larger group.






Group 1, Week 4



At the beginning of our discussion on cliques, the girls were asked to write something mean they have said about someone on a poster. Group members were able to talk about cliques and how it was hurtful to be excluded at school. At the end of the session, the girls ripped up the "mean word" poster to demonstrate progress.







Group 1, Week 4

Skits were created and performed by small groups on the topic of bullying. Scenarios were acted out in front of the larger group on issues like spreading rumors and stereotypes. The skits allowed group members to act as a team toward a common goal and generated discussion about bullying.





Group 1, Week 5



Old shoe boxes, magazine clippings, and glitter were used to create Identity Boxes. The outside of the box was designed to reflect how the girls are perceived on the outside, and the inside of the boxes represented their genuine identities.





Celebration, Week 7


The last meeting was dedicated to celebrating the girls and the work that they had done. The event took place at Alumni Hall and an intimate group from Lesley and Cambridge were invited to attend. The girls' artwork was displayed to form a gallery walk. Both Lesley and middle school girls were asked to speak about their experience. Each girl was presented with a book which had pictures and excepts from the girls'
groups.






By: Marie LaFlamme


Links to Marie's previous project posts:


November 2009:

http://lesleywomenscenter.blogspot.com/2009/11/girlhood-identity-and-girl-culture-new.html


February 2010:

http://lesleywomenscenter.blogspot.com/2010/02/excitement-is-in-air-at-lesley.html


Contact Amy Rutstein-Riley at arutstei@lesley.edu with any questions about this project!