Did participants understand the concept of tea being a tool for change?

I think tea is an effective way to bring people together:

66% said absolutely, 34% said yes

“Open, honest communication begins dialogue for social change”

“Tea can help relax people and make them more likely to have a discussion”

Evaluation: All participants demonstrated a basic level of understanding: 66% agreed that tea can bring people together.

Only 20% of people agreed that tea can be a tool for change. In contrast, 80% of people stated that they believe tea can solve arguments, 80% also agreed that tea means better conversation and 100% of people said that tea helps people to open up. This might suggest that participants did not understand the first statement.

Nobody agreed that tea can solve everything which indicates that participants were listening and making up their own mind instead of giving the facilitators the answers they potentially wanted to hear. In the evaluation two participants stated “Open, honest communication begins dialogue for social change”, “Tea can help relax people and make them more likely to have a discussion”. This suggests that most participants had a clear understanding of the concept.

Overall, this data indicates that participants recognise tea can be a tool to make change in the world however they also identify that realistically, there is a limit to the possibilities of tea. We also recognise that some people may not have answered truthfully due to a need to succeed in the game which may suggest that the activity for drawing out this information needs to be changed in future workshops.

Did the workshop create an environment where people were encouraged to discuss social change and link it to themselves, their community and the globe?

On average, 100% of participants agreed that they felt extremely comfortable discussing social change

Participants stated that the following subjects or issues were discussed during the workshop:

• Media’s power, social media, misrepresentation and privacy
• Racism and racial stereotyping
• Charity, poverty, social divides
• Government issues, corruption
• The way in which problems are solved, solutions to problems

83% of participants said that that they were able to apply issues discussed in the workshop to their own lives.

Things that the participants felt as though they could take on board were:

• Tea being a tool for mediation. To solve problems it’s easier to being a fair resolve if things are equal
• The way I feel about certain issues were discussed
• How tea brought family members together to solve a problem
• In the game about statements (see table above)
• Mental health
• Unemployment
• How out of touch the people in power are

Participants were effectively able to discuss topics for social change such as charity, government and racism. Facilitators also created an environment where participants felt comfortable to do so, 100% of participants felt ‘extremely comfortable’ discussing social change.

83% of participants said that that they were able to apply issues discussed in the workshop to their own lives which suggests that we achieved what we set out to do. Contrary to this, the majority of topics volunteered and explored by participants were wider socio-political issues as opposed to deep, personal topics. One person stated “Some aspects such as what I want to change about myself are very personal. It is for those reasons, not the workshop that I would hesitate to discuss personal things.” Whilst is fair to say that people did relate socio-political issues to their own lives during the workshop, in the future, we would strive to encourage participants to connect to their personal and individual perspective. We could adapt the set-up of the workshop by encouraging participants to start from a personal perspective and then relate it to wider social structures later.

Did the workshop enable people to come up with ways in which they can change the world around them?

“Some aspects such as what I want to change about myself are very personal. It is those topics not the workshop that I would hesitate with my reservations.”

83% of participants (5 out of 6) agreed that they were able to leave the workshop with at least one way they could make social change. Those included:

• Become more involved on a local level as a volunteer (research opportunities). Work at my local food bank for example
• Think about the way I act on things
• Research subjects to get a better understanding
• Write to the government regarding media privacy
• Put in more effort
• Be critical of those who make changes
• Be critical of my own behaviour
• A goal: stand up for equality and respect myself and others
• More of an interest in the things that surround us
• To think before acting
• To always offer people a cup of tea as I can see that it means a lot to people

When asked whether or not they were able to offer other people suggestions on how they might achieve their goal for social change participants 4 out of 6 participants said yes. Extra comments:

• Everyone in the group was able to give her own suggestions which helped some people get a better understanding on issues raised
• In vague terms. I made some suggestions about community involvement

5 out of 6 participants agreed that they could leave the workshop with a way to make change in the world. It would appear then, that yes, most participants were able to discuss ways in which they could make change. However, if we refer back to the evaluation above then in future we would still be looking at ways of expanding or deepening their ideas.

Did the workshop promote participants to take action outside of the workshop?

When asked, how realistic would it be for them to carry out their action for social change, participants stated:

• N/A
• Very realistic
• Fairly realistic as I believe that social change is greatly needed
• I could not tell you
• I can vote regarding email privacy
• Very

When asked how likely they would be to carry out the action for social change, participants stated:

• N/A
• Look up more about this issue
• Very likely
• Very likely 7
• Out of 10 I’d say 5
• I expect I will to some extent. The workshop offered a chance for issues to be brought to my consciousness and to be critically thought over.

Most people stated that their goal is realistic and that they are likely to carry it out. Taking the actions into consideration, most are not formatted as an attainable and measurable goal therefore it is difficult for participants to evaluate properly whether or not they will act upon these goals. It is our job, as facilitators, to honour the ideas but to assist in moulding it into an attainable format.

In the future the content of the workshop needs to be constructed in a way that participants leave the workshop with a SMART target. Although we feel as though the conversations around social change were extremely valuable to the participants (many stated that they don’t get to talk about this often), an aim for the project is to see people go out and make a change in the world. Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant/realistic and time-bound targets might make participants more likely to take action.

Further to this we would also like to create a platform whereby participants can document and report their progress.

SIDE NOTE: This question on the evaluation was not constructed in a way that we could effectively collate and measure the data. In future we could add a multiple choice answer.

Did the workshop bring people together and connect different communities through tea?

When asked if they felt a sense of community during the workshop: 3 out of 6 participants answered absolutely, the remaining 3 out of 6 said yes. When asked if participants found a common ground with people during the workshop: 17% said absolutely, 83% said yes.  

In addition to bringing people together, from a facilitators point of view, it was visible within the group that a community atmosphere had begun to manifest itself. To evidence this statement, when asked how comfortable they were to volunteer their own ideas, participants voted 9 out of 10 on average.

I think tea is an effective way to bring people together:  66% said absolutely, 34% said yes

This statement gives a clear indication that using of tea as a tool to bring people together played a significant role in building relationships between participants and creating an overall community atmosphere.

We were aware that within the workshop, the group consisted of people with previous connections to one another. 33% of participants felt like they had connected with someone they didn’t previously know, another 33% answered absolutely and 33% answered maybe/not sure. This indicates that within the workshop, opportunities had been presented in which participants were able to connect with new people. In order to encourage a higher number of participants mixing together, there could be emphasis on working with more than one partner during various exercises.

Statistics show that, while not every participant felt they had connected to someone they previously did not know, the appropriate measures had been put into place to ensure there was an overall sense of community and valued connections had been made.

When relating to the statement: I connected with someone I did know previously, but on a different level: 17% said absolutely, 66% said yes and 17% said Maybe/Not Sure. In order to give a deeper context to this, perhaps participants could be asked to define how they connected to one another, as opposed to answering a yes/no question.

Did the workshop offer activities to encourage participants to develop and/or practise new skills in storytelling and puppetry?

4 out of 6 people recognised they had learnt a new or improved upon an existing skill. However, when asked what skills they enjoyed working upon, 100% of participants were able to give at least one or more response. This indicates that participants initially struggled to offer the skills they had learned or practised. When the question was phrased differently, there was a strong ability to identify what skills the workshop offered.

Participants were asked to circle which skills they particularly liked practising during the workshop:

• Working in team                                                     6 out of 6 people
• Working individually                                              2 out of 6 people
• Puppetry                                                                  5 out of 6 people
• Storytelling                                                               5 out of 6 people
• Discussing social change                                    5 out of 6 people
• Hearing other people’s views                            5 out of 6 people
• Watching a performance                                   5 out of 6 people
• Creating your own scene                                   2 out of 6 people
• Offering advice to people                                  2 out of 6 people
• Problem solving                                          3 out of 6 people

Participants listed the skills they felt they had practised within the workshop, the results being:

• teamwork
• communication (verbal and non-verbal)
• confidence building
• improvisation
• drama
• puppetry / how to be a puppeteer
• storytelling
• tea drinking
• listening / to listen to other people’s opinions
• I have previously forgotten the FOCUS elements of puppetry
• To sit in a room and listen to the views of people I didn’t know and actually listen and engage with unknown people was very refreshing
• To think of what I am saying before I say it

Judging from the participant’s responses, in the future, we will consider that working in a team, puppetry, storytelling, discussing social change, hearing other people’s views and watching a performance were considered to be the most important aspects.

Did the workshop offer arts based activities to communities who otherwise might not have access to the arts?

When asked how often participants take part in arts based activities they stated:

• None at all
• Not often
• Never, because I fail at arts based activities
• Weekly/fortnightly
• Not often
• At least every couple of weeks

Within this question, it should be worded to incorporate a multiple choice answer, in order to properly collate the responses and information.

One out of six people were not sure if they were encouraged to take part in other arts based activities in the future but they would if they were given the chance, four people said yes and one person said no. An interesting outcome was that the percentage of participants who had not previously had access to the arts, agreed in the majority that they were likely to take part in future arts events. 100% of participants, when asked if they wanted future involvement with The Tea Project, replied yes. With one participant commenting “I really enjoyed today. It is not something I would normally go to but it was explained to everyone very well and the girls kept everyone interested all the time.” And another saying “I’ve never taken part in a workshop before, but I would definitely do it again”

In addition to involvement with The Tea Project, participants highlighted further activities they would want to be involved in. these being:

• Rekindled old thought to make and watch socio political theatre
• Possibly acting classes in the future (depending on time restraints, health and finances)
• Continue with spoken word readings
• Continue improving my creative writing and poetry

This data suggests that the workshop to some scale, had ignited participant’s interests in further involvement with the arts. A note for the future could be to incorporate suggested art forms into workshops, signpost participants to similar workshops/appropriate routes of participation at mac.

Notes for development

When asked to create their own responses, participants deemed the workshop suitable for the following:

• People who need mediation e.g. neighbours
• People who want to get a better insight into social issues
• All of the people above because it gives people the chance to get together and discuss things that aren’t normally discussed
• A mixed group of people. ‘Tea can bring people together?’ Let’s do it!
• Young offenders, homeless, refugees
• Many people would benefit from this workshop. Although some adaptions would have to be made if this was for visually impaired people for example

When asked what age range do you think this workshop would be most suitable for, responses were varied:

• all ages
• teenagers and adults
• elderly
• varied age range mixed together
• everyone
• Young people, say 12+, right up to elderly. Although manoeuvring china might be tricky if someone had arthritis or mobility problems

What this data and feedback suggests is that the original concept of the workshops would be considered applicable and relevant to a wide range of community groups. Due to the nature of the project and workshops, and based on the responses of participants, one could draw the conclusion that the workshop would be most effective if it were to focus on bringing together different community groups from diverse backgrounds.

Participants were asked if there were any parts of the workshop they would like to change and why?

• Add a short tea break in the middle of the workshop
• We should have tea when we came into the workshop
• More performance from group leaders
• Adjustments made for those with disabilities if appropriate for that group.

On evaluation, if the workshop running time remains the same then a tea-break would be beneficial. While we may not incorporate the suggestion to have tea upon entering the workshop we may need to focus upon breaking the ice and creating a more comfortable introduction for participants. Performance from group leaders could develop the workshop, although only within the right context in order to maintain the focus on participant empowerment. It is worth pointing out that the workshop would always be formulated in order to accommodate a group of people whether that was a disability, age, etc.

Participants were asked: what aspect of the workshop would you most like to see advanced? They answered:

• Possibly more description on puppetry techniques /puppetry
• Storytelling
• Speed up and quieten down the building of teacups and pots (in the performance). A brilliant idea by the way, something that could grow.
• To see the play go further
• More stories/facts about tea

It would also be useful in future evaluations to ask the question “what additional art forms would you like to see in future workshops?” the responses to this would be useful in shaping future workshops.

These suggestions are something that we can definitely incorporate more into future workshops. In terms of advancing the storytelling aspect as a skill, we could offer more in depth technical ways of storytelling. If participants mean, by storytelling, that they would like more stories to be shared then this is also something we could incorporate. Specifically, we can gather stories through the Story Box we are putting in mac or offer more time in the workshop for participants to share stories over a cup of tea. This might also help us to encourage participants to connect the idea of change to their own personal perspective. Participants said that they would like to advance their puppetry skills, we could do this by firstly advancing our own skills in this discipline. Lyndsay and I are researching workshops that we can attend in puppetry. We could also give them more time to practise sculpting techniques. We could do this by setting up an activity where participants are given pictures of buildings or objects and they are asked to recreate them with the china. This would also give participants more time to work as a team, which is something they particularly liked doing. Any way that we would advance the workshop, will take the participants ideas into consideration whilst also considering the wider aims of the piece.

Facilitation:

Overall, 17% of participants agreed that the workshop felt safe and the remaining 83% said the workshop was very safe. Taking into consideration the fact that they had the option to select unsafe and very unsafe, it is fair to say that the results are positive and act as confirmation that participants were at ease throughout the workshop. Some of the other comments about safety were:

• Was a bit worried about breaking something but I know that can’t be helped
• I did not have to worry about my safety because everything as carried out in the right way
• The space where the tea cups were should have been bigger
• The floor was a bit slippy for people in socks
• Moving cups around may be problematic for anyone with impairments that effect the hands or for those with coordination problems. Some VI people may not be able to see or to draw on the tea cups

All health and safety comments are important and will be taken into consideration. If we were working with a particularly vulnerable group such as young children or people with mobility issues then we would consider using plastic cups. We would, however, try to use china or ceramic were possible due to the artistic and aesthetic benefits. If we are using real pottery people are given a real and authentic experience which might further encourage them to apply the themes and ideas of the workshop to real life – and this is very important to the aims of the piece.

In future, we will reinforce that participants take their socks off or wear appropriate footwear if they are going to be doing anything requires movement or running around. Lyndsay and I need to take other peoples height into consideration in future planning of the circle in workshops.

One participant commented “The only time I felt uncomfortable was when I noticed that I was being filmed on a laptop and due to my visual impairment I couldn’t seem to follow my own movements unless I got very close to the screen. I also felt a bit silly when I forgot my lines”. It is clear that this participant did not understand the purpose of the camera. In future, facilitators will make a conscious effort to introduce the camera to the participants straight away and reassure them of the purpose. Facilitators had planned to do this but did not remember, this is an important reminder that facilitators should be fully prepared and rehearsed when working in the community.

When asked if there was good cohesion between the activities in the workshop17% of participants said absolutely and 83% said yes

When asked if the length of the workshop was suitable, 50% participants answered absolutely, 17% said yes and 43% said Maybe/Not Sure

When asked if length of individual activities were suitable, 17% of participants replied absolutely and 83% said yes

We asked them to leave extra comments about the length of the workshop and/or the activities:

• Have never been to a workshop before so I have no length to go off
• I felt like the length was suitable, in fact time went really fast as we were constantly doing something or talking about something
• Suitable length of time, more time spent talking in the gaps. The workshop stop/started quite often Eg the tea break
• It was a little long but interesting which made time go quickly
• Suitable length. Fun, varied, engaging activities and sociable

In a short further discussion, many participants said that they originally thought the length of the workshop was very long. Feedback suggested that most, if not all, participants agreed that time had passed really quickly. This leads us to conclude that the length of the workshop was suitable in this instance. We can keep the workshop this length if the content remains as strong as this it would be reasonable to allow 3 hours per workshop. However we understand that if the content changes or we are working with a different group of people, in a different setting then we might have to reconsider the length of time.

Final comments:

One person commented that the evaluation form was “kind of long”. The purpose of this workshop was to gather feedback for future improvement so the means in which we did this were always going to be a little bit long and tedious. However this is a fair point and perhaps when we are gathering feedback from test participants, we can include difference approaches that require the participant to have a more practical involvement. For example, we could have done a Value Continuum with a discussion, we could have used visual aids or encouraged them to take part in a group evaluation.  These are ideas that we can take with us in the future.

• An innovative and engaging project with a lot of potential. Well done!
• I really enjoyed today. It is not something I would normally go to but it was explained to everyone very well and the girls kept everyone interested all the time.
• This was a great little production and would like to push the girls to continue with this and I will help out in any way I can
• This was a really good workshop. I enjoyed every part of it. The girls made it fun and comfortable. Everyone was treated with the same respect

Overall, other comments were very positive and encouraging. This was a great exercise to run in order to get some participant feedback!! It seems as though we are on the right track.