Module 1: Welcome and include participants
You can help participants feel comfortable and lay the groundwork for building social relationships.
Reflection:
What strategies do you use most often when welcoming participants?
Getting started:
A transcript of the video can also be found in the below text.
Supporting participants in feeling welcomed and included is especially critical when they are first joining an activity. Strategies to create a welcoming and inclusive experience include:
- Introduce yourself- share your pronouns, title/role/affiliations as applicable. You may also want to share a short personal anecdote or fact about yourself!
- Welcome and initiate conversations with new participants.
- Orient participants to the experience so they feel comfortable and included. Tell them about the overall structure, format, and goals of the class; the types of exercise that will be included; the space; the equipment; and introduce them to staff and other participants.
- Share tips for enhancing participation and how to perform the activity.
- Learn and repeatedly use participants’ names. At the time of registration or at the beginning of a program, invite participants to share their pronouns if they wish.
- Assist participants individually as you are moving around the space during instruction.
- When instructing online:
- Come close to the camera when speaking with participants, have your screen appear largest (e.g., spotlight yourself)
- Strive for a clear camera angle where you and the equipment (if relevant) are fully visible. Consider demonstrating movements from multiple angles.
- When instructing hybrid:
- When possible, provide demonstrations and instructions clearly to both online and in person participants. It may be necessary to provide information in multiple ways to clearly communicate to both audiences.
- Communicate and model group expectations. You can also communicate boundaries if socializing becomes distracting, so participants know what to expect (e.g., “During the cool-down, please be mindful of the volume of conversations. If it becomes difficult for others to hear instructions, I may need to ask for quieter voices.”).
Adding On:
A transcript of the video can also be found in the below text.
Providing opportunities for participants to interact with you and with others can further foster inclusion:
- Welcome and greet participants as they enter the room (and/or online room). Use participants’ names if you know them.
- If appropriate, check in with them about their day and how they are doing.
- Ask participants about themselves. For example, “Who has pets? What hobbies do you enjoy?”
- Use nonverbal gestures (such as high fives) to foster connection.
- Integrate activities to help participants learn each other’s names. These could include activities where participants use each other’s names such as cheering on their partner.
- Invite newer participants into conversations and activities. Online, acknowledge participants even if their camera is off, so they feel included in the activity or discussion. Encourage these participants to utilize the reactions and chat function to communicate.
- Check in and follow up about things participants have shared with you about their lives to develop relationships.
- Be authentic, and share about yourself (personal experiences, stories, or reflections).It is important to have boundaries and only share what is appropriate in your role and what you are comfortable with, but sharing a bit about yourself helps participants see you as a whole person, and encourages them to share and be open as well.
- Include group or partner activities to help participants get to know one another. Activities could include group or partner exercises if those are relevant in your activity, having groups work towards a collective goal, incorporating ways for partners or groups to encourage each other during breaks in the activity, and incorporating activities like partner stretches into cool-downs.
- Be mindful about participants’ relative abilities: sometimes it may be helpful to work with someone at a similar skill level, and at other times it may work well to partner people with different ability levels to foster learning and provide support.
- It is helpful to prepare an individualized option of partner activities for those who do not prefer partner activities.
- Make yourself available to address concerns or questions (e.g., in person: circulate among participants; online: invite participants to ask questions or request a modification via private chat; for hybrid instruction make yourself available for both groups of participants. This could involve staying before or after to chat with participants).
- Be clear about when participants should contact you. For example, tell participants “I am available to talk 15 minutes before and after class. That is a good time to let me know if you have any individual considerations I should know about, or to ask any questions you may have.”
- Work to ensure all participants receive individual attention if needed (without singling people out), if feasible for the size of the group. Give extra, personalized attention to participants who are less experienced, confident, or comfortable, or who have shared individualized needs. Offer movement options that allow participants of all abilities and skills levels to do the exercises safely and correctly and feel included (see Model Physical Activity and Encourage for further details).
BUILDING TRUST
Building trust with and among participants can foster inclusion and comfort. You can build a trusting relationship over time in a variety of ways:
- Share information about your certifications, expertise, and experience. This can foster a sense of safety and is particularly important when working with populations who have specific needs (e.g., an injury; specific chronic conditions, etc.). For example, you might say, “You are in good hands today! I have over 15 years of experience instructing this class!”
- Taking part in the activities yourself, alongside participants, can build trust and camaraderie, in activities where that is feasible and does not compromise the quality of instruction.
- Use language that is accessible and clear (e.g., avoid jargon or activity-specific language that participants may be unfamiliar with).
- Ask participants how they are doing throughout the experience.
- Communicate that you understand how to adapt physical activity to the needs of the population or participant(s) you are working with. (e.g., “If this movement causes any pain, especially to anyone who manages back pain, call me over and I’ve got a modification ready for you”)
- Listen to, demonstrate you understand, and be responsive to participants’ needs and concerns related to physical activity.
- Be mindful of your language and actions to promote inclusion and avoid stereotypes (e.g., avoid referring to participants as patients; avoid using gendered language or drawing attention to individuals who are the minority within the room; avoid microaggressions (phrases or behaviors which subtly, indirectly, or unintentionally discriminate against a group of people) related to ability, race, gender, social class, body shape/size/weight, etc.).
- Do not comment on appearance, clothing, or body size of participants, or suggest motives to be active to change one’s appearance or body.
- Challenge participants’ negative self-talk. For example, if a participant enters stating that “I’ve got two left feet, this is going to be rough” you could offer an alternate statement such “I don’t know many dance moves, but I’m going to work with what I’ve got!”
- Consider elements of the activity and the context that may be triggering or uncomfortable (e.g., lights off, use of touch, flashing lights, sudden loud noises). Offer discrete ways for participants to signal their needs and preferences (e.g., “If you do not want hands on corrections today, let me know by placing your water bottle by the top left corner of your yoga mat.”
- Reflect on your own privilege (i.e., unearned power and advantages available only to members of certain groups of individuals due to systemic societal biases based on characteristics such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, ability, sexual orientation, etc.), and comfort in physical activity spaces and acknowledge that this may differ from participants’ experiences.
- Practice cultural humility. Engage in self-reflection about how you can listen to, learn from, respect, and develop understanding of people who have different lived experiences from your own.
MANAGING DISRUPTIVE OR UNSUPPORTIVE BEHAVIOUR
Sometimes situations arise where participants are acting in a way that is disruptive, exclusionary, or there is conflict or a difference of opinions between participants. Such occurrences can prevent or disrupt opportunities for social support to develop. Managing or helping participants through these situations can be challenging, but below are some practices to consider that may help maintain or repair a supportive, inclusive environment.
- Strive to establish clear guidelines and expectations for participants to help prevent conflicts. For example, there can be many different expectations about how much socializing during a session is okay. Clarifying this within the contexts you are instructing can help prevent problems from arising.
- If problems do arise, it is important to not ignore it, and instead address it professionally, directly, and with compassion. For example, reminding participants of expectations may support finding a solution, and reinforces that you care about maintaining the expectations that were set out.
- Whenever possible, address conflicts or issues in a private discussion, or another discrete format where the individual(s) are not called out or embarrassed.
- Approach challenging situations with compassion and the understanding that there may be more context to the situation or the person’s circumstances that is informing the problem.
Learning Activity: Establish an inclusive physical activity environment
A transcript of the video can also be found in the below text.
The language you use, and your verbal behaviours and body language are important to help people feel welcome. This activity introduces three kinds of inclusive communication and asks you to think about how they can be applied in your work.
Part 1: Inclusive language
- Use person-first language. For example, refer to “a person living with diabetes”, as opposed to “a diabetic”. Literally referring to the person before their health condition emphasizes people’s inherent humanity rather than identifying them in terms of their condition. Using person-first language is a best practice when referring to a group of people or if you are unsure how an individual likes to be named or identified. However, people have different preferences about the terms used to refer to them, and some people prefer terms other than person-first language. If someone has mentioned their preferred way for you to refer to them, always follow their lead.
- Ask participants how they prefer to be addressed (e.g., first name basis).
- When using technical exercise jargon, follow up with a non-technical explanation so people do not feel like they are lacking knowledge if they do not understand the jargon (for example, describing that this movement is stretching our hamstring, the muscles that are along the back of thigh).
- Ask open-ended questions to allow participants to answer from their point of view and in their own words. Open-ended questions help avoid imposing our assumptions and biases on other people. For example, ask how they feel instead of saying “Don’t you feel great?”.
- Avoid teasing or commenting on people’s clothes, culture, age, sex, body shape or size, or physical activity beliefs. Such comments are often embedded in our language and culture; however, this language may unintentionally cause harm and/or perpetuate stereotypes. Being mindful of such statements and avoiding them altogether goes a long way to promoting inclusion.
Think about an example from your own experience, or one you have seen, where inclusive language was not used. How would you change what you heard to be more inclusive?
Part 2: Verbal behaviours
- Avoid using a tone of voice that conveys talking down to or patronizing participants. For example, avoid using a higher pitched tone (e.g., “baby talk”) when addressing participants, and use names instead of terms of endearment (e.g., “sweetie”).
- To help all participants hear you, you may need to increase your speech volume slightly or speak a bit more slowly than normal to present information as clearly as possible. But avoid increasing your volume and decreasing pace too much so that your communication does not come across as patronizing.
- If you are not sure if you understand what a participant is saying, ask questions or paraphrase to clarify meaning and demonstrate you are listening and want to understand.
Which verbal behaviours would be useful to integrate in the context that you work in?
Part 3: Body language
To ensure your body language is giving cues of openness and inclusion:
- Avoid or limit crossing your arms when talking to people.
- Make eye contact, but avoid staring.
- Face participants when you speak to them, with your lips visible. This may be particularly helpful for people who have difficulty hearing.
- Refrain from looking impatient (e.g., frequently glancing at your watch).
- Be aware of what you communicate through your facial expressions.
What is one element of body language listed above that you do consistently and one you would like to strengthen?:
Summary:
Supporting participants to feel welcomed and included in the physical activity context is important when participants are new to the experience, and on an ongoing basis. Create opportunities and initiate social interactions with and among participants and strive to establish trust. An inclusive atmosphere can help participants feel more comfortable to try new things, push themselves, progress in the activity, and create a foundation for providing other types of social support.
Making it your own:
What feeling do you want participants to have when entering the physical activity space? What will you do to foster that feeling?
