KIC S4E1 "Beyond Borders: Global Perspectives on Inclusive Practices" Featuring: Suzanne Gregoire, Makbule Kalyon, and Sebnem Cirit

The podcast conversation between Toby Karten and guests Suzanne Gregoire, Director, VP-Global Children’s Art Programme, Faculty member of the Kaufman Music Center in New York City, Makbule Kalyon, Project Director for I Am Here/Ben Buradayim, and Sebnem Cirit, International Communications Director for I Am Here, centers on inclusive education practices and the global perspectives needed to support all learners effectively. Key themes include the importance of embracing student diversity, fostering collaboration among educators, and designing instruction that meets varied learning needs. Additionally, the conversation highlights the power of empathy, flexibility, and shared responsibility in creating inclusive learning environments that honor every student’s potential.

For more information:

Global Children’s Art Programme

https://glocap.org/ 

https://www.instagram.com/glocaporg/?igsh=ZGViZndrbXo0djJn&utm_source=qr# 

GloCAP 2024 Recap video

Section on Türkiye I Am Here!/ Ben Buradayim! begins at 2:40:

https://youtu.be/Bbq4wBUz56w?feature=shared

#TobyKarten #Karten’sInclusionConversations #KIC #Inclusion #SuzanneGregoire #GloCAP #MakbuleKalyon #IAmHere #SebnemCirit #EquityInEducation #UDL #EducationForAll #GlobalEd #CulturallyResponsiveTeaching #InclusiveSchools #EmpoweredEducators #TeacherTalk #EdChat #SpecialEducation #LearningForAll #CollaborationInEducation #KICPodcast #TeachIncludeInspire #VoicesForInclusion #GlobalInclusionVoices #InclusionMattersPodcast

For more information please visit https://inclusionworkshops.com/

Transcript

0:00

Hi, everybody. Welcome to KIC podcast. And today I have the honor of speaking with Suzanne Gregoire, Makbuli Kalyon, and Sebnem Cirit. And all three of these wonderful people are affiliated with GloCAP. And GloCAP stands for a global children's art program. And just to give you a little bit of a background, and some of them can see the background I'm using, and that one has all of the beautiful art projects that came about across the world. And ladies, I'm holding up something right now that I think you might be familiar with, which comes from another person who I was told is in the room, although he physically is not on the screen with us right now. And his name is Tim Lomas. Tim had started GLOCAP along with Cultural Exchange. And he did the cover for one of my books, Inclusion Strategies and Interventions. I fortunately, about 10 minutes ago, I found this letter Tim had sent me back in 2021. And the reason Tim isn't speaking to us right now is unfortunately, he passed in 2023. Shebim wisely pointed out that he is still here with us. And he did a lot of work. And he chose for that particular cover for one of my books, I asked him for permission, a garden motif. And this was created by marginalized students throughout Turkey, students who have been through so much trauma, students who are able to express themselves through the art, be that through floral art, be that through Mandala's, be that through Suzanne with the dance that she does and the movement and all of the expressions. And it's such a wonderful time. And it's kind of like a signature of hope and things that you have there. There were a lot of birds and Tim explained to me the birds. They carry news between the living and the dead and giving students something to feel good about themselves when the world around them is at times devastating through natural disasters and other things that have happened. So these three ladies are carrying on with Tim's tradition and they'll tell us more. But welcome all three of you to this wonderful time to share what you do as an inspiration to others. So welcome, ladies, everyone. Shebim is going to be translating for Macbouly, who speaks Turkish and can better understand it. So there might be some pausing in our translation. And I'm going to pause for a moment and let Shebim translate what I just said to Macbouly. Suzanne, Gregoire, our journey kind of began with you. So maybe you want to start us off with telling a little bit about Glow Cap and some of the things that you think the audience would be important to know about and maybe some events going on in Turkey and all over the world that have influenced the program. So I got involved with the program actually through Tim. We were together at a school and he asked me to join in 2018 because he was interested in incorporating dance. He was a visual artist and he wanted to incorporate dance into these workshops. And what Glow Cap is, we organize workshops in collaboration with other organizations internationally with children in underserved areas around the world. And many of them have experienced trauma. Many of them are, they might have certain differences, shall we say. And we, the whole philosophy that we have is inclusion and also cultural exchange and through the process of art and dance and creating these workshops together that promotes greater understanding of each other. And so the past year we've worked in three countries, all together Glow Cap that was founded in 2008 has worked in eight different countries. Last year we worked in Thailand with a foundation that we've been involved with for 14 years. And then we also did a project in Chad. There's a small village in Chad called Kindiri and the children there worked, created paintings for the first time. And then why we are mainly here today is we did a project in collaboration with our partners in Turkey called I Am Here or the translation being Ben Buradayem. And that happened in Hatay, which was one of the places that was hit very, very badly by the earthquake in 2023. And we worked there. We created a dance and a performance as well as an exhibit. And I collaborated with an artist by the name of Shaika Shalar. And in addition to doing a performance with about 180 to 200 children, they reached, the I Am Here program reached thousands more in the area. And so that's a little background about what happened in Turkey. Thank you. Thank you so much, Suzanne. Matulub, maybe she could speak a little bit about what I Am Here means to you, not only in the past, but today and for the children and some of the benefits you have seen in the program for kids and where you'd like it to go maybe as well. Actually, we and team met on 2010. And I think it is the first seeds of this project that I Am Here and so on. And we were just collaborating at that time by team and by Glocap and Magpule and everyone. We collaborate with US Embassy in Ankara. So there's one lady who were also collaborating with us goes there from the cultural department. And they came with an idea that we can make a project. So while we get together and making all the brainstorming and everything, we see that we have the same issues, the same thoughts about the children or same thought about the future, let's say. We were all together in one brain, let's say. So team was also encouraged us to do something like this because we were looking from the same perspective. We have the same world perspective from each other and so on. So we decided to, we started to make that kind of projects. First one goes, they met with Magpule for this project. They were planning to make this disadvantages children who have the less opportunity to have that kind of workshops or trainings throughout the country, for example. So and Magpule is working as a social responsible project through her years while she was working. So she's so eager to do this kind of project. So goes the match team with Magpule and they decided to make that project. In the, in this project, I think I found my soulmate as well. She's saying, because the roadmap is the same, the perspective is the same, everything is the same. So she collected a team that who are mostly amateur, but working as a professionals. And they decided that I am here is the exact soul of this project because all of us is amateurs, but we are making our works and let's say our souls are so professional for working, let's say. Thank you so much. And just that title, I am here speaks so much. Everyone counts, but everyone has different ways of expressing. And the fact that you are all collaborating to make this happen, to marginalize kids who have been through so much trauma through no choice of their own. And you're trying to make their part of the world happy one, or one that allows them and to do something that you both write this and on your website, you have this a lot and any one or three of you could all speak to this. I think we need to appreciate more the arts. Unfortunately, I know in the United States, sometimes when the funding is less in monies, the arts are cut. There's no time for creating artwork with murals or dance or music. We need to scale back on those things. Whereas art, you say this so much, it offers healing. So would any of you three like to speak about, or all of you, how this is achieved healing through the arts, what you have seen in Turkey, what you've seen in other settings, and just how you would love for the arts to be front and center. I'm assuming you do. Literacy is important. Mathematics is important, but the arts are a way to achieve all of those too. I want to say about this thing as well, and I will give Susanne and Makbouleh the stage. First, I will translate to Makbouleh, then I will talk from my perspective. First, from my perspective, and she wanted to add something, Makbouleh want to add something. From my perspective, as you say, I am here has a really deep meaning, and also it is so inclusive in that part. For example, in our project, in every project, we not only hatay, the past project also show us that everything, as you say, it's not only mathematics or social sciences and so on, but if you have the people who has a problem communicating with words, or they are so shy to talk, or they don't want to talk, they have so deep, let's say, they have much more deeper words that they cannot use while they are sharing their feelings or thoughts or hate or another. We have too many examples while we were working together with Susanne and Makbouleh during hatay, but art have that kind of universal and also it's word-free. I'm always saying that it's word-free communication system. You can tell everything by one lyric or with only one, with one instrument even you can tell your feeling, even your hate, or one in your backdrop, one children is just throwing a tree, maybe it's a hopeful tree or it's really traumatic maybe for her as well. We don't know, but it is the only meaning and only the only tool that they can share their thoughts, emotions without any words. Because of that reason, art is much more important than the other lectures, let's say, so it has to be much more appreciated, much more important and it has to be the star of the lectures in the schools, in my opinion, in my perspective. You're preaching to the choir, yes, I agree. Suzanne would like to add something before Susanne. The main meaning of I am here in our side, she's saying that, actually we are not saying to the people who we are reaching, that we are here. We are just making a platform or making a surrounding to them to be heard or to say that you are here, this is your moment, this is your area and in Hatay we were also telling them that it is yours, you are here, we are just your companion while you were making this journey. So we are giving the opportunity to them, all the traumas, all the people who we were working before, that this is your moment, this is your area, so you are here and we are your companion during your journey. She would like to add that. Mapuli and Shanine, that's wonderful. Even though, Shanine, you said that it has no words, you're giving the children a voice, a voice with their hands, with their feet, with their minds. And also one of the projects is your book cover, so it is, we give you a material and you give also another voice to them. Yes and to be appreciated and it's a question of there isn't one language in the world and thank you for putting that up on the stage that we all have voices that need to be heard even though sometimes environmental circumstances like the natural disasters that they have gone through there and a lot of these children have experienced trauma in their short lives but bringing joy to their world is just a wonderful thing that you and your organization is doing and I just hope you just continue in the future and multiply and grow the way you have since I think you said its inception was 2008, is that correct? Yeah, we are hoping so, yeah. I love it and my friend Suzanne, what would you like to add to this art? I would just reiterate everything that you've all said about the fact that it's a universal language and that in an art workshop through movement or through art, everyone can participate in some way so it brings people together and also brings, as you said, it brings joy but it's also we experienced in Pattaya, there were also many children because of their trauma and their situation of living in these tiny, they're all living in container villages, they've lost their homes, the many members of the family in a very small space and so we could see a lot of frustration and at first sometimes an unwillingness but in the creative process and working together, I certainly saw a big change in their feeling at the end of it that they had accomplished something and it brought the community together and also as someone who doesn't speak the language, you know, speaking of universal language, of course it was wonderful to have Shebnem's help but we established a communication without language, just in the process of learning this dance and working in the visual arts with with Shaika. I think that's important that this whole process doing an art workshop, it brings joy and it also helps children express their trauma with a, we hope, a positive ending and there are two other things I wanted to say just about the fact that it's a universal language and cultural exchange is that when I did a very similar project after I left Pattaya, I went to Thailand and I showed the children there completely different circumstances, completely different backgrounds, I showed them much of what I had done and what we had done as a community with the children in Pattaya and they learned so much just from seeing that and so right there there was a bridge that was formed even though they had never met and then the last thing that comes to my mind is I remember one day I went with the group to a school and Shaika was leading a workshop there, children were drawing and there was a little boy there who was drawing a building and I asked him, I think I'm not sure exactly what Shaika had asked them, I think she was asking them about their wishes and what they wanted to do in the future and so I asked him, you know, what is it that you want to do and so he was able to to put it in visual form. He said I want to be an engineer so that if ever there is a disaster like we had with the earthquake, I will be able to build safe buildings so that was very moving to me. Well, that's why we in education choose what we do because we make a difference in our next generation and we've brushed over this word but this podcast is called Cartons Inclusion Conversations and we are having a conversation about including the arts in a way that it's so inspirational. I mean, I could put the word inspiration in a circle in the middle at the core and from there I could have a radius coming out through the movement, through the art, through the visuals, maybe some students like you said cannot verbalize it, not because there's a language barrier but because it's too much trauma and, you know, art is a way of expression. We know that art is a form of therapy and I'm using that word art very broadly in terms of allowing students to move, to think on paper, to think with their voice in a song, to express themselves in ways that aren't maybe conventional in terms of like you said that lecture format of a classroom but throughout the world what you've said and Suzanne, thank you so much for sharing these stories to make it 3D and the bridge is created not only within the country but across countries and that goes and speaks of the name of Glowcap and having everyone else on the page to say yes, maybe a lot of things happened that we couldn't control but here's resilience, here's what we can control, here's moving forward in a positive way down a path together and from what I'm hearing and just from this podcast there's a huge theme that we cannot ignore here and that's the word collaboration. So none of this would have been possible with first my connection to you Suzanne and through Tim and now through all of us across the world, all of us are here collaborating but behind the scenes each one of you mentioned several other people who were doing all this so to speak about these three nouns whichever one you want to address, collaboration, planning, and preparation, any recommendations with those three nouns? So I would say for planning there's a lot that we can plan based on what we've learned. So for instance looking in the future for these projects to continue, we learned so much in this last workshop and in 2024 right? Yes. Now Suzanne there is no workshop scheduled for 2025 due to a few factors of funding being a major one as well with grants? Yeah so we were ready to do the project again but because of our administration unfortunately all federal aid was cut and so now we are reaching out for other sources and we are determined to continue but it might take a little bit longer. Well that goes in the preparation and the planning and even though I think it's not physically happening this year in Turkey or other countries, I think it's happening in different locations. I mean you've been on so many different sites, art workshops, in schools, daycare centers, different places throughout the region. I mean just some of the pictures I saw on your website are so inspirational and the children's faces and the adults faces say it all as well. I think the planning will form itself from what we've learned and you know where do we go from here. We were talking about some of the ideas they're not really formed yet. There are a lot of children of course in the region who lost limbs as a result of the earthquake and there's an organization in the states of Turkish Americans who are interested in perhaps collaborating with us and helping us raise funds so that we might as I said it's not we haven't really discussed it yet but we might do something a workshop involving those children that would give them the possibility of creating art and making dances together and perhaps including other children who have not lost limbs but that is all that's sort of just to speak to as we did this workshop in Hatay what we all agreed on at the end of it was it was just a beginning. These children really in order for them to to grow they need to feel a connection and for us to just go there for three weeks it's it's a wonderful but that that needs to continue so that's what I would say in terms of planning and then also I would love for collaboration to continue between cultures between countries perhaps whatever project we decide to do in Turkey we would do in other places GLOCAP would do in other places. Thank you and I think you've reaffirmed that we learn not only about other cultures we learn from other cultures as an exchange you know thank you. Touch those three words planning collaboration preparation or if you have one of your own you're more than welcome. She would like to add something to Suzanne said about the fundings and the grants she want to add make a collaboration for for that sentence as well she is mentioning about the the grants and everything while you are making these kind of projects or these kind of thoughts let's say it is hard to make it alone but with the collaboration but with the these kind of fundings it's getting bigger and grower and it could much more spread away all the countries or the cultures and everything and she was just mentioning like in 2017 2019 and 2024 we were collaborating and we were at the list of the fundings of the US embassy for these three years we were just collaborating with them and we were one of the grant takers in that list and we make these projects throughout these fundings and everything and we reach she was just saying four thousand disadvantaged children with these fundings and with this grant program we reach four thousand individuals let's say who have the traumas and the disabilities and everything throughout these years so it's much more important to make it as a collaboration that kind of fundings and grants we see that and it is we can also do something with all ourselves as an individual way but with the collaboration and with the crowd you can make much bigger and much influenced movements let's say together so collaboration is exactly is power and it's not to feel lonely for for us i can say that she said she's saying planning and for preparation she's saying that i would like to take it in one sentence both of them not separate words she is saying that we are just working in a different places different time zones or different countries we are trying to work together we are trying to make our dreams come true or we are trying to make others dreams come true so planning and preparation is a two different words in the same box so so it is the main part that to give the voice of our dreams first of all make it happen and collaborate with all these minds together in one box so with this box we can share everything share our dreams and take all the dreams and carry it to the future she's saying thank you teshakur edwin yeah exactly oh thank you for my little google trust yeah yeah and for me i can also take it all of them together so planning collaboration and preparation they're just like the same companions traveling in the same same like same bus they're like three companions but collaboration is the head in my open in my opinion so without any collaboration and communication i can add one word as well for you toby yes i love that collaboration go for it what's yeah yeah i can add communication as well to this because you were yeah yeah yes yes and also with this collaboration even we don't have we are making this kind of project as a volunteers we are not expecting anything we are just it's it comes from the heart and we are just trying to give our heart to the others our dreams even we have the dreams we are sharing our dreams with the others so with this collaboration while we were planning this we are taking all of our dreams onto the table and we are just starting to prepare our dreams how to make like a format system how we can do what is this why we are making this like a format system and who are going to be who the children the the individuals who are not even who didn't even met with the arts for for a whole their life for example even they didn't have any crayons for example for a whole life so it is planning collaboration and preparation exactly we are preparing collaborating and planning our dreams and we are just taking others dreams to our boxes and we are just mixing it together so it's not only the project team collaboration it is the collaboration of the teacher that we are working together during the project it is the director of the community for example we are working for example in a hot tie so every people who works with us is the part of the project team not only us we have a huge family while we were working together i can say yeah thank you that is so obvious by seeing the work that you have done there and i think collaboration is a good way to end this podcast and this kick conversation and the program that you do is all about cultural dialogue and inclusion through visual and performing art the i am here program every child counts yes they might have exceptionalities they might not have use of their limbs susan as you pointed out the same way as someone else cover that tim gave me for usage in my book was made by students with intellectual differences but they express themselves through the art and i thank you so much for collaborating with us in the kick podcast and i wish all of you with glow cap and i know that we'll continue this collaboration because you're coming back on because i want to hear about what's going to be happening in 2026 is that okay ladies if i can just add one more thing absolutely susan also just to sort of bring it back to tim lomas which is he always said and i i find it very inspiring and everything that i do is that we continue to plant seeds and the seeds grow and there is always renewal so that is part of to me that's very essential to what we do yeah and i would like to add as well tim gave us a really huge torch to carry on with a big flame i'm always telling that and in every project or even in every talking that we are each we are making each other we are just mentioning yeah it's all because of tim we are always saying like that it's all because of we are get together he is the biggest collaborator he took us together first he met with mac bullet then i come to the group then susan came into the group and it's still growing and you also are most biggest collaborator toby you are the part of the team as well in our perspective yeah so it grows and grows and in every project we we are growing our family i can say mac would say like i'm all agree with everything that you all said she's saying and also not only for 2026 we are still planning for 2025 even we are talking about with talking with susan how we can make new things or how we can touch other places that we didn't even plan before maybe we can go somewhere else we can make another project so it's all about the foundings and all about the let's say supporting system let's say for for this but we are not stopping we are still working even we don't have exact date for the project we are still working on it and also with the power that we got from tim we are still having these seeds to spread to the other places that even we didn't touch so we are not stopping we are still continue to create new things she is saying she would like to mention shahika our art therapist in the project and also the art director she's still working on i'm here project that we made on 2012 2024 and she's now running a campaign in netherland for a mother child support home let's say it's a home it's a kind of supporting system supporting home for mothers and the children and she is making a campaign with the arts that we made in hatai she carry all the art documents and all the paintings and everything to netherland and she is just trying to raise funding with these art projects and everything so it's it's still going on so it it's good to be mentioned that shahika is carrying these this project to nether to another country let's say they know the project they know the children who made these art projects in hatai right now and glocap and susan also make support to this funding from us to netherland they are also still with us so it's a good collaboration it's a good and it's never gonna die we are just we can say it's it's sustainable supporting system we have she's saying absolutely i got that feeling from the first time i spoke to tim lomas that this was going to be going on and you propagate the seeds and and you're spreading them out across the world and i thank you all so much for all that you do all that you continue to do and for being such an inspiration to people who say how do we include kids but you're including kids in ways that they could succeed and thank you through the visual arts and through the movement and through all of your collaboration planning and preparation with glocap i am here will continue i have no doubt about that to secure a dream we thank you as well thank you thank you so much they shake your lash and he can feel the stares and hear the words unspoken not so unaware of a world that thinks he's broken and who never even knew the kid with the different point of view so no they never really knew the kid with the different point of view copyright 2025 Karten's inclusion conversations thank you for listening check out other episodes on all major platforms