Fostering a Culture of Belonging Workshop
Long Beach City College
Long Beach, CA
For my practicum project, I designed a belonging workshop for Long Beach City College (LBCC) to support a more inclusive and connected campus environment. The workshop is structured around four key modules and includes two interactive activities to encourage engagement and reflection. Participants will also complete a pre- and post-evaluation to assess learning outcomes and the overall impact of the workshop. Below is the final report and a trainer's manual, which provides detailed guidance on how to deliver the workshop effectively.
Background
Long Beach City College (LBCC) is a public community college in Long Beach, California, serving about 500 employees and 38,696 students. It operates two campuses, the Liberal Arts Campus (LAC) and the Trades Technology and Community Learning Campus (TTC), offering academic and career programs. LBCC specializes in career technical education, transfer programs, and workforce development. Its mission is to promote equitable learning and achievement through innovative programs, holistic support services, and workforce preparation. Committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and excellence, LBCC ensures all students have access to the resources they need to succeed.
Training Objectives
01
Define belongingness by examining its emotional and psychological significance in the workplace and its impact on well-being.
02
Cultivate psychological safety by fostering a supportive environment where employees share concerns, ask questions, and offer ideas without fear.
03
Foster inclusive behaviors by providing strategies to ensure all employees, regardless of background or identity, feel valued, respected, and included.
04
Mitigate employee burnout burnout and build a sustainable culture of belonging by leveraging effective recognition strategies and cultivating a workplace that prioritizes well-being, inclusion, and engagement.
Workshop Modules
Module 1: belonging in the workplace
This module covers the different meanings of belonging, its psychological foundations, the effects of lacking belonging, and ways to foster it in the workplace.
MODULE 2: PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
This module defines psychological safety and provides practical tools for implementing it in the workplace and includes activity #1.
module 3: PROMOTING INCLUSIVITY
This module defines inclusivity, explains how to recognize and address bias and racial stress to foster belonging, introduces tools to interrupt bias and promote inclusion, and includes activity #2.
module 4:Reducing Burnout and Fostering Belonging at LBCC
This module explains burnout, discusses how to build a culture of recognition, highlights how LBCC fosters belonging, and outlines next steps to further strengthen belonging at the college.
Active Learning Strategies
In the workshop, I incorporated several active learning strategies to promote engagement and participation, including an icebreaker, two activities, and utilizing Poll Everywhere.
Activity #1: Practicing Psychological Safety
This icebreaker encourages participants to share personal facts and connect their experiences to a sense of belonging at work, fostering connection and inclusivity.
Icebreaker
This activity has participants work in small groups to discuss scenarios and practice creating a more inclusive and psychologically safe environment.
Activity #2:
History Gallery Walk
Poll Everywhere
This activity invites participants to reflect on historical events, share personal insights, and connect past issues to present-day challenges through a gallery walk and discussion.
Poll Everywhere will be used to ask participants a question and collect real-time responses.
Evaluation
Pre-Test Qualtrics Survey
Before the workshop begins, participants will complete a pre-test survey by scanning a QR code that links to a Qualtrics survey. They will have seven minutes to respond to questions that are measuring belonging, recognition, psychological safety, inclusivity, and burnout in the workplace.
Post-Test Qualtrics Survey
At the end of the workshop, participants will use the same QR code to complete the survey again as a post-test to assess any changes in their perceptions of belonging, recognition, inclusivity, psychological safety, and burnout. They will have another seven minutes to complete it.
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Expected Outcomes
Reflection
What I Learned:
Through this practicum project, I gained valuable experience in designing a workshop from start to finish. I strengthened my research skills by conducting a literature review on belonging and best practices for fostering inclusion. I improved my ability to create engaging content by developing a comprehensive slide deck, interactive activities, and evaluation tools. This project deepened my passion for DEIA initiatives and reinforced my commitment to promoting inclusive workplace cultures. It also enhanced my understanding of how to design impactful learning experiences. Overall, it shaped my desire to continue making a positive impact in the field of DEIA.
Future Considerations:
For future workshops, I plan to narrow the literature review earlier to stay focused and better align the content with training goals. I also want to involve more stakeholders, like managers and staff, to gain diverse input and make the material more relevant. Building in time to pilot the workshop and gather structured feedback will help improve flow and engagement. Additionally, using pre- and post-surveys through Qualtrics can measure impact and guide future improvements. These steps will help create more focused, inclusive, and effective training experiences. These steps will also strengthen my design and evaluation skills, preparing me to lead future OD initiatives with more confidence.