Idennis Designs Limited (Trading as Learning to Live Cultural Hub)

Learning to Live Cultural Hub (L2L) seeks to create a safer, more caring, and just world by bringing people together to share knowledge and create sustainable economies. 

We created this online learning space for Caribbean people to better understand themselves in this world. Our programming contains content that deconstructs the "invisible" ideas of domination, while providing a counter narrative that centers Caribbean thought and lived experiences.

More specifically, L2L supports people in the Caribbean and the Diaspora in developing a deeper understanding of themselves and their identity from a historical and cultural perspective. This provides them with a space to think about and practice the work of decolonizing their minds and bodies to be able to lead better, communicate better and overall become better humans operating in a way that supports the development of Caribbean people.

Isabel Dennis is the Director of Learning to Live Cultural Hub (L2L) and is directly involved in all aspects of the business from visioning to strategic
planning, programme development, and evaluation. 

She manages a small team of 6 who support with programme development and delivery, content creation, reporting and monitoring, strategic planning and research. Together, they have developed innovative programmes such as the Caribbean Roots Programme, Spanish for Kids and Homeschooling initiatives. They have also delivered workshops in collaboration with partners
like Sound Culture University and Bikram Yoga Jamaica.

Impact is measured through participant self-reflection and facilitator observations, with ongoing consultation with cultural researchers and historians to ensure alignment with the organization's goals. 

Through Isabel's leadership, the team maintains a commitment to centering Caribbean thought and sharing knowledge from a Caribbean perspective while staying responsive to the evolving needs of their audience. Continuous learning and professional development are central to their approach, ensuring the effectiveness and relevance of their programmes.

Our L2L team operates with a strategic approach aimed at maximizing efficiency and productivity. Each team member is assigned specific deliverables within their expertise, and they are engaged as needed, allowing for agility and quick iteration. This flexible structure enables us to pivot effectively while ensuring comprehensive support across all areas of our business.

Our workflow is closely aligned with our overarching mission of creating content that deconstructs the "invisible" ideas of domination, while providing a counter narrative that centers Caribbean thought and lived experiences. To this end, we are mindful of each team member's workload and cap their workloads at particular points to maintain a healthy balance that promotes sustainable productivity.

We have found that a project-based model allows us to best align what we teach with how we work. Prioritizing quality over quantity ensures that we are intentional with the projects we undertake, carefully considering timelines to allow for comfortable delivery by each team member.

Our team's effectiveness is underscored by our track record of successfully managing multiple competing projects while maintaining high standards of delivery. For instance, we recently organized the logistics of sending a delegation from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago to a conference in Puerto Rico while simultaneously launching two collaborative workshops with Sound Culture University and Bikram Yoga Jamaica and maintaining the smooth operations of our three programmes. Despite the complexity of these endeavors, each project was completed on time and within budget, showcasing our team's ability to execute efficiently even in demanding circumstances.

A 9-week online program for Caribbean teens to examine their cultural identity and practice self-expression through art and culture.

One of the effects that colonization, and more recently, neo-colonization, has had on people in the Global South is that they are highly dependent on foreign knowledge and economies. 

This dependency syndrome, as scholars like Frantz Fanon would call it, has serious implications on the ability of these populations to recognize their individual and collective value embedded in their rich cultural history. 

On a macro scale, this makes it almost impossible for these countries to be sustainable and on a micro scale, it greatly hampers the quality of the lives of the majority.

While many programmes that seek to empower youth in the Caribbean use culture as a medium to do so, they are rarely learner centered, and they use models of domination to guide the learning experience. This approach reduces the potential for fundamental shifts in confidence and skills as the learners are required to rely on the guidance of the facilitators for every aspect of the programme. It also reinforces the practice of depending on foreign knowledge more than local knowledge to guide the way they can live their life.

Caribbean Roots Plus is a 9-week online program designed for pre-teens and teens in the Caribbean and the Diaspora to engage with their cultural identity and express themselves creatively by exploring Caribbean culture, creating digital art pieces and hosting an online exhibition.

With small class sizes of 10 learners and by centering the voices and perspectives of learners, this program encourages self-expression, greater engagement and a deeper understanding and appreciation of Caribbean identity and culture. Learners will enhance their communication skills and connect with their heritage in meaningful ways through the themes of our past, our food, our music, our festivals, and our heroes and sheroes.

By centering their stories and experiences, the program aims to
instill a sense of pride in and a stronger connection to their Caribbean
roots. Additionally, the programme encourages participants to craft
their own narratives and cultural stories within the broader historical
and social context of the Caribbean.

Key benefits of the program include:

• Enhanced communication skills

  • Learners will practice the art of questioning so that they can use it as a tool to navigate the world with curiosity.

• A deeper understanding of their history

  • By enhancing understanding the context behind the stories of our past, learners will be able to appreciate some of the privileges that they have today.

• Greater confidence in themselves

  • By exploring their personal histories and practicing the art of self expression, each learner will have new skills and stories that they can use to navigate the world in confidence.

Caribbean Roots Plus adds digital media and communication component to the Caribbean Roots programme piloted in February 2024. It consists of the following modules, each led by an expert in the field and designed to provide participants with a comprehensive and immersive learning experience:

• Introduction to digital media and communication (3wks)

• Caribbean Identity (1wk)

• Caribbean Sheroes and Heroes (1wk)

• Caribbean Rituals and Festivals (1wk)

• Caribbean Music (1wk)

• Caribbean Food (1wk)

• Digital Art Exhibition (1wk) 

This program is also paired with a public social media campaign aimed at educating and engaging a broader audience beyond the direct participants. These campaigns encourage dialogue around Caribbean culture and identity and inspire individuals across various demographics, fostering greater awareness and appreciation of Caribbean identities and culture.

Formative Research. The Learning to Live project came out of the PhD work of Isabel Dennis who is documenting the principles and practices of teaching and learning systems in cultural practices in Trinidad and Tobago.

This teaching and learning framework was redesigned to be suitable for online learning and has been in use since Feb 2023 on the Learning to Live platform.

The data revealed a framework of 3 principles to teaching and learning that guides the approach used in L2L.

Principle 1

Each learner comes to the space with knowledge and wisdom. Therefore we must recognize that and work with them to expand what they already know.

Principle 2

Each learner is first a human. As such, we must receive their whole being with respect and honour.

Principle 3

Movement and nature are part of our human experience. We must design our learning spaces with these in mind.

Learning to Live Cultural Hub has had a year of piloting different approaches to learning and has found a methodology that seems to be working that is scalable. Embarking on a LEAP project will provide the evidence necessary for us to demonstrate that our approach and programmes deliver what we believe that to deliver based on anecdotal evidence for the last 14 months.

What is the impact of Caribbean Roots on participants?

What is the impact of Caribbean Roots on families?

Desired outputs are as follows:

1. Evidence of the impact of the Caribbean Roots programme

2. 360 Degree perspectives on the impact of the Caribbean Roots programme

By having a deeper understanding of these outputs, L2L would be able to enhance the Caribbean Roots programme to better suit the needs of the target audience.

It is expected that these outcomes will provide the justification for the expansion of Caribbean Roots through strategic alliances and endorsements.