Learning goals for midcareer seminar and learning community:
Developing a community of practice which fosters peer learning and support as well as learning and intellectual stimulation from reading, instructors and guest speakers, etc.
Helping midcareer organizers become lifelong learners so they continually strengthen their skills, knowledge, and success
Developing their practical skills as organizers, change leaders, and managers
Helping them move their critical thinking and strategic skills to the next level
Increasing their understanding of themselves and their identity as change agents
Reinvigorating their sense of vocation and long-term commitment to careers in community and social change
Increasing their sophistication about the economic, social, political and philanthropic context in which they work and the future trends which will influence their work
Strenthening their management and leadership skills to enhance their upward mobility
Strengthening their vision for the future
Throughout the program we would stress the following values and disciplines:
Being solidly rooted in their community and accountable to collective decision-making
Aiming at increasing the vitality of democracy and participation in our society and achieving greater social justice through organizing, coalition-building and movement-building
Strengthening their capacity to reflect on and learn from their experience and from others, developing skills in “reflective practice”
Thinking strategically, taking a broad look at their environment and issues, and seeing connections and weighing alternative ways they might accomplish their goals
Developing their skills in power analysis and their understanding of the political, economic, social and cultural environment in which they work
Developing their skills in management through this seminar and helping them assess their needs of additional education, training and experience in management and leadership
The first session would focus on self and identity, including people’s sense of their identity as change agents and where they are in their careers. This could include:
a reflective paper on themselves and what drives them as change agents
a participatory process for making people more aware of how they relate to other people
a self-assessment of what they need to learn and work on during the MA, including gathering other people’s views of the skills they need, etc
This would establish a frame of reference to which students would return throughout the program.
The curriculum would combine four areas of knowledge- and skill-building, starting with history, theory and values, and then devoting most of the sessions to a combination of practical skill-building and sessions which will help organizers look ahead to the major trends which will impact their communities and environment, and to think creatively about how groups should prepare for and cope with those trends. In addition, time would be provided for people specializing in different issues (e.g. immigration, housing or social services issues) to concentrate on future challenges in those issue area.
The Community Learning Partnership, 1301 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20007 All rights reserved. Copyright 2009 Community Learning Partnership
