Community Change Studies – is a two-year degree program that combines academic course work and experiential learning to prepare students for careers in community organizing and allied efforts to involve people in improving the quality of life in low-income communities. It has been developed by the Community Learning Partnership and its partners – community organizers, trainers, academics and others committed to developing the next generation of organizers and community change agents.
The program is designed to recruit and support young people of color and others who have directly experienced poverty and lack of opportunity as they represent a largely untapped pool of talent.
The program is designed to equip students with the strong foundational knowledge and practical and intellectual skills they will need to take on increasing levels of responsibility in careers in community organizing, community-based development and service delivery, and other efforts to involve residents, parents, youth, and other people in improving education, public health, housing, and other conditions in their own communities. Graduates will also have strong backgrounds for advanced study and careers in nonprofit and government planning, management and service delivery.
Learning Goals:
While Community Change Studies programs will vary greatly from one institution to another, they share the same Learning Goals. At the AA and more advanced levels, they seek to help students develop increasing proficiency in achieving the following goals:
Students will understand the history of different types of organized efforts to bring about people-driven social change: social movements, community organizing, electoral work, identity organizing, issue organizing and/or constituency-driven policy work.
Students will learn how to develop a thorough understanding of the community where they are working and its broader context, including the political/economic/ social trends, structures and actors that affect the community and its macro regional, state, national and global contexts.
Students will develop an enhanced understanding of their own social identity and how social class, race, ethnicity, gender, bias, power and privilege play out in their contexts and for the community residents with whom they are working.
Students will understand key values and concepts of community change work and developing participatory, democratic organizations: enhancing human dignity and justice, and developing people’s civic participation and voice.
Students will develop basic and increasingly complex community organizing skills
Students will develop an understanding of how organizing approaches may differ by culture and tradition, how race, ethnicity, class, gender and other factors influence organizing, the use of cultural expression in organizing, and strategies for working within a single culture and multiculturally.
Students will develop strengths in critical thinking, strategy development and reflective practice
Students will develop their individual political and “values” story and their personal learning plans
Students will begin developing skills in managing their own work, time, people, processes and projects
Students will develop life-long learning, study and research skills.
Prototype Schedule of Courses in Community Change Studies:
There is no one model curriculum. Curricula in Community Change Studies will vary greatly from one community college to another, depending upon the Department where they are based and other differences in context and preference. The following is a robust two-year curriculum in which each course builds upon prior courses, reinforcing learning on topics which are introduced early in the curriculum and then deepened through application and further course work.
Community Organizing 101 – History and Practice
History of social movements, social change efforts and community organizing in your community and more broadly in the U.S
and other countries. What is social change? What is power? What different strategies have people used to bring about change — social movements, revolutions, advocacy, electoral campaigns, popular education, identity organizing, community organizing, etc.
Race, class, gender, power and privilege – Study of the role of these key factors and the "isms", as background for students capturing their own history and a 'community story' of other students
Basic concepts of community organizing, building representative organizations, and related approaches – the role of the organizer, power, self-interest and mutual interest, leadership development, issue development, reflective practice
Overview of building skills for the initial organizing steps — Outreach, listening, story-telling, relationship-building; coming together to share values, identify common issues; group facilitation and working with groups
Development of initial skills in organizing
Developing a Personal Learning Plan related to Community Change Studies, including whether to begin mapping a career path in the field; keep it ‘open- ended’ to add to and edit throughout the program
Understanding the Community
Methods drawn from different disciplines for developing a deeper understanding of the people, history, culture, issues and social and organizational fabric of the community where you will be working
Understanding the broader context, trends, structures, forces, and social actors and how the community interacts with that broader set of forces and actors
Thinking strategically and politically about community change through case studies around particular issues
Learning basic research skills; introduction to Participatory Action Research; practice interviewing, analyzing results, presenting results, reflective practice;
Using PAR, students will interview community elders, research local historical sources, and write/present a description of a local community change effort; teams will develop presentations on different aspects of this local history of their community and their connection or perspective on it, with educator putting this local history and analysis on a timeline in a broader regional and global context.
Community Organizing 102 – Theory and Practice
Different approaches to organizing - theory, strategies, history and impact; lessons from their experience;
Membership development, leadership development
Housemeetings and small group development
Building organizations, democratic decision-making, and organizational structures
Developing skills in power analysis, issue development, leadership development, campaign development, and reflective practice
Understanding the Political Economy of the Region
Developing an overview understanding of the region –
the key demographic, economic, social and political trends
the local economy in the context of the regional, US and world economy
the role of government and politics in the context of broader political trends, institutions and movements
the structural barriers to opportunity and strategies for overcoming them
the role of social movements and organizing within that context
Deepening power analysis skills and understanding of the role and functioning of power within the political economy and efforts to bring about change
Studying and critiquing case studies of local community change efforts.
Advanced Skills in Community Change
Group process and dynamics
Building skills in planning, preparing for and facilitating meetings, creating space for people to develop voice and agency
Becoming skilled in motivating and preparing people to take on responsibilities, listen to and develop others, become facilitative leaders
Deepening skills in PAR and Citizen Monitoring, and connecting research with constituency learning and action
Popular Education and Participatory Research for Action
Studying the history of popular education and the role of popular education and participatory research in leadership development
Learning about the role and techniques of Citizen Monitoring in educating and involving a community on public policy issues
Deepening skills in PAR and Citizen Monitoring, and connecting research with constituency learning and action
Moving to Larger Issues and Campaigns
Practicumnot yet rewritten
Mentored internship/placement with study group linked to that experience
Team development of campaign plans for tackling an issue together, applying knowledge and skills developed in earlier classes
Developing a group presentation on the campaign plan, presenting it to internal and external groups and leading discussion about it
The curriculum has been designed as a cohesive introduction to Community Change Studies for a cohort of students who are interested in careers in this field. The early courses introduce students to key concepts and skills, with later courses and the field work continually returning to those topics to deepen the students’ knowledge, provide opportunities for them to apply it and reflect on and deepen their understanding and mastery.
Students will be introduced to the history of organizing, popular education, and social movements, their guiding principles, values and assumptions, and terminology and language particular to the field. Students will develop skill sets and knowledge around the history, theory, and practice of community organizing and community change. These skills will include listening, small group facilitation, reflective practice and facilitating a group project.
The knowledge, skills and attitudes will be taught through assigned readings, class discussions, instructor presentations, case studies, role-playing, individual projects, team projects in and outside of class, and film clips. Current communication technology will be incorporated into the class as appropriate (e.g. Internet, pod casts, mobilization using new technologies, including cell-phone, pod casts, blogs, tweets, etc).
The curriculum will be highly participatory, draw on students’ experience, and be hands-on. Students will be expected to be part of a process of dialogue, action, analysis and change as well as learn ‘techniques’ for facilitating participation. Community Change work is not linear – it is iterative and interactive. It is the aim of the curriculum design to provide learning processes which prepare students to foster similar collective learning and collaboration as they work with people for social change.
Students will move from an understanding of themselves and their social identity to developing a deeper understanding of the broader society, how it operates, and how it can be changed by public action through democratically run organizations. The curriculum combines classroom and experiential education with reflective practice. Each student writes a journal – an ongoing paper in effect -- throughout the program to document their development, learnings, and how they have applied that learning. This ‘writing’ could be in electronic, presentation or written form.
The curriculum’s multi-phased developmental learning sequence involves students in community-based projects outside the classroom and simulated experience. Students will be placed in organizations, simulated organizational settings or organizing projects they design on their own. These experiences offer students opportunities to learn, practice, and apply in real-time the knowledge, skills, and attitudes taught in the classroom, and the “real” placements are designed to truly benefit the local community by moving a community change project forward.
In sum, the AA in Community Change Studies is designed to develop the students’ intellectual and other practical skills in: community organizing, critical and strategic thinking, reflective practice, oral and written skills, and study skills and disciplines, to prepare them for lifelong learning. Students will experience mentoring and support from knowledgeable and experienced community change educators and practitioners. The program includes substantial off-site work and learning with experienced organizers and other experts, field trips, and participation in organized public events. Educators incorporate “train the trainer” methods with an eye toward developing graduates to be future teachers and mentors for developing community leaders and other organizers.
High priority will be given to field experience with mentoring. Experiential education is critical to developing students' interpersonal, analytic, strategic and presentation capacities.
The knowledge, skills and attitudes will be taught through:
assigned readings,
class discussions,
instructor presentations and guest speakers,
video and movie clips,
case studies,
one-on-one interviews,
field research,
role-playing,
individual projects, and
team projects in and outside of class.
Current communication technology will be incorporated (e.g. Internet, pod casts, use of new technologies for organizing, etc.)
The curriculum will be highly participatory, draw on students' experience, and be hands-on.
In addition to a strong partnership between academics and practitioners, an excellent curriculum and teaching staff, there are four key elements which are vital to a successful Community Change Studies program. They may require supplementary funding.
Excellent remedial education, preferably woven into the two-year program rather than being prerequisites for entrance so that it does not become a barrier and source of discouragement for motivated student or a drain on the Pell grants and other financing they need to conserve for the college credit courses; ideally the remedial education would be tailored to relate to community change topics and skill-development to increase student motivation and learning;
Counseling and mentoring which is more intensive, focused and supportive than is common;
Special recruitment efforts to reach potential students who are not yet enrolled but have demonstrated an interest in "giving back to the community" through organizing and community change; these may include dual credit courses in Community Change at local high schools and/or internship and apprenticeship programs; and
Financial aid for students, including
reducing tuition costs to zero through scholarship grants, education grants, tuition forgiveness, etc., and
providing adequate income for students through jobs, work study positions, part-time and full-time stipends, etc.
Each student will develop a growing understanding of:
His/her self and social identity: Greater understanding of own identity in context of social change
The community: Greater understanding of the people, history, culture, issues and social and organizational fabric of the community where you work
The broader context: Greater understanding of the broader macro context within which you work, including social, cultural,
economic and political systems
Social attitudes and forces: How race, class, gender, belief systems, bias, power, privilege and opportunity play out
in your context and for you personally
Social change efforts: How social movements, community organizing and other change strategies have shaped the community and can
shape the future
The universals of organizing: How people can be organized to bring about community and social change
Values and vision: The values and vision of increased justice and renewed civic life and democracy which undergird grassroots social change efforts
Each student will develop an initial skill-set related to community change work:
Strong interpersonal skills in
building relationships and helping people participate
Skills in participatory processes and
popular education with which to develop people's capacity to
participate and develop as effective, informed social actors, organizers
and leaders
Preparation for bringing people
together for effective action, including skills in organizing strategy
and tactics
Experience with participatory action
research and issue development, including competencies in helping
people surface, understand, and address root causes
Growing strengths in critical
thinking, strategic thinking, and reflective practice
Skills in campaign development and
execution
Ability to start new efforts, catalyze
new initiatives, and build sustainable organizations
Students will grow in developing values and vision which foster community change:
Commitment
to strengthening participation in democratic life by those who are often voiceless and powerless, commitment to collective action, helping develop community leadership and power, and expanding the space for voices to be heard
Faith
in the possibility of significant change through grassroots efforts
Commitment
to a community, and accountability to it
Respect
for people's dignity, human rights and untapped potential
Commitment
to increasing justice by organizing people to take the leadership in pressing for systemic, institutional and policy reform
Commitment
to reforming institutions, policies, systems, etc. to be people-centered and promote justice
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