Online Video Lessons: ChangeMakers Organising School Coursework
In the year 2020, the ChangeMakers Organising School commenced its journey, aiming to strengthen leadership and foster relationships among social movement members and volunteers across Australia and its region. The school ran for two seasons, with a total of 21 sessions, and focused on a curriculum anchored in the practice of the Industrial Areas Foundation but with an open and agnostic approach.
The first session, titled "Community Organizing," introduced the method that focuses on building people power by developing the capacity, skills, and leadership of those involved in making change. This was followed by sessions that covered essential topics such as effective group work, running a good meeting, and strong, sustainable groups.
Session 2 emphasized the importance of building powerful relationships, while Session 3 focused on how to work effectively within groups. In Session 4, participants learned the skills necessary to run successful meetings, and Session 5 delved into the topic of leadership.
As the school progressed, topics like campaign strategy and creative tactics (Session 7), organizing around economics and the budget, theory of change, and creative action planning were covered in Season Three. The school also addressed the importance of anti-racism in organizing, sustainable activism, coaching, and reflecting.
In Season One, topics such as organizing relationally during a pandemic, understanding power to win a better world, building powerful coalitions, public narrative, and democracy were discussed. Season Two saw sessions on campaign planning in a pandemic, learning from the power of First Nations resistance and relationships, what it takes to change political decision-makers, and building scalable, participatory activism.
Measuring success and evaluating the impact of campaigns were topics discussed in Session 9, while Session 10 addressed the question of how small groups can make big changes. The school's curriculum was designed to focus on concepts like power, action, organizations, narrative, relationships, and action as the bedrock for building a democratic public life.
Unfortunately, the videos from the training are currently offline, but interested individuals can contact the Commons librarians for more information about the training curriculum. Some slides and handouts from the training are available on the ChangeMakers website.
The ChangeMakers Organising School Season Four, focusing on how small groups make big changes, marked the conclusion of the school's 2020-2021 run. Despite the offline videos, the school's legacy continues to inspire and empower individuals to build people power for change.
[Sources: 1, 2]
- The ChangeMakers Organising School's curriculum is anchored in the practice of the Industrial Areas Foundation, but it adopts an open and agnostic approach.
- The first session, "Community Organizing," focuses on building people power by developing the capacity, skills, and leadership of those involved in making change.
- Session 2 emphasizes the importance of building powerful relationships, while Session 3 focuses on how to work effectively within groups.
- Topics like campaign strategy, creative tactics, and sustainable activism are covered in the school's curriculum, highlighting the importance of a well-planned campaign strategy.
- The school's curriculum also includes sessions on education-and-self-development, personal-growth, and career-development, offering skills training for changemakers.
- Resources such as slides and handouts from the ChangeMakers Organising School are available on the school's website, providing learners with valuable educational materials despite the absence of video training.
