This is an outline of the module that I teach as part of the Centre for Human Ecology's Masters Degree in Human Ecology. For more information click here. www.che.ac.uk. Students wishing to access the module's discussion site should enter into their browser www.VereneNicolas.org/******** but substitute ******** with the access keyword that you have been given. 

ACTION for TRANSFORMATION

20 M Level Credits (200 notional study hours)

Module Organiser  – Vérène Nicolas

Entry Requirements

Acceptance as CHE MSc, Diploma or Certificate student.

Rationale

This module is designed to deepen the knowledge gained in modules one and two into positive action for social change, grounded in your own life experience. It aims to bridge both theory and practice, facilitating the creation of a learning community in which you are encouraged to draw together the material and approaches to social change most suited to your own life work.

The module will use a combination of learning-by-doing, case studies, input on analytical frameworks of change and action-research. Complementing the quantitative and qualitative approaches of modules one and two respectively, module three will provide you with a pragmatic approach designed to turn theory into practice. In keeping with this aim, it is anticipated that this module will also let you clarify and crystallise the nature and focus of your research dissertation, if going on to do the whole MSc.

Teaching Aims and Objectives

‘Sustainable development’ has become a hotly contested term following its use in the Brundtland Commission’s oft-quoted report, Our Common Future (World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Oxford University Press).

Module 3 seeks to explore the concept of ‘sustainable development’ and the processes of personal and societal transformation that any such development implies.

"Ecological wisdom does not consist in understanding how to live in accord with nature; it consists in understanding how to get humans to agree on how to live in accord with nature."
(Ken Wilbur, A Brief History of Everything, Shambhala, 1996)

The module will be focussed around exploring:

·         the concept of sustainability;

·         some theories of transformation – with practitioners who find these theories useful in their work;

·         some practices of transformation, especially those rooted in ‘praxis’ - or ‘action learning’ - with practitioners;

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module you will have deepened your understanding of sustainable development. You will have developed the capacity to apply critical thinking to any given situation, knowing what questions to ask and ideally, how to ask them. You will also garner over the course of the semester the ability to discern where you have most passion, interest or leverage for creating change and will have gathered a series of tools and personal contacts to assist you in making such change, if you so choose.

Learning and Teaching Strategies

Learning and Teaching

Learning and teaching strategies have been designed to achieve the stated learning outcomes in the most creative and interesting ways possible, combining effective delivery of the material with both mechanisms for conducting formative evaluation, (that is, assessing how well you are receiving the course during the semester) and those for formally assessing your progress. There are very diverse ways in which we anticipate you will learn from this module, some found in traditional educational settings, others not. This text, the student guide, forms one of the core learning resources for the module, integrating taught residential sessions, distance tutorials, reading and any self-directed study you may undertake. The other critical learning resource that we need to be aware of is our learning community.

The overall experience of the module will involve a number of teaching/learning methods including experiential learning exercises, case studies, discussion groups, interviews, story-telling, journaling, group process reflection and group facilitation practice.

Reading

Reading is clearly an important part of the course and we encourage you to be as efficient as possible when you read. The depth and span of material we will be able to cover in the module will reflect the attention and energy that you bring to it. We ask you to prioritise preparation for each weekend by following the essential reading itemised under each session. Is also included an optional reading list for each section. If you come prepared for each session, we will, as a learning community, benefit hugely from your preparation – we can expect to really ‘fly’.

Tutorials

Distance tutorials via telephone will take place on chosen Tuesdays. As in module 2, we will probably have two tutorials, one for distance learning students (6 to 7pm) and another one for those of you who are based in Edinburgh (7.15 to 8.15pm). Email discussion will also be an important part of the learning process, and we will set up a discussion list or web-based discussion (as in module 2) for this purpose.

Graded Assessment

The graded assessment for this module is based on three pieces of work echoing the process of getting a new project off the ground. It will consist of

·         Critical review of (a) a journal you will write throughout the module and (b) theories of change. The review gives the opportunity to mix personal reflection with theoretical insight to communicate your potential vocation as a human ecologist (30% module marks);

·         Undertaking a research project around a project idea developed by your ‘team’ of three or four. The project will be identified and scoping research planned (collectively) during weekend 1; you will then conduct the research (individually and/or collectively) between the two weekends; on the second teaching weekend you will (as a team) plan and rehearse how to present the material effectively. The presentation will be assessed (35% module marks);

·         Informed by your research and presentation, you will (individually) write a mock funding application to an appropriate body based on guidance from a real-life application form, with the aim of securing ‘seed funding’ for the project (35% module marks). In order to make your choice manageable, we will restrict ourselves to a maximum of four application forms.

Teaching Outline

Weekend One

§         Introductions to the module

§         Sustainable Development – an exploration

§         Meeting the practitioners (module 3 students!)

§         Transformation: what is it?

§         Meeting a practitioner: the discipline of Action Research.

§         Module assessments (journal, funding application, research project);

§         Meet a practitioner: Structural analysis as an analytical framework for activism;

§         Finding my vocation: how would I like to apply my understanding of human ecology;

§         Meet the practitioners: Critical thinking, ‘Training for Transformation’ and Freirian framework

Weekend Two

·         The Media;

·         Organisational Issues;

·         Meeting the practitioners: Agents of change;

·         How to sustain activism: sources of nourishment;

·         Research presentations;