Collective Learning Workshop

A Workshop facilitated by Rick Flowers, UTS, at Granville on the 28 Oct 2005, linked up with Albury & Kempsey via video conferencing.
The timetable covered topics such as Education for individuals & communities, Collective Pedagogy, The nuts & bolts; Yeah but how do you plan and facilitate collective learning? Action Research & Collective Learning.
Rick's handouts details the discussions for the work shop:

Popular education can contribute to the efforts of those engaged in helping 'ordinary' people have more power and opportunity - whether these efforts be called capacity building or building social capital. At the heart of popular education theory and practice lies the challenge of helping people come to know, understand, and tell their stories and those of others.

For more information on the Certificate in Outreach & Popular Education, download this draft outline.
Click here to download the rego.

White-board Notes from Collective Learning Session - 28 October 2005

Collective Festivals:
• Purpose of the festivals: “for common good”
• Group all the “individual skills” to run a festival for 6000 people, so you can work together
• Involve everyone in decisions
• Research the local scene
• Build on strengths
• Start with local problems/circumstances
• Ensure the Outreach staff have the skills and confidence to develop the course in an enclusive, negotiated manner

Local Project Initiatives:
• Local support group on a particular issue, eg
o “Dragon Boat” happening in Albury
o Brought in lots of other groups
o The video of it all led to more people becoming involved
• Nambucca Valley Mentoring resulted in:
o Small community groups forming in surrounding communities
o Requests for staff/volunteer training
• Community Gardens project resulted in:
o A Permaculture class
o Local council donating land
o Petitions/consultation
o Local paper coverage
o General beautification project
o Different smaller areas for specific groups of part of the major project
o Greater understanding between different cultural and other community groups through working together and getting to know each other
• Aboriginal Oral History can lead to:
o Recording skills
o Questioning skills
o Filming/videoing/editing skills
o Cultural awareness and understanding

Projects being created around Local Issues:
• Forming an Older People network
• An ARTS project becoming a film-making project
• Language being the aim, but becoming a Fashion class, which made a banner, or a cooking class which shared different cultural dishes and ideas
• A Writing class, choosing their own topics and sending its products to the computer group to be typed up and sent back