Transforming Practice (Being a Critical Practitioner) 1 module (CO50013)

Professional qualification needs community educators to have the knowledge and skills that are required for transformative practice in Community Education. These skills also have to align with contemporary professional standards and competences.

This module supports you to learn and develop these skills, reflecting on your own practice.

What you will learn

In this module, you will:

• explore key theories that make up community education. You will also analyse youth work, adult learning, and community development
• contextualise critical community education practice in relevant local, national, and international policy frameworks
• explore concepts of leadership and collaborative practice. You will also look at the theory that these are made up of when working in communities
• explore planning and evaluation concepts and approaches
• apply theories and models of professional reflection in practice

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• understand theories and models of professional reflection. You will also have the ability to apply these to your own professional practice
• have a critical knowledge and understanding of evaluation processes and approaches. You will also have the ability to appraise their value in practice contexts
• have the ability to identify and analyse explicit connections between community education theory, strategic CLD policy, and your practice setting
• have the ability to differentiate leadership approaches. You will also be able to consider their compatibility with critical community education practice
• have a detailed and critical understanding of the purpose, value, and effectiveness of collaborative approaches in your practice setting

Assignments / assessment

5,000-word report (90%)

oral presentation (10%)

• set in Week 1
• due in Week 15

This module does not have a final exam.

Teaching methods / timetable

• lectures (one 2 hour session at start of semester)
• seminars (five 2 hour sessions spread through the semester)
• workshops (one 2 hour session at end of semester)

Typically, the five seminars will be like this:

1. 'from engagement to transformative practice'
2. 'praxis and power'
3. 'leadership for change'
4. 'power, people, and policy'
5. 'critical reflection'