"CHANGING OURSELVES, CHANGING OUR
WORLD"
If you have a group that would like to
take this course, it used to be possible to have it
funded through the Active Learning for Active
Citizenship programme in South Yorkshire, at low rates
or even free to participants - but I am not sure if
there is still funding for this programme. Do contact me
to find out! A minimum of 6 ongoing participants would
be required, though 8 or more is preferable. Contact me for details.
Details of my other courses, including
"Current Affairs" and "Talking Politics", are at COURSES
(of course!). You may also be interested in LINKS to sites on related
topics, especially the HEALTH, DIRECTORIES and CHANGING
THE WORLD sections.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION for brochure
publicity
What do you want to change, and why? How
much is change possible, and how can you do it? We will
look at social change, e.g. political, scientific,
environmental, economic; at personal change, e.g.
attitude, behaviour, health; and at the links between
them. We will examine some agendas for change that are
presented to us, e.g. through mass media and education,
and some of the factors behind a desire for change. The
course will be mainly discussion-based.
INITIAL COURSE OUTLINE
NB This was originally written
as a course proposal to the WEA (Worker's Educational
Association).
AIMS - to examine what we wish to
change about the wider world and ourselves, our reasons
and motivations for change, the links between the
personal and the social and political, how to create
change, and what barriers there are.
Content will vary to some extent according to students'
experiences and course providers' priorities, or to
reflect topical events.
CONTENT - Change on the personal
level may involve general lifestyle, how we work, what
and how much we buy, health-care ("alternative" or
otherwise), our impact on the environment, examining
attitudes to ourselves and others, and whether we
involve ourselves in community or other campaigning
groups.
Change at a wider level can be local, national, global.
Does politics work, and if so how do we affect it? Why
do many people not get involved? What about
pressure-groups and charities? Education, the mass
media? Can we all have a better life simply by making
the economy grow? Are we powerless against globalisation
and the big corporations? Will science and technology
solve our problems? Is a more spiritual approach, or
some other wider system of values, needed?
How does the personal relate to the wider issues? Are
our political views, and our behaviour in groups,
influenced by our psychology - especially in the areas
of anger, conflict and political violence? Why change
anything in the first place? What stops us changing -
"the good life", lack of knowledge, fear of the unknown
or of seeming different, mass culture e.g. the media and
advertising?
Do changes always bring the desired
outcome? How do we avoid feeling powerless, or depressed
by all that seems wrong? How do we deal with the changes
that are imposed on us, e.g. by the changing economy?
How do we measure success, and what is a realistic
timescale for change?
TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS - The
course is expected to be largely discussion-based,
with plenty of student input (the tutor does not claim
to have the full answers to all the above questions!),
and an informal style. Participants who wish to may
write a learning diary, or make a short presentation to
the group on a particular topic. Participants will be
asked at an early session to list some of their own
wishes for change, some of which may influence the
course content, and then to review the list later on.
ABOUT THE TUTOR - I currently teach
for the WEA in York and Sheffield. Current
courses include Current Affairs, and World Dance-
Eastern Europe and Beyond. I have also taught Aromatherapy, Healthy
Living, Looking After Yourself - Holistic Health and Alternative
Therapies, Circle Dance, and Talking Politics for the
WEA.
I am also a self-employed aromatherapist,
Circle Dance teacher and musician. I have the City &
Guilds 7407 Adult Teaching Certificate, and a BA in
Politics. I was active for 13 years in the ecology
movement, and was involved in various campaigns - e.g.
against dumping of nuclear waste at Fulbeck in
Lincolnshire - and groups. I was co-chair of Sheffield
Green Party, and an active participant, and occasional
session chair, at many national Green Party conferences.
Paul Boizot. Course info revised
18.11.04. Page updated 09.06.14
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My address from 30.04.12 is 14 Holly Bank
Grove, York YO24 4EA, U.K.
contact me on:
01904 621510
info@paulboizot.co.uk
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