Grassroots Leaders Building Skills

The Henson College Certificate in Community Development

By Anne Bishop  

This title is only available as Print On Demand (POD). Minimum order of 15 copies; bookstores are only eligible for 20% discount. All orders are non-returnable; please allow at least 4 weeks for delivery. Please order this title through the normal channels.

Are you a student?

“Empowerment is the word. I’ve been forced to break out of my own circle and see more. I have a direction now in my community, more involvement in activism.”–student evaluating the Henson College Certificate in Community Development.

This course was designed to sharpen social analysis and develop skills in leaders of low-income and marginalized communities in Nova Scotia. Taught by two experienced community workers and funded by two major Canadian foundations, it graduated 50 students over four years. Many joined the program’s advisory committee and helped the course evolve further. Grassroots Leaders Building Skills includes the complete course, with agendas for 25 three-hour sessions, detailed directions for facilitators and spiral-bound handouts for photocopying. Many sessions can stand alone as workshops on topics such as diversity, ideology, community development and building strategies for social change. Plans are included for adapting the sessions to middle class participants, post-secondary classroom settings, or as a series of intensive workshops. Introductory essays explore the theories behind the program and its pedagogy, the logistical organization and the experience of graduates. This powerful course is a valuable resource to anyone teaching social analysis and community organization skills.

“Empowerment is the word. I’ve been forced to break out of my own circle and see more. I have a direction now in my community, more involvement in activism.

— student evaluating the Henson College Certificate in Community Development.

Request Exam Copy

Contents

  • Introduction
  • Preface
  • History and Pedagogy
  • Learning from the Bear River Mi’kmaw First Nation
  • Practical Matters
  • Graduates Comment on the Course
  • Adapting the Course for Other Formats and Groups
  • THE COURSE
  • Introduction
  • Introduction 2
  • Learning Styles
  • Ideological Lenses
  • Oppression and Privilege
  • Understanding Power
  • Class
  • Field Trip
  • Reflection on Field Trip/Process for Accountability
  • The Spiral 1
  • The Spiral 2
  • Evaluations
  • Life After the Certificate in Community Development
  • Learning Goals for Second Term
  • Planning the Second Term
  • Planning and Instructor Led Workshops
  • Student Led Workshops
  • Second Evaluation
  • Course Evaluation
  • Learning Reflection
  • List of Handouts 2

Authors

  • Anne Bishop

    Anne Bishop has been an activist for four decades in organizations dedicated to local, international, environmental, food, fibre and LGBT justice. She is the co author of five books and author of two: Becoming an Ally: Breaking the Cycle of Oppression in People and Beyond Token Change: Breaking the Cycle of Oppression in Institutions.

Subscribe to our newsletter and take 10% off your first purchase.

Follow Us

Fernwood Publishing Company Limited gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage, the Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism under the Manitoba Publishers Marketing Assistance Program and the Province of Manitoba, through the Book Publishing Tax Credit, for our publishing program.