Introduction
Chapter 1 — Overview
A — Social Action’s Role & B – U.S. College Social Action
C — Benefits of Social Action & D – Bringing into Classroom
Chapter 2 — Developing a Social Action Class
A — Academic Course vs Co-Curricular & B — Prerequisites
C — Creating a Social Action Syllabus
D — Teaching Style & E — Classroom Norms
G — Building Campus & Community Allies
H —The Role of Place & I —Each Semester vs Every Year
Chapter 3 — Launching Student Campaigns
B — Students Choose Their Issue
G — Research: Historical Overview, Power Mapping, & Target Analysis
Chapter 4 — Campaign Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation
A — Timeline & Campaign Plan B — Campaign Implementation: "Series of Actions" Begins C — Campaign Execution & Case Studies D — Campaign Evaluation E — Day of the Final: Campaign Notebook & Group Presentation
Chapter 5 — Where to Go From Here
A — Next Semester B — Mainstreaming Social Action C — Social Action Internship Program D — Pipeline to Jobs & Graduate School E — Status of Current Campaigns F — Impact of Social Action on Former Social Action Students
CHANGE! A Guide to Teaching Social Action
- Chapter 2A: Academic Course vs Co-Curricular (p. 29-31)
- Chapter 2B: Prerequisites (p. 32)
Academic Course vs. Co-Curricular
If you know you will be using social action in an existing course that is already on the books, your biggest challenge with be that one-half of the previous course material and course time will have to be removed and replaced with social action (e.g., issue development, building power, tactics, and campaign launch & implementation). What course material is most essential for you to keep?
If you are creating a new class, take a look at page 29 of the CHANGE book about creative ways to get your course on the books. If you are a staff member or student, you can possibly teach a course or co-curricular activity as well. See p. 30-31.
Prerequisites
You will need to consider if your social action course needs to have any prerequisites. Scott’s social action course was an upper division course, but he granted entry to a 1st year student if he felt that they could handle the material, as he wanted to include all students who were interested.
The Teaching Social Action community has had several good discussions on whether a social action course should be at the beginning of a students academic career or near the end. Some feel that students get the most out of it if they have three more years to apply their learning on campus, while others feel that it is better for upper division students to take a social action course, as they have more knowledge of the campus and society.
Question:
What prerequisites will your class have, if any?