Draft status
Manuscript draft page created. Chapter 3 is ready for conversion after Chapter 2.
Source sections to convert
- Chapter 3 — Launching Student Campaigns
- 3A — On Your Mark: Preparing Students
- 3B — Students Choose Their Issue
- 3F — Campus Tour
- 3G — Research
- 3I — Strategy & Tactics
- 3J — Campaign Kickoff (1st Action)
- Companion Guide → Book Manuscript Plan
Working chapter purpose
This chapter will guide faculty and staff through the launch phase of student campaigns. The central teaching philosophy is “On Your Mark, GO, Get Set”: students begin moving toward action early, then develop the group dynamics, research, power analysis, strategy, tactics, and campaign plan needed to act effectively.
Proposed chapter sections
- The “On Your Mark, GO, Get Set” teaching philosophy
- Preparing students for the road rarely traveled
- Students choose their issue
- Group dynamics, part 1: setting the tone
- Change theory
- Building power
- Campus/community tour
- Research: history, power map, target analysis
- Group dynamics, part 2
- Strategy and tactics
- Campaign kickoff: the first action
Draft opening placeholder
The most distinctive feature of Teaching Social Action is that students launch campaigns while the course is still happening. They do not spend an entire semester preparing for action that will occur after the final exam. They act, reflect, adjust, and continue. This requires a different rhythm from many courses. Students need enough preparation to move responsibly, but not so much preparation that action is postponed until it is too late to learn from it.
The phrase “On Your Mark, GO, Get Set” captures this rhythm. Students are prepared for the road ahead, but they are also asked to begin. Once they start moving, the need for research, group process, strategy, tactics, and power analysis becomes immediate and concrete. The campaign itself becomes the engine of learning.
Key concept box draft
Campaign Activities vs. Campaign Actions Campaign activities build power: tabling, fliering, recruiting, researching, mapping power, meeting allies, drafting materials, and developing campaign infrastructure. Campaign actions publicly display power and place pressure on a decision-maker through events such as rallies, delegations, public meetings, press conferences, or other tactics.
Running case study note
Use Students for Filipino Farmworkers as a running case study throughout this chapter. Convert campaign artifacts into figures, exhibits, and appendix items while preserving links and images.
Production notes
- Add “teacher moves” sidebars: what the instructor says, asks, prompts, and does when students get stuck.
- Preserve all campaign artifacts, worksheets, videos, files, and images.
- Include QR-code placeholders or resource boxes for online materials.