This two-day, in-person institute at Michigan State University will introduce faculty and teaching staff to an experiential learning approach for incorporating social action campaigns into either a semester-long course or co-curricular workshop series. In this transformative experiential learning model, students develop and launch a social action campaign of their choosing during the semester the course is taught.
The student campaigns seek to change a rule, regulation, norm, or practice of an institution, whether on campus or in the community. While not all of the student campaigns are successful, many have been and those that haven’t succeeded have still taught valuable lessons to those who led them and those who were engaged in one form or another.
Our long-term goal is to mainstream this model for teaching active democracy. The world needs more people who have developed their knowledge and skills in bringing about positive change through real world experience.
Note: we ask that attendees fully participate in our community of practice by making the following commitments.
Host
Sacha Klein
Department of Social Work
Michigan State University
Sacha Klein’s Social Action Courses
Institute Participants
Ashley Sanders
Social Work
Saginaw Valley State University
Carla Pfeffer
Sociology Department College of Social Science
Michigan State University
Dani Cadet
Human Development & Family Studies
Michigan State University
David Baylis
Center for Integrative Studies - IDS/GLIS
Michigan State University
Dustin Young
School of Social Work
Andrews University
Gina Gembel
Social Work
Michigan State University
Jennifer Renick
Psychology
Michigan State University
Jennifer Stewart
Sociology
Grand Valley State University
Jule Thomas
English
Wayne State University
Kevin Yu
School of Social Work
Michigan State University
Liz Sharda
Sociology & Social Work
Hope College
Ning Hsieh
Sociology
Michigan State University
Sherita Washington
Social Work
Calvin University
Sofia Rosales
Political Science
Michigan State University
Traci Cihon
Psychology
Western Michigan University
Twyla Smith
School of Social Work
Andrews University
Institute Preparation
During the two-day Institute, participants will begin to develop a teaching plan to support student campaigns to be launched mid-semester. The Institute sessions will be led by Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at San José State University. In preparation for the Institute, participants will read two textbooks — CHANGE! A Student Guide to Social Action and CHANGE! A Guide to Teaching Social Action — as well as CHANGE! A Companion Guide to Teaching Social Action.
These resources address all aspects of teaching a social action course, including:
- An Overview of Teaching Social Action
- Organizing Your Class
- Issue Development & Choosing Campaigns
- Change Theory & Building Power
- Research & Group Dynamics
- Strategy & Tactics
- Campaign Kick-Off
- Campaign Plan & Evaluation
Here is a graph of how these course topics flow in Scott’s social action course:
Over the two-days, participants will meet each day for discussions about your goals, course models, teaching approach, and sharing examples and exercises that will help you plan your social action course or workshop series. Below is the Institute agenda:
Institute participants will work with this course planning worksheet (below), which explores many of the issues that arise when teaching social action.
At the conclusion of the institute, we will invite participants to join a year-long support and networking community of fellow practitioners who are teaching or learning how to teach social action using this experiential, real-world model. You will also be added to the Teaching Social Action Email Discussion Group to give faculty, staff, and students a forum for asking questions, discussing active student campaigns, sharing successes and challenges, and announcing future opportunities for training, education, and reflection.