Pre-requisites

None.

Co-requisites

None

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, the student will be able to:

• Describe different meanings of community and frameworks for social change and social justice.

• Evaluate personal experience with social change and social justice

• Identify community development challenges, theories and methods with reference to specific projects.

• Explain major action strategies and tactics used by communities for community change in relation to social justice issues.

Unit Description

The problem of Community is introduced and different meanings of community are explored with special reference to community development and social change. The unit focuses on ways of making sense of change, its dynamic nature and the striving for peace and social justice. Learners are introduced to the assumptions and theory of practitioners who seek to bring about social change and to the practical ways of responding to the challenge of social inequality. They are exposed to the basic common elements of community change that include building the strengths and independence of community groups, organizations and networks; building equity, inclusiveness and cohesion amongst people and their groups and organizations; and empowering people and their organizations where appropriate to influence and help transform public policies and services and other factors affecting the conditions of their lives. The unit offers learners the opportunity to engage with compelling accounts of resistance, critique, hope and vision from communities whose stories are often invisible, trivialized or erased by the dominant society. Thus the role of narrative is explored to demonstrate how people have reclaimed and reshaped a traditional art form in the service of their ideas and demands for justice. Learners will also develop understanding of how groups are bringing out, bringing up and bringing back values of justice and fairness into their communities.

Teaching Strategies

The teaching strategies shall include some or all of the following: Face to face lectures, tutorials, class discussion, individual and small group exercises, group presentations, use of multi media and online activities such as discussion forums. Case studies are analysed and discussed to bring a sense of integration to theory and practice.

---

Unit offerings

Face to face: (Every Year, Semester 1)
Online: (Every Year, Semester 2)

Please note

The Unit Offerings listed above are a guide only and the timetable for any year is the final authority. The College may vary offerings based on demand, regulatory requirements, continual improvement processes or other conditions.

This unit may be available in different modes of delivery i.e. online and face-to-face as listed above. The unit content will not differ between these modes of delivery. There will possibly be a difference in the schedule and/or the prescribed assessment tasks, however both will cover and assess the same content.