402-03 EXPLORING THE LEARNING WITHIN A CAPACITY BUILDING CURRICULUM

Community Learning Development Resource 402 – 03

 

EXPLORING THE LEARNING WITHIN A CAPACITY BUILDING CURRICULUM

Summary

The three learning challenges:

  • To build individual capacity
  • To enable individuals to build collective and community capacity
  • To understand the nature of community development, and neighbourhood regeneration and renewal..

Within our approach to analysing the learning, within a Capacity Building Curriculum, we are concerned to recognise and respond to a wide range of learning needs within individuals and groups. For this purpose we will outline the learning as a broad range of Learning Outcomes which we might expect to come across in community development  work.

 

 

TYPES OF LEARNING OUTCOMES

 

 

1. Personal Development Outcomes

 

2. Social Development Outcomes

 

3. Gains in Communication Skills

 

4. Improved Learning Skills

 

5. Improved Assessment Skills

 

6. Improved Evaluative Skills

 

7. Personal Effectiveness Outcomes

 

8. Application of Learning Outcomes

 

9. Access/ Progression Outcomes

 

10. Employability Outcomes

 

11. Participation Outcomes

12. Subject-based Learning Outcomes

 

The Learning Outcomes in Areas 1 – 11 are about the development of the individual as a learner and a person – internally building their individual capacity as a learner.

  • These are sometimes described as ‘soft’ learning outcomes because it is difficult to test for them, measure them and show that they have been achieved.
  • Seeking to develop the learning and personal skills of a learner, puts the individual learner as the focus of the learning experience, rather than the subject to be learned.

 

The Learning Outcomes in Areas 7 – 11 are also about how the learner applies their learning beyond themselves and these will include how individual capacity translates into collective community capacity-building.

  • These are a mixture of ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ (observable and measurable) outcomes. They include outcomes, which are about how the individual relates to others, how she/he might progress in learning and participate in regeneration.

 

Within Area 12 are the typical Subject-based Learning Outcomes within formal education and training provision – the learning (content) to be put in place.

  • The knowledge, understanding, skills (and attitudes) usually prescribed within programme content and schemes of work.
  •  The subject-based learning which builds the capacity of people within community development is largely about what they need to know and understand about community strategies and activities, and the skills they need, in order to be able to participate effectively in addressing issues.
  • If local people as participants are not well-informed and confident that they understand about community development themes and issues, and are empowered to have a meaningful voice, they could be disadvantaged or marginalized.

EXPLORING THE TYPES OF LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Learning Outcome examples Learners and their needs
  • Self-confidence gained
  • Self-awareness developed
  • Self-image improved
  • Self-esteem and self-belief gained
  • Perception of self-worth and value is more positive
  • Self-empowerment developed
  • Confidence gained to be creative
  • Confidence to support others gained.

Individual learners with negative perceptions of themselves and their power:

 

  • may not feel confident in their own abilities to change or bring about changes, around them
  • can have a negative view of the world and often see themselves as victims of circumstances beyond their control
  • may react to experiences and challenges thoughtlessly
  • may not have experienced much success in life and do not expect to be successful.

SOME REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION PROMPTS

 

  • Is understanding the personal nature of an individual and where they are coming from, a critical starting-point for any learning engagement between the learner and the worker – recognising how learners feel about themselves as people and as learners?

 

  • The least confident learners have the longest learning journeys to travel in order for them to be able to participate in regeneration activity effectively.

 

  • Changing a learner’s negative self-perception into a more positive one is the first step – raising expectations – hopelessness becoming hope, I can’t becoming I can.

 

 

 

2. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Learning Outcome examples Learners and their needs
  • Interpersonal and relationship skills gained

 

  • Self-confidence in social situations improved

 

  • Friendships and affiliations are gained

 

  • Prepared to take others on trust

 

  • Confidence to participate in group situations improved

Individuals who have difficulties in making and maintaining relationships with other people:

 

  • may lack social and communications skills

 

  • may have poor self-image and sense of self-worth

 

  • may have experienced negative relationships in the past

 

  • may have negative expectations of particular kinds of relationships, e.g., with what they perceive to be authority

SOME REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION PROMPTS

 

  • The worker needs to consistently model effective relationship-building skills

 

  • Building community capacity includes enabling individuals to work together in groups – they need to relate to each other and work together

 

  • The relationships should be underpinned by the same shared values that inform and shape the work

 

  • The worker – learner relationship should be a partnership with concern for equality. The support that a worker can give to a learner is likely to be more successful when the relationship builds trust and mutual respect. Learners are more likely to learn successfully when they realise that they can and do achieve learning success.

 

 

3.      GAINS IN COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Learning Outcome examples Learners and their needs

  • Increased confidence to communicate

 

  • Verbal skills improved

 

  • Listening skills improved

 

  • Language skills improved

 

  • Written skills developed/improved

 

  • ICT skills gained/improved

 

 Poor communication skills constrain a learners capacity to live and learn: 

  • Poor communication skills may limit relationship building and participation within groups

 

  • Poor communication skills limit the development of self-confidence

 

  • Communication may not be recognised as a two way process

 

  • Poor communication skills constrain most learning possibilities

 

SOME REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION PROMPTS

 

  • The work value set provides the key criteria for effective communication

 

  • Helping a learner to develop their communication skills needs to start from the position of the learner

 

  • The development of effective listening skills are as important for workers and organisations as they are for people who seek to participate in leaning and regeneration

 

  • Why is the voice of people who are ‘hard-to-reach’, disadvantaged or disenfranchised rarely captured by providers of education and training opportunities?

 

4. GAINS IN LEARNING SKILLS 

Learning Outcome examples Learners and their needs
  • Has become reflective

 

  • Has become motivated to learn

 

  • Has become interested in exploring & experimenting with ideas and experiences

 

  • Problem solving improved

 

  • Creative abilities enhanced

 

  • Self-direction developed

 

  • Self-management improved

 

  • Teaching skills developed

 

 Learning is not just about putting learning in place (learning something) it is also about learning how to learn better: 

  • Learning skills need to be recognised by the learner and improvements in them valued

 

  • Improved learning skills can contribute to increased personal capacity and self-esteem

 

  • More complex learning demands the use of higher level learning skills

 

  • Participating in regeneration activity is likely to be an intense learning experience, requiring a range of learning skills.

SOME REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION PROMPTS

  •  If we describe some people as ‘poor learners’, what do we think they are lacking or are unable to do?

 

  • How important is it that adults should be able to  ‘think things through’ before acting?

 

  • The ability of an adult to enable someone else to learn something successfully – to ‘teach’ them, is described as a high order learning skill – why might this be?

 

  • Improved learning skills can move learners from being reactive, through reflection to become proactive in how they manage themselves and their lives.

 

 

 

5. GAINS IN ASSESSMENT SKILLS 

Learning Outcome examples Learners and their needs

  • Able to recognise learning success

 

  • Able to value learning success

 

  • Able to recognise own abilities and improvements

 

  • Becoming self-motivated through learning success

 

  • Able to review learning success and from this identify needs and plan own learning activity

 

  • Develops own ways of  measuring learning success

 

  Assessment is about measuring learning and achievements: 

  • Throughout any learning experience it is essential for a learner to know and understand what learning  success they have achieved

 

  • The ability to assess (and self-assess) is a crucial part of learning

 

  • Learners need to be able to make the connection between learning success and themselves as learners

 

  • The assessment of learning success and achievements is key in enabling a learner to make progress and choose new learning activities and routes.

SOME REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION PROMPTS

 

  • Why is it useful to assess what learning success, has been achieved by a learner?

 

  • Why is self- assessment by the learner seen by many as being the most valuable form of assessment?

 

  • Having an assessment done to you by someone else can be an uncomfortable experience. Why is it uncomfortable and why does this matter?

 

6. GAINS IN EVALUATIVE SKILLS 

Learning Outcome examples Learners and their needs
  • Able to recognise learning inputs

 

  • Able to value (estimate/ measure) learning inputs

 

  • Able to choose appropriate ways of learning

 

  • Able to choose appropriate problem-solving models

 

  • Able to value and use creative approaches

 

  • Able to make effective learning choices

 

  • Able to recognise and evaluate their own contributions within any learning experience

 

 If Assessment is about measuring learning and achievements, then Evaluation is about measuring how well the learning experience and activities contribute to the learning success.

 

  • Evaluation skills enable a learner to choose new learning activities and routes – without them they cannot successfully be independent learners

 

  • Learners who are encouraged to evaluate their experiences are  empowered and more able to make decisions and choices

 

  • Evaluation skills can transfer with the learner to other applications in learners’ lives

 

SOME REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION PROMPTS

 

  • Why is it useful to evaluate how helpful a learning experience is?

 

  • Is it essential that participants (learners) should be encouraged to evaluate their learning experiences when these are planned for and provided by workers and agencies?

 

  • How does the ability to evaluate help build a learners’ capacity?

 

7. PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS 

Learning Outcome examples Learners and their needs
  • Assertiveness improved

 

  • Improved coping skills

 

  • Improved parenting skills

 

  • Improved caring skills

 

  • Improved participation within the family setting

 

  • Improved participation within social situations

 

 Non-confident learners, lacking in self-esteem and self-confidence may not be effective within their own lives. 

  • Needing to manage self to be effective within relationships and dealings with others

 

  • Needing to be effective in managing their own lives and life situations

 

  • Needing to be able to manage self to create space and potential within life

 

  • Needing to effectively influence the behaviour of those around them for the benefit of all

 

SOME REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION PROMPTS

 

  • Why is personal effectiveness perceived by many workers to be at the heart of the learning agenda for many adults?

 

  • Is personal effectiveness a good focus for identifying the differences between confident adults and non-confident adults?

 

  • Improved personal effectiveness goes hand-in-hand with learning  that helps people to understand and reflect on their beliefs and values – empowerment with responsibility?

 

 

 

8. LEARNING APPLICATION 

Learning Outcome examples Learners and their needs

  • Learning influences positive changes in life

 

  • Learning applied successfully at home, etc.

 

  • Learning successfully applied at work

 

  • Learning applied within local community development, action and renewal

 

  • Learning passed effectively to others beyond the learning group

 

 

 Without the transfer of learning and its application the learning experience becomes an academic exercise, with little meaning.

 

  • Learners who learn but are not able to use or apply the learning, do not gain the full benefit of the experience

 

  • Successful use of learning within their lives, is a key positive motivational factor for learners

 

  • Learners may need to be made aware of the application of learning beyond the learning experience

 

 

SOME REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION PROMPTS

 

  • The usefulness of learning to the learner is the true measure of learning success

 

  • Learners may need to be encouraged and supported to gain confidence to experiment with new learning, to find new uses and applications

 

  • Workers need to gain feedback from learners about their use and application of learning – knowing how learning has been used helps the worker to make the learning for others more relevant and responsive to their needs.

 

 

 

9. ACCESS / PROGRESSION OUTCOMES

Learning Outcome examples Learners and their needs

  • Confidence to progress, gained

 

  • Successful progression

 

  • Access gained

 

  • Entry qualifications gained

 

  • Accreditation/certification gained

 

  • Training/development requirements met

 

 Access and progression outcomes enable the learner to achieve benefits beyond simply learning 

  • Making progress within education and training often means passing through gates and overcoming hurdles, which are there as barriers

 

  • To be successful the learner may need to gain recognition through accredited learning experiences

 

  • Many learners have experienced the failure in the past of not being able to progress or gain access through learning

 

SOME REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION PROMPTS

 

  • Society sets great store by education and training achievements and can exclude those who are perceived to have failed to be successful achievers.

 

  • For their participation within community strategies to be valued, might learners need to have demonstrated their achievements as  successful learners?

 

  • Many non-confident adult learners are victims of their past failures within prescribed statutory education and training systems and as a result can exclude themselves from opportunities and activities.

 

 

 

10. EMPLOYABILITY OUTCOMES

Learning Outcome examples The target learners – examples of their needs and the challenges

  • Employment opportunities enhanced

 

  • Preparation for employment gains

 

  • Employment gained

 

  • Earnings increased

 

  • Access to volunteering gained

 

  • Employment status improved – promotion, etc

 

  • Ease of transfer in/from employment improved

 

 The widely held view in this country is that all adults available for work should be gainfully employed. The focus of much of the education and training provision offered for adult learners, is linked to the well-being of the local and national economy 

  • Learners need to be part of a flexible, productive workforce

 

  • Learners need to be skilled to meet the changing demands of work and the economy

 

  • Learners with inappropriate work skills need to be re-trained for appropriate employment

 

  • Unemployed adults need to be helped into employment.

SOME REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION PROMPTS

  • The focus on training for work and the economic agenda dominates education and training provision for adult learners – is there an issue of this curriculum possibly lacking balance and relevance?

 

  • Sometimes the only education and training connection made with regeneration and community development, is the training for professional work in these areas.

 

  • Is it reasonable to assume that if everyone who can be, is in gainful employment, it will not be necessary to address any other learning needs?

 

11. PARTICIPATION OUTCOMES

Learning Outcome examples The target learners –  examples of their needs and the challenges

  • Participation within learning group improved

 

  • Participation outside learning group improved

 

  • Motivation gained to participate in social / community action

 

  • Motivation gained to advocate on the behalf of others

 

  • Motivation gained to participate in community capacity building

 

  • Motivation gained to volunteer

 

 Enabling a learner to join successfully with others in a variety of social, cultural and other activities, would seem to be a natural stage beyond building their individual capacity as a learner. 

  • Learners need to feel confident and able to participate in and contribute to collective capacity-building

 

  • Learners are motivated by their individual learning success to apply themselves within collective ventures

 

  • A strong motivational factor for learners is positive feedback from participating with others to produce successful collective outcomes

 

 

SOME REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION PROMPTS

 

  • Is enabling the individual capacity of learners to be translated into collective capacity a crucial part of a capacity coaching role for workers?

 

  • Is a crucial requirement, for the involvement of local people in regeneration, etc., that the lead bodies and agencies seek and encourage their active participation?

 

 

 

12. SUBJECT-BASED LEARNING OUTCOMES

Learning Outcome examples The target learners –  examples of their needs and the challenges

  • Knowledge gained

 

 

  • Understanding gained

 

 

  • Skills learned

 

 

  • Attitudes/feelings changed

 

 Learners may need to know facts and understand the issues within any aspect of community life and community work. They may also need to become skilled to deal with particular issues and concerns. 

They may need to develop their subject knowledge and skills in any theme or strand within a community strategy, in order to be able to contribute

 

As stakeholders and participants they may be at a disadvantage without the learning which is held by others – e.g., to participate in Environmental Improvement they need to learn about the subject

SOME REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION PROMPTS

  • Are many local people who seek to become involved or to participate in local community matters often disadvantaged and disempowered by their comparative lack of subject knowledge and expertise?

 

  • Does being involved in community consultation or participating without adequate learning and expertise, devalue the individuals presence and potential to a level of tokenism?

 

  • Are some people in the community excluded from being involved in community improvements by the lack of approaches to inform & empower them to have a say?

 

  • The fact that even if people are offered access to knowledge and skills and they do not take the offer up or do not use what they gain, does not justify not continuing to try to find effective ways to deliver the learning to all.